Friday,
22 October 2004
"Spuntar lo scoglio
più duro": Did Galileo ever think the most beautiful
thought experiment in the history of science?
Paolo Palmieri, History & Philosophy of Science, U. Pittsburgh
12:05 pm, 817R Cathedral of Learning
Abstract: Still today it remains unclear
whether Galileo ever climbed the leaning tower of Pisa in order
to drop bodies from its top. Some believe that he established the
principle of equal speeds for falling bodies by means of an ingenious
thought experiment. However, the reconstruction of that thought
experiment circulating in the philosophical literature is no more
than a cartoon. In this talk I will tell the story of the thought
processes behind the cartoon.
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