Nature mathematized historical and philosophical case studies in classical modern natural philosophy : papers deriving from the Third International Conference on the History and Philosophy of Science, Montreal, Canada, 1980, Volume I

These remarks preface two volumes consisting of the proceedings of the Third International Conference on the History and Philosophy of Science of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science. The conference was held under the auspices of the Union, The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Science. The meetings took place in Montreal, Canada, 25--29 August 1980, with Concordia University as host institution. The program of the conference was arranged by a Joint Commission of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science consisting of Robert E. Butts (Canada), John Murdoch (U. S. A. ), Vladimir Kirsanov (U. S. S. R. ), and Paul Weingartner (Austria). The Local Arrangements Committee consisted of Stanley G. French, Chair (Concordia), Michel Paradis, treasurer (McGill), Franyois Duchesneau (Universite de Montreal), Robert Nadeau (Universite du Quebec a Montreal), and William Shea (McGill University). Both committees are indebted to Dr. G. R. Paterson, then President of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Science, who shared his expertise in many ways. Dr. French and his staff worked diligently and efficiently on behalf of all participants. The city of Montreal was, as always, the subtle mixture of extravagance, charm, warmth and excitement that retains her status as the jewel of Canadian cities. The funding of major international conferences is always a problem. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Do Historians and Philosophers of Science Share the Same Heritage?....Pages 3-20 Front Matter....Pages 21-21 Conceptual and Technical Aspects of the Galilean Geometrization of the Motion of Heavy Bodies....Pages 23-50 The Galilean Geometrization of Motion: Some Historical Considerations....Pages 51-60 Measure, Proportion and Mathematical Structure of Galleo’s Mechanics....Pages 61-65 Front Matter....Pages 67-67 Space, Geometrical Objects and Infinity: Newton and Descartes on Extension....Pages 69-112 Finite and Otherwise. Aristotle and Some Seventeenth Century Views....Pages 113-148 Front Matter....Pages 149-149 The Ideal of the Mathematization of All Sciences and of ‘More Geometrico’ in Descartes and Leibniz....Pages 151-195 The “More Geometrico” Pattern in Hypotheses from Descartes to Leibniz....Pages 197-214 The Leibnizean Picture of Descartes....Pages 215-226 Front Matter....Pages 227-227 Force and Inertia: Euler and Kant’s Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science ....Pages 229-249 Kant on the Foundations of Science....Pages 251-268 Non-Mechanistic Ideas in Physics and Philosophy: From Newton to Kant....Pages 269-276 Front Matter....Pages 277-277 V. V. Petrov’s Hypothetical Experiment and Electrical Experiments of the 18th Century....Pages 279-289 The Ideal of Mathematization in B. Bolzano....Pages 291-298 „Die Schönste Leistung der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie“: The Genesis of the Tensor-Geometrical Conception of Gravitation....Pages 299-317 Back Matter....Pages 319-328