Galileu, Descartes and a Brief History of Inertia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26512/e-bfis.v4i2.9811Keywords:
Aristotle, Newton, Galilei, Descartes, Principle of Inertia, Gravity.Abstract
The discovery of the principle of inertia is part of a long and tortuous history, which appeared deeply intertwined with the difficulties involved in understanding the nature of gravity. This paper presents a brief account of this story, focusing on the paths followed by two of her main characters, Galileo and Descartes, and that led us to reach, respectively, the concepts of curvilinear and rectilinear inertia, by which became known. We will show how their ontological and methodological
commitments contributed to they had different visions about the principle of inertia, even though their visions were similar enough for both were able to overcome the deficiencies of medieval physics, deeply linked to Aristotelian concepts, and even though their understandings of the nature of gravity have also been, as a result, surmounted by Newton.
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Este obra será licenciada com uma Licença Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional.
