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For the Week of 9/24/08 |
Assignment 4
Late Kepler and Cardano and
Demonology
Albrecht DŸrer – Engraving –
ca. 1500
Look at this scale graphic of our solar system. Scroll through the whole thing. YouÕll notice why Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were not seen by the pre-moderns.
Here is another site with the same idea:
Read pp. 304-404 in Koestler.
Look at over these extracts from KeplerÕs Harmonice mundi (1619). Just look this stuff over and find some of the parts I identify. IÕll explain it further in class. But I want you to see how he presents his three laws of planetary motion. The first two laws were derived in Astronomia nova, his second major astronomical work, but are mentioned only once in this book. The third law, the big deal from Harmonice mundi, doesnÕt even get its own chapter heading. It is just something he figured out while working out the cosmic music.
-From Book II [Kepler-H.m.LiberIIExcerptssm-1.7MB.pdf] look the pretty pictures of geometric cutouts and drawings and read over the elemental characteristics of the Platonic solids on pp. 114-115.
-From Book III [Kepler-H.m.LiberIIIExtract-1.7MB.pdf ] look over p. 129 and look over the part on Pythagoras and his discovery of mathematical-musical consonance on pp. 131-134.
-From the final book, Book V Kepler-H.m.LiberVexcerpts-2.5MB.pdf] look at the following pages:
Read over the Table of contents on p. 393. This is his ultimate agenda.
Notice on pp. 395-405 all of the references to ideas developed in Mysterium Cosmographicum.
Locate the 2nd and 3rd laws of planetary motion on p. 408.
Read the 3rd law at the bottom of p. 411.
Read KeplerÕs side bar on the music of the earth on p. 440. Éa rather dismal worldview.
Read this court document from 1472 about a witch named Giovanna (a.k.a. Caterina). Be aware that another person frequently mentioned in this text is a fellow named Giovanni. The names are slightly confusing if you donÕt pay close attention.
WitchCondemnation1472Florence-332KB.pdf
Read this selection of things on and by Girolamo Cardano:
Cardano-Book_of_My_Life-excerpts-100dpi-9.2MB.pdf
Éor here is a somewhat smaller, lower resolution versionÉ
Cardano-Book_of_My_Life-excerpts-100dpiLow-6.9MB.pdf
-pp. ix-xviii (The ÒIntroductionÓ by Grafton),
-pp. 5-7 (ÒMy Nativity)
-pp. 20-24 (ÒConcerning My HealthÓ)
-pp. 91-104 (ÒPerils, Accidents, and ÉTreacheriesÓ)
-optionally look over other parts of this PDF. There are all sorts of interesting passages. Might make a nice addition to a souped-up homework.
Look at these: If you thought witchcraft was just a problem for 17th-century women. Think againÉ
Woman Sentenced to Death in Saudi Arabia-CNN-2008 - video
or
Penis Theft Panic in Congo - 2008 [alternate link here]
Write up something that relates to these readings. If you want to do a souped-up homework, there are tons of sources to choose from below. Go nuts! Email me if you have any questions. Also email me if you want to do something with witches or demonology. I might be able to supply you with some more materials for a souped up homework.
Here are citations to the readings for this week and last week along with some additional sources that could be used for a souped-up homework. Please feel free to use sources not listed in this bibliography. This is by no means complete. References in bold are available in the eLibrary. A few of these sources have direct links. Some of these seem by their titles to be unrelated to the topic at hand. There is a relationship, donÕt worry. DonÕt be afraid to delve into one of these that seems off in left field. I also advise you to consider getting a souped-up homework (a long version) done asap, as this selection of souped-up material is livelier than most. Souped-up assignments take longer to do, so if you are not quite done with one by Thursday, I will probably allow a little more time.
Bellhouse, David. "The Role of Roguery in the History of Probability." Statistical Science 8, no. 4 (1993): 410-420. This looks good. Bellhouse_RogueryProbability-2.1MB.pdf
Boner, Patrick J.
"KeplerÕs Living Cosmology: Bridging the Celestial and Terrestrial
Realms." Centaurus 48 (2006): pp.
32-39. Boner_KeplersLivingCosmos-60KB.pdf
Cardano, Girolamo, and Anthony Grafton. The Book of My Life (De Vita Propria Liber). Translated by Tranlated from the Latin by Jean Stoner. New York: New York Review Books, 2002, written in the 1570s. Cardano-Book_of_My_Life-excerpts-100dpi-9.2MB.pdf
Christianson, Gale E. "Kepler's Somnium: Science Fiction and the Renaissance Scientist." Science Fiction Studies 8, no. 1 (1976). http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/8/christianson8art.htm
Clark, Stuart. Thinking with Demons: The Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Clark_ThinkingWD_Intro_Pt.2Sciencewitchcraft-9.6MB.pdf
Connor, James A. Kepler's Witch: An Astronomer's Discovery of Cosmic Order Amid Religious War, Political Intrigue, and the Heresy Trial of His Mother. 1st ed. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2004. Connor_KeplersWitchCh1-2.7MB.pdf [Highly recommended]
Darnton, Robert. "Workers Revolt: The Great Cat Massacre of the Rue Saint-SŽverin." In The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History, pp. 74-104. New York: Basic Books, 1984. Darnton_CatMassacrechapter120-3.9MB.pdf [Highly recommended]
Field, Judith V. "Astrology in Kepler's Cosmology." In Astrology, Science and Society: Historical Essays, ed. Patrick Curry, 143-170. Suffolk: Boydell Press, 1987. (Also in this PDF is an interesting article on how to astrologically read the forehead by A. Clarke.) Field-and-Clarke-Curry,ed._AstrologyScienceSociety-9.8MB.pdf
Field, Judith V. "Kepler's Rejection of Numerology." In Occult and Scientific Mentalities in the Renaissance, ed. Brian Vickers, pp. 273-296. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986. Field_KeplersRejectionOfNumerology-4.2MB.pdf
Field, J. V. Kepler's Geometrical Cosmology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
Findlen, Paula. "Jokes of Nature and Jokes of Knowledge: The Playfulness of Scientific Discourse in Early Modern Europe." Renaissance Quarterly 43, no. 2 (1990): 292-331. Findlen_JokesNatureKnowledge-4.7MB.pdf
Grafton, Anthony. "Kepler as Reader." Journal of the History of Ideas 53, no. 4 (1992): 561-572. [1.4 MB] Grafton_KeplerAsReader-1.4MB.pdf
Grafton, Anthony. "Girolamo Cardano and the Tradition of Classical Astrology the Rothschild Lecture, 1995." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 142, no. 3 (1998): 323-354. Grafton is Mr. Cardano scholar. Grafton_CardanoClassicalAstrologyLecture-860KB.pdf
Gouk, Penelope. "The Role of Harmonics in the Scientific Revolution." In The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory, ed. Thomas Street Christensen, pp. 223-245. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Gouk_HarmonicsInSciRev-2.6MB.pdf
Johnson, Francis R. "[review of OreÕs Cardano: The Gambling Scholar]." Isis 44, no. 4 (1953): 385-387. Johnson_revsOreCardanoGamblingScholar-512KB.pdf
Kepler, Johannes, and Edward Rosen. Kepler's Somnium; the Dream, or Posthumous Work on Lunar Astronomy. Madison,: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967. [Available on Amazon.com. This is KeplerÕs science fiction story about a trip to the moon.]
Kepler, Johannes,
and E. J. Aiton. The Secret of the Universe (Mysterium Cosmographicum). Translated by A.M. Duncan and with introduction and
commentary by E.J. Aiton and a preface by I. Bernard Cohen. New York: Abaris
Books, 1981. Excerpts of this are contained in this PDF: Kepler_MystCosmoExcerptsSm-OCRd-imaged-5.9MB.pdf
Kepler, Johannes. The Harmony of the World (Harmonice Mundi). Translated by and commentary by E. J. Aiton, A. M. Duncan and J. V. Field. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1997, first Latin ed. 1618. See links above.
Kepler, Johannes. The Six-Cornered Snowflake. Oxford,: Clarendon P., 1966.
Kepler, Johannes, and William H. Donahue. Optics: Paralipomena to Witelo & Optical Part of Astronomy. Santa Fe, N.M.: Green Lion Press, 2000.
Koestler, Arthur. The Sleepwalkers : A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe. New York: Macmillan, 1959.
Levack, Brian P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. London ; New York: Longman, 1987. Levack_WitchHunt-5MB.pdf [excerpts]
Lindberg, David C. "The Beginnings of Western Science : The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, 600 B.C. To A.D. 1450." 220. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.
Lindberg, David C. "The Genesis of Kepler's Theory of Light: Light Metaphysics from Plotinus to Kepler." Osiris, 2nd Series 2 (1986): 4-42. Lindberg-KeplerTheoryofLight_Plotinus-1.4MB.pdf
Nicolson, Marjorie. "Kepler, the Somnium, and John Donne." Journal of the History of Ideas 1, no. 3 (1940): 259-280. Nicolson_KeplerSomniumDonne-660KB.pdf
Osler, Thomas J. "Cardan Polynomials and the Reduction of Radicals." Mathematics Magazine 74, no. 1 (2001): 26-32. Osler_CardanPolynomialsReduction-484KB.pdf
Ptolemy. "Harmonics." In Greek Musical Writings II, ed. and trans. Andrew Barker, pp. 270-391. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984, original in Greek, 2nd century A.D.
Rabin, Sheila J. "Kepler's Attitude toward Pico and the Anti-Astrology Polemic." Renaissance Quarterly 50, no. 3 (1997): 750-770. Rabin_KeplerAttitude-PicoAnti-astrology-576KB.pdf
Reis, Elizabeth. "The Devil, the Body, and the Feminine Soul in Puritan New England." The Journal of American History 82, no. 1 (1995): 15-36. Reis_DevilBodyFeminineSoulNewEng-1MB.pdf
Rosen, Edward. "Kepler's Harmonics and His Concept of Inertia." American Journal of Physics 34, no. 7 (1966): 610-613.
Rosen, Edward.
"Kepler's Early Writings." Journal of the History of Ideas 46, no. 3 (1985): 449-454. [212 KB] - Rosen_Keplersearlywritings-216KB.pdf
Rosen, Edward. "Kepler's Attitude toward Astrology and Mysticism." In Occult and Scientific Mentalities in the Renaissance, ed. Brian Vickers, pp. 253-272. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986. Rosen-KeplerAstrology-3.9MB.pdf
Ross, Eric B. "Syphilis, Misogyny, and Witchcraft in 16th-Century Europe." Current Anthropology 36, no. 2 (1995): 333-337. Ross_Syphilis,Misogyny,Witchcraft16thc-1.1MB.pdf
Schneer, Cecil.
"Kepler's New Year's Gift of a Snowflake." Isis 51, no. 4 (1960): 531-545. Schneer_KeplerSnowflakeGift-2MB.pdf
Stephens, Walter. Demon Lovers : Witchcraft, Sex, and the Crisis of Belief. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002. Stephens_Demon_LoversExcerpts100-4.8MB.pdf
Stephenson, Bruce. Kepler's Physical Astronomy. Princeton, N.J.: Springer, 1994.
Stephenson, Bruce. The Music of the Heavens : Kepler's Harmonic Astronomy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994.
Struik, Dirk Jan. A Source Book in Mathematics, 1200-1800 Source Books in the History of the Sciences. Cambridge, Mass.,: Harvard University Press, 1969. [The section on algebra and CardanoÕs (also spelled Cardan) input to this type of math. See also the Osler article for additional commentary on this sort of stuff.] Struik_SourceBook-Algebra-Cardano.pdf
Trachtenberg, Marvin. "Architecture and Music Reunited: A New Reading of Dufay's Nuper Rosarum Flores and the Cathedral of Florence." Renaissance Quarterly LIV, no. 3 (2001): 741-773. [1.2 MB]
Wright, Craig. "Dufay's "Nuper Rosarum Flores", King Solomon's Temple, and the Veneration of the Virgin." Journal of the American Musicological Society 47, no. 3 (1994): pp. 395-427, 429-441. [1.2 MB]
Wright, Craig. "Reply to Charles Turner." Journal of the American Musicological Society 48, no. 1 (1995): 158.
Walker, Jonathan. "Gambling and Venetian Noblemen C.1500-1700." Past and Present, no. 162 (1999): 28-69. Looks goodÉ Walker_GamblingVenice-4.1MB.pdf
Warren, Charles W. "Brunelleschi's Dome and Dufay's Motet." The Musical Quarterly 59, no. 1 (1973): pp. 92-105. [404 KB]
News of Note:
DePalma-Weather History- data collection for over a century in Naw Paltz.
Svenvold-Wind-Power_Politics – Wind power and how it meshes with the old boys network.
Angier-Gut_InstinctÕs_Surprising_Role_in_Math – Take the circle test 25 times and send me a screen shot of your result and get an extra credit bonus. I wonÕt post or show your result. I just want to get a statistical sample.
Review Material: posted 10/11/08
Kepler-Late_Years-review-1.6MB.pdf
Here is a link to
materials that I used during lecture:
Back to Syllabus [SciRev Fall 2008]
Me – scirevf08@mifami.org
Lecture on KeplerÕs mother, witchcraft in general, KeplerÕs astronomy, CardanoÕs luck
Francesco Parmigianino -ca.1530