Speaker
Description
Generally, three scientists in the 17th century are associated to the concept of inertia: Galileo, Descartes and Newton. However, Christiaan Huygens developed a profound reflection on this fundamental notion. The Dutch scientist developed a train of thought which is less direct and clear than Newton’s, but not less interesting. The literature on Huygens’ concept of inertia is by far less abundant than that on Galileo’s, Descartes’ and Newton’s conception. Mormino Barbour and Stan are the authors who have given some of the most remarkable contributions. In this period, I am developing a research on this notion which will be published as a chapter of a book on the cosmology in the 17th century I am writing with a colleague of mine, Prof. Brunello Lotti, and which will appear between Autumn 2022 and Winter 2023. In my talk I will expound the main results of our research, which leads to a conclusion different from that proposed by Stan in his paper “Huygens on Inertial Structure and Relativity”, Philosophy of Science, 83: 277-298.
