ACTA BALTICA HISTORIAE ET PHILOSOPHIAE SCIENTIARUM
Abstract
This paper is divided into two parts, this being the first one. The
second is entitled ‘Historical and Epistemological Reflections on the Culture
of Machines around Renaissance: Machines, Machineries and Perpetual
Motion’ and will be published in Acta Baltica Historiae et Philosophiae
Scientiarum in 2015. Based on our recent studies, we provide here a historical
and epistemological feature on the role played by machines and machineries.
Ours is an epistemological thesis based on a series of historical examples to
show that the relations between theoretical science and the construction of
machines cannot be taken for granted, a priori. Our analysis is mainly based
on the culture of machines around 15th and 17th centuries, namely the epoch
of Late Renaissance and Early Modern Age. For this is the period of scientific
revolution and this age offers abundant interesting material for researches
into the relations of theoretical science/construction of machines as well.
However, to prove our epistemological thesis, we will also exploit examples
of machines built in other historical periods. Particularly, a discussion
concerning the relationship between science theory and the development
of science art crafts produced by non-recognized scientists in a certain
historical time is presented. The main questions are: when and why did the tension between science (physics, mathematics and geometry1) give rise to a
new scientific approach to applied discipline such as studies on machines and
machineries? What kind of science was used (if at all) for projecting machines
and machineries? Was science at the time a necessary precondition to build a
machine? In the first part we will focus on the difference between Aristotelian-
Euclidean and Archimedean approaches and we will outline the heritage of
these two different approaches in late medieval and Renaissance science.
In the second part, we will apply our reconstructions to some historical and
epistemological problems concerning the relations of science/technology/
constructions of machines. The problem of perpetual motion will play an
important role in this context.
