The Scientific Odyssey

In this episode we look at the work in mathematics and physics of Isaac Newton from his time at the University of Cambridge to the publication of the Philosophae Naturalis Principia Naturalis or "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy".  Specifically we look at the development of fluxional calculus, the Universal Law of Gravitation and Newton's Three Laws of Motion.

This week we consider the work of Jesuit astronomers across Europe and around the world before returning to a discussion of weighing the heliocentric and geoheliocentric models of the solar system.

In this episode, we look at the work of four men who bridge the period between Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton: Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Rene Descartes, Christiaan Huygens and Robert Hooke.  In this discussion we pay particular attention to each man's work in physics that will set the stage for Newton's great synthesis.

We examine the events leading up to the heresy conviction of Galileo Galilei in 1633.

In this episode we look at the 25 months leading up to the Congregation of the Inquisition censuring the two propositions related to the work of Copernicus; namely that the Earth moves and the Sun does not.  We specifically examine the Letter to Castello and Foscarini's Letter as well as the role of Galileo's work and Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina in the proceedings and what follows.

In the tradition of the Icelandic custom of Jolabokaflod, we read one of the earliest works of science fiction-Johannes Kepler's The Somnium. Break out some chocolate and settle in for an hour-long journey to the Moon.

In the first part of a three episode series on the emerging conflict involving Galileo, the Aristotelian natural philosophers of the Italian universities and the Catholic Church, we examine the factors that would lead to the initial confrontation of 1615 and 1616. These will include a debate that led to a fundamental revaluation of hydrology and a priority dispute on the discovery of sunspots.  Finally, we discuss the piece of information that may have led to Galileo's open support of the Copernican model o the solar system.

In this supplemental episode, we look at the study of hydraulics related to pulling water up a pipe by Galileo Galilei.  This leads us to the development of the mercury barometer by Torricelli and the investigations of atmospheric pressure and vacuums by Blaise Pascal and Florin Perier.  This, in turns leads us to the work of von Geuricke and Robert Boyle.

In our third episode discussing the Scientific Revolution we look at the development of the linguistic device we call the fact from Latin legal ideas.  We consider the work of Kepler and Galileo as well as the thinking of Blaise Pascal, Thomas Hobbes and Robert Boyle.

This week we look at the development of the idea of mathematics as a way to represent reality through perspective painting and accounting.  We also discuss the rise of the idea of laws of nature as the way in which the natural world was understood.