Discourse On Bodies In Water

This 1612 essay challenged Aristotelian physics by asserting that sunspots are actual spots on the surface of the sun or in its atmosphere, rather than satellites. Introduction. Explanatory Notes. Index.

As to the first, the last discoveries of Saturn to be tricorporeall, and of the mutations of Figure in Venus, like to those that are seen in the Moon, together with the Consequents depending thereupon, have not so much occasioned the demur, as the investigation of the times of the Conversions of each of the Four Medicean Planets about Jupiter, which I lighted upon in April the year past, 1611, at my being in Rome; where, in the end, I assertained my selfe, that the first and neerest to Jupiter, moved about 8 gr. & 29 m. of its Sphere in an houre, makeing its whole revolution in one naturall day, and 18 hours, and almost an halfe. The second moves in its Orbe 14 gr. 13 min. or very neer, in an hour, and its compleat conversion is consummate in 3 dayes, 13 hours, and one third, or thereabouts. The third passeth in an hour, 2 gr. 6 min. little more or less of its Circle, and measures it all in 7 dayes, 4 hours, or very neer. The fourth, and more remote than the rest, goes in one houre, 0 gr 54 min. and almost an halfe of its Sphere, and finisheth it all in 16 dayes, and very neer 18 hours. But because the excessive velocity of their returns or restitutions, requires a most scrupulous precisenesse to calculate their places, in times past and future, especially if the time be for many Moneths or Years; I am therefore forced, with other Observations, and more exact than the former, and in times more remote from one another, to correct the Tables of such Motions, and limit them even to the shortest moment: for such exactnesse my first Observations suffice not; not only in regard of the short intervals of Time, but because I had not as then found out a way to measure the distances between the said Planets by any Instrument: I Observed such Intervals with simple relation to the Diameter of the Body of Jupiter; taken, as we have said, by the eye, the which, though they admit not errors of above a Minute, yet they suffice not for the determination of the exact greatness of the Spheres of those Stars. But now that I have hit upon a way of taking such measures without failing, scarce in a very few Seconds, I will continue the observation to the very occultation of JUPITER, which shall serve to bring us to the perfect knowledge of the Motions, and Magnitudes of the Orbes of the said Planets, together also with some other consequences thence arising. I adde to these things the observation of some obscure Spots, which are discovered in the Solar Body, which changing, position in that, propounds to our consideration a great argument either that the Sun revolves in it selfe, or that perhaps other Starrs, in like manner as Venus and Mercury, revolve about it, invisible in other times, by reason of their small digressions, lesse than that of Mercury, and only visible when they interpose between the Sun and our eye, or else hint the truth of both this and that; the certainty of which things ought not to be contemned, nor omitted.

In this groundbreaking work of natural philosophy, Salusbury explores the properties of bodies immersed in water, delving into questions of buoyancy, density, and fluid dynamics. Drawing on experiments and observations from across the natural world, Salusbury offers a comprehensive and engaging look at the science of water and floating objects. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The first collection and translation into English of the earliest biographical accounts of Galileo’s life This unique critical edition presents key early biographical accounts of the life and work of Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), written by his close contemporaries. Collected and translated into English for the first time and supplemented by an introduction and incisive annotations by Stefano Gattei, these documents paint an incomparable firsthand picture of Galileo and offer rare insights into the construction of his public image and the complex intertwining of science, religion, and politics in seventeenth-century Italy. Here in its entirety is Vincenzo Viviani’s Historical Account, an extensive and influential biography of Galileo written in 1654 by his last and most devoted pupil. Viviani’s text is accompanied by his “Letter to Prince Leopoldo de’ Medici on the Application of Pendulum to Clocks” (1659), his 1674 description of Galileo’s later works, and the long inscriptions on the façade of Viviani’s Florentine palace (1702). The collection also includes the “Adulatio perniciosa,” a Latin poem written in 1620 by Cardinal Maffeo Barberini—who, as Pope Urban VIII, would become Galileo’s prosecutor—as well as descriptive accounts that emerged from the Roman court and contemporary European biographers. Featuring the original texts in Italian, Latin, and French with their English translations on facing pages, this invaluable book shows how Galileo’s pupils, friends, and critics shaped the Galileo myth for centuries to come, and brings together in one volume the primary sources needed to understand the legendary scientist in his time.

Informed by currents in sociology, cultural anthropology, and literary theory, Galileo, Courtier is neither a biography nor a conventional history of science. In the court of the Medicis and the Vatican, Galileo fashioned both his career and his science to the demands of patronage and its complex systems of wealth, power, and prestige. Biagioli argues that Galileo's courtly role was integral to his science—the questions he chose to examine, his methods, even his conclusions. Galileo, Courtier is a fascinating cultural and social history of science highlighting the workings of power, patronage, and credibility in the development of science.

Contains over 500 articles Ranging over foodways and folksongs, quiltmaking and computer lore, Pecos Bill, Butch Cassidy, and Elvis sightings, more than 500 articles spotlight folk literature, music, and crafts; sports and holidays; tall tales and legendary figures; genres and forms; scholarly approaches and theories; regions and ethnic groups; performers and collectors; writers and scholars; religious beliefs and practices. The alphabetically arranged entries vary from concise definitions to detailed surveys, each accompanied by a brief, up-to-date bibliography. Special features *More than 2000 contributors *Over 500 articles spotlight folk literature, music, crafts, and more *Alphabetically arranged *Entries accompanied by up-to-date bibliographies *Edited by America's best-known folklore authority