1

5TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE

Scientific cosmopolitanism and local cultures:

religions, ideologies, societies

BOOK OF ABSTRACTS ATHENS, 1-3 NOVEMBER 2012

2

Edited by

Gianna Katsiampoura Published by

Institute of Historical Research/National Hellenic Research Foundation Logo designed by

Nefeli Papaioannou ISBN 978-960-9538-13-8

3

Committees

International Programme Committee Chair Sona Strbanova Vice-Chair Efthymios Nicolaidis Members Fabio Bevilacqua, University of Pavia, Italy Maria Teresa Borgato, University of Ferrara, Italy Olivier Bruneau, Laboratoire d'Histoire des Sciences et de Philosophie LHSP - Archives Poincar, France Robert Fox, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, United Kingdom Hermann Hunger, University of Vienna, Austria Helge Kragh, University of Aarhus, Denmark Ladislav Kvasz, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia Maria-Rosa Massa-Esteve, Universitat Politcnica de Catalunya, Spain Erwin Neuenschwander, (Universitt Zrich, Switzerland Raffaele Pisano, Cirphles, cole Normale Suprieure, France/Research Centre for the Theory and History of Science, Czech Republic Maria Rentetzi, National Technical University of Athens, Greece Antoni Roca-Rosell, Universitat Politcnica de Catalunya, Spain Felicitas Seebacher, Alpen-Adria-University of Klagenfurt, Austria Milada Sekyrkov, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic Ida Stamhuis, Vrije University, Netherlands va Vmos, Hungarian Museum for Science and Technology

Local Organizing Committee

Efthymios Nicolaidis, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens Constantine Skordoulis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Aristeides Baltas, National Technical University of Athens Yanis Bitsakis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Efthymios P. Bokaris, University of Ioannina Krystallia Halkia, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Gianna Katsiampoura, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens Eugenia Koleza, University of Patras Demitris Kolliopoulos, University of Patras Evangellia Mavrikaki, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Kostas Nikolantonakis, University of Western Macedonia Christine Phili, National Technical University of Athens Maria Rentetzi, National Technical University of Athens Fanny Seroglou, University of Thessaloniki Vassilis Tselfes, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens George Vlahakis, Hellenic Open University, Patras

4

Conference Secretariat

Avgeri Danai Bakou Ersi-Eleni Balampekou Matina Chrysochou Polina Darmou Maria Exarchakos Kostas Kontotheodorou Kostas Koumanzelis Kostas Makrinos Kostas Oikonomidou Fani Skordoulis Dionysis Skoufoglou Manos Skoufoglou Nicholas Tampakis Kostas Vitsas Christos

5

Introduction Welcome to the 5th International Conference of the European Society for the History of Science "Scientific cosmopolitanism and local cultures: religions, ideologies, societies" Science as practice and culture has an international and ecumenical dimension. The Science of the Ancient Greek world dissipated in the Roman Empire and later in the Islamic world and Medieval Europe, the Science of the Islamic world was spread over Medieval Europe and Asia and in turn European science all over the world. The diffusion of scientific ideas is associated with scholars mobility. Scholars travel to teach, to learn or exchange ideas, often during periods when their homelands are in war with those visited. Byzantine astronomers were found in caliphs courts and Arab astronomers to Byzantine emperors courts during the Arab-Byzantium wars, Arab scientists travelled all over the Iberian Peninsula during the Islam-Christian conflicts, Catholic and Protestant scientists travelled all over Europe during the Religious Wars, French and British scientists maintained contacts during the wars between France and Britain etc. From the birth of science and all over its history, scientists in their majority seem to feel members of an international community. They seek for interlocutors without consideration of nationality or religion beliefs. This scientific cosmopolitanism often comes in conflict with local cultures. Greek science was considered as a vector of paganism by certain Fathers of Christian Church, European science was faced with suspicion in China, Japan or Eastern Europe. Traditional societies came often in conflict with new scientific ideas, originating mainly from Europe. Despite its cosmopolitan character, nationalism is not absent from science. Byzantine scholars felt proud to be the inheritors of Greek science, Chinese astronomers promoted their methods as part of the tradition, German, French or British scientists debated for the parentage of scientific discoveries. The theme of the 5th International Conference of the European Society for the History of Science aims to discuss all these topics from an interdisciplinary point of view. It is organized jointly by the National Hellenic Research Foundation and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, two prominent scientific institutions that fostered the development of History of Science in Greece in the last decades. The logo of the Conference represents the Antikythera mechanism, this almost mythical instrument considered as the first computer in human history. During the Conference, an exhibition takes place at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens about the Antikythera shipwreck and an important section is devoted to the Mechanism. It is our pleasure, in our capacity as local organizers of this important event, to welcome all the participants in the city of Athens. Just opposite the National Hellenic Research Foundation are the ruins of the Lyceum of Aristotle, found some years ago by Greek Archaeologists. We wish you a nice and productive stay and many cosmopolitan contacts! On behalf of the LOC and all the colleagues who participated in the organization of the Conference,

Efthymios Nicolaidis and Constantine Skordoulis

6

Plenary lectures

The Reception of Darwin in Greece Costas B. Krimbas, Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece

Cosmopolitan Education and Training of the Engineers in the 18th and 19th centuries Robert Halleux, Universit de Lige, Lige, Belgium

At the time of the Industrial Revolution, the term engineer covers a very mixed environment. Here one finds ingenious workers skilled by practice as well as graduates of the top mining schools in Central Europe, former military men trained at the "coles d'application" and - later - the polytechnic institutes, as well as university engineers. This environment is cosmopolitan in its origin (both for students and teachers) due to study trips, missions of espionage, and practical experiences at sites scattered throughout the world. All who belong to it share a body of technological doctrine in which innovation diffuses rapidly.

Einstein as a Cosmopolitan Jurgen Renn, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany

Fifty Years since Kuhns Structure: Professionalization in a Period without Tranquility Fabio Bevilacqua, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

Born from Big Science and Two Cultures, History of Science today faces at least two main challenges: the shrinking of the humanities and the expansion of the digital domain. Trying to escape irrelevance implies adopting brave strategies: conservation of primary sources; greater interaction between the fewer historians; stimulating the interest of scientific faculties; availability of open access results to a wider public; commitment to international graduate studies programs and to pre-service and in-service teacher training; developing cooperation and funding within the EU frameworks. We can argue that European cultural identity is shaped by the history of science, but our discipline can play an even more important role showing that science is a truly cosmopolitan activity and that Chinese, Indian, Islamic cultures gave and give an enormous contribution to its evolution. We can attempt to overcome quantification and Culture Wars with qualification and cosmopolitanism.

7

SYMPOSIA

8

SYMPOSIUM 1

Ancient Astronomy

and its Later Reception

Organizers Alena Hadravova, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic Alexander R. Jones, New York University, New York, USA

The Symposium will be devoted to the studies in the history of astronomy in ancient cultures, especially in Greece and the whole Mediterranean region, as well as of the later development of the ideas in medieval and early modern science. The astronomy is commonly said to be the oldest science because it ever led mankind to search for laws of nature and their quantitative formulation. Astronomy thus became a prototype of exact sciences. Based on earlier Babylonian roots, astronomy was advanced a great deal in ancient Greece, from where the first theoretical models of planetary system based on geometry are known. A dissemination of these ideas in Arabic and Christian cultures and their boost from Renaissance resulted in the development of contemporary science and technology. It is thus of general importance for the history of science to study this development in time, to follow the spreading of ideas to different cultures and to compare their mutual influences with the cultures of the societies. These topics are to be subject of the proposed Symposium. The contributions will be based on studies of both the preserved texts and artifacts. A traditional example of relevant problems are the roots of Copernican revolution in the ancient planetary theories. Another related subject is the development of astronomical instruments, e.g. the astrolabes dated back to Ptolemy's Planisphaerium or the recently revived study of the Antikythera Mechanism and its analogies in medieval astronomical clocks. Yet another example worth to deal with, is the development of Greek textual tradition in treatises on astronomy, e.g. on stars and their influence on the globe-making.

The Rising Times of the Zodiac in Babylonian and Later Astronomy

John Steele, Brown University, USA

The rising times of the 30 degree stretches of the ecliptic defined by the signs of the zodiac provide a method for calculating the length of daylight. Neugebauer (1953) has shown that rising arc schemes underlie the calculation of the length of daylight in the Babylonian System A and System B lunar theories. A separate group of Babylonian texts, studied by Schaumberger (1955) and Rochberg (2002), describe another scheme for calculating the length of daylight using rising arcs whose beginning and end are defined by the culmination of certain stars. In this paper I will discuss the various rising arc schemes in Babylonian astronomy on the basis of new textual evidence from currently unpublished cuneiform texts. Finally, I will discuss the legacy of these schemes for the rising times in later astronomy.

9

The Antikythera Mechanism: the Structure of the Mounting of the Back Plates Pointer and the Construction of the Spirals Magdalini Anastasiou, J.H. Seiradakis, C.C. Carman, K. Efstathiou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

The Antikythera Mechanism, the ancient mechanical computer of unique technical sophistication, dated to the 2nd century B.C., was housed in a wooden case and had dials at its front and back side as well as lots of inscriptions covering its front and back sides and doors. Its back side displayed two main spiral dials. Only the pointer of the upper dial has partially survived, with a few remains of the mechanism that supported it and transferred to it the rotation of the main shaft. Using these remains we have reconstructed the skilful mounting of the pointer. The reconstruction fits perfectly the inscription at the back door of the Mechanism describing the pointer mechanism of the upper dial. From the two back spirals, about one third of the upper dial is nowadays preserved on one fragment (fragment B) while the lower dial is preserved in three fragments (fragments A, E and F), forming about half of the initial lower spiral. Using these existing parts, the type of the spirals was also investigated: were they constructed as Archimedean spirals or as Half Circle spirals? Our results show that both spirals were Half Circle spirals, drawn from two different centres. The two centres of the upper dial are the pointer centre and an upper centre while the two centres of the lower dial are the pointer centre and a lower centre. The structure of the mounting of the back plates pointer and the construction of the spirals amaze with the intelligence that they have been constructed. The mechanics way of thinking and working is ingenious.

An Hipparchian Astronomical Papyrus : P. Fouad Inv 267A Anne Tihon, Universit Catholique de Louvain, Louvain, Belgium

The Papyrus Fouad inv 267A discovered by Jean-Luc Fournet in the papyrological collection of the IFAO (Cairo) is a document of exceptional interest for the history of ancient astronomy. It is a fragment of a codex, written recto /verso. The text contains an example dated A.D. 130 Nov 8, at Alexandria : it is thus directly contemporary with Ptolemys astronomical activity. It is a fragment of a treatise, but more a matter of a draft or notes taken from an oral teaching rather than a finished text, with some important errors such as a confusion between sidereal and tropical year. The substance of the document concerns the Sun. The author begins by distinguishing the different years for which he gives precise values : the sidereal year (365d + 1/102), the ordinary year of 365d , and the tropical year (365d - 1/309). The author then considers the precession of the equinoxes and refers to a Syntaxis which is based of Hipparchus observations, especially an observation of the Summer Solstice otherwise unknown, B.C. 158 June 26. The calculation of the Sun implies a model with an eccentric and a correction, like in Ptolemys tables. The theory is followed by an example taken A.D.130 Nov 8. The recto of the papyrus ends with tables of the three calculations. The verso of the papyrus is much more damaged than the recto. It deals with the correction of seasonal hours into equinoxial hours, the readjustment of the solar longitude for the corrected time and the obliquity of the Sun. The document reveals a very sophisticated Syntaxis, made by an unknown author and based on Hipparchus observations. We are now able to present the edition of the text with a French translation and explanation.

Ptolemaic Eccentricity of the Superior Planets in the Medieval Islamic Period Seyyed Mohammad Mozaffari, Research Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics of Maragha, Maragha, Iran

The medieval astronomy remained within the framework of the planetary models and the mathematical and astronomical methods established by Ptolemy in his Syntaxes.

10

The structural parameters defining the geocentric orbit (Deferent) of a planet are eccentricity and the longitude of apogee. The Ptolemaic eccentricity of a planet is the sum of the two vectors: its heliocentric eccentricity projected on Earths orbit and Earths eccentricity. Its value thus depends on the two eccentricities, the inclination of planets orbit, and the angle between the apsidal lines of the orbits of planet and Earth. Since all the heliocentric quantities are changed with the passage of time, it is expected the new values for Ptolemaic parameters would have been obtained around a millennia elapsing since his day. The calculations show that from AD 1 to 1600 the geocentric eccentricity of Mars was changed from 5.95 to 6.00, Jupiter, 2.70 to 2.87, and Saturn, 3.62 to 3.31 (Deferents Radius = 60). From the medieval Islamic astronomy, only Muhy al-Dn al-Maghrib (Maragha 12601283) gave his dated observations and measurements. He obtained the near to Ptolemaic values for the eccentricities of Jupiter and Mars (2.75 and 6) and a new value for that of Saturn: 3.25. The other results are: Ibn al-Alam (Baghdad d. 985): Sat: 3.04 Jup: 2.90. The Iranian astronomers working in China (after 1270): Sat: 3.31 Jup: 2.66. Ibn al-Bann (Marrakech 12501320): Jup: 2.98. An astronomer working in central Iran ~ mid-13th c. (a certain Abul-Hasan, Raz Zj, or a Muntakhab al-Dn, Muntakhab Zj, both of Yazd): Mars: 6.25 (also applied to Ulugh Begs Sultn Zj, 1450). The most critical change during the millennia is the case with Saturn; thus, the values contemporarily obtained by al-Maghrib and Iranian astronomers in China should be taken as the improvements over Ptolemys. But, in the case of the two other planets (esp. for Mars whose eccentricity was not so varied in this period), all new values are out of range and so adopting the Ptolemys ones remains a better choice.

Jbir b. Afla on the Order of the Spheres

Jos Bellver, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

The aim of this paper is to describe Jbir b. Aflas most famous criticism of Ptolemys Almagest present in his main work, the Il al-Majis. This criticism deals with the order of the planetary spheres. Even though Jbir b. Aflas criticisms have attracted some interest in recent scholarship, his main criticism for which he came to be known in later sources remains to be studied in depth. Jbir b. Afla was an Andalusian mathematician and astronomer, probably from Seville, known in the Latin world as Geber. He was active during the first quarter of the 12th century. His most notable work was the Il al-Majis orCorrection of the Almagest, in which he rewrote the Almagest to simplify its mathematics and introduced some criticisms from a mathematical perspective. The Il al-Majis was an astronomical handbook in circulation until the 18th century, above all in the Latin world. It was translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremona (1114-1187) and published in 1534 by Petrus Apianus (1495-1552), a copy of which was given by Rheticus to Copernicus, who annotated it. Ptolemy considered the order of the spheres in the beginning of Book V of his Almagest. He also considered it in hisPlanetary Hypotheses, although Jbir b. Afla seems to be unaware of this second discussion. Ptolemy pointed out that the most ancient authorities believed that the spheres of Mercury and Venus were below the sphere of the Sun, while a group of later authorities believed that they were above it, on the basis that no solar transits were observed. He supported the first group by adducing that transits may never take place and added parallactic and physical arguments to his discussion. Jbir b. Afla demonstrated that, according to Ptolemys models, in case the spheres of Mercury and Venus were below the Sun, transits would take place. He also answered Ptolemys parallactic and physical arguments. Therefore, Jbir b. Afla concluded that the spheres of Mercury and Venus were actually above that of the Sun. Jbir b. Aflas arguments were extensively quoted by later authors becoming a matter of discussion up to Copernicus.

11

This paper is therefore devoted to discuss Jbir b. Aflas criticism of Ptolemy and to follow his influence upon later astronomers.

On the Sphere of Anaximander

Radim Kocandrle, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic

Diogenes Laertius reported that Anaximander of Miletus had, also fashioned a sphere. Unfortunately, the meaning of the term a sphere is not clear. Was the sphere a model or a drawing? We know that Diogenes Laertius had anachronistically ascribed to Anaximander the concept of a spherical earth, so the term can mean an earth globe. However, Anaximander conceived the earth as cylindrical and flat. Another possibility is that a sphere is a celestial globe. Although this is disputable since the universe of Anaximander was not probably spherical at all due to his notion that in the greatest distance from the earth is the wheel of the sun. Was then the sphere an artificial model of the armillary sphere? We know that Anaximanders conception of cosmology supposed a flat earth at the centre of the concentric wheels of the celestial bodies the sun, moon and stars. It can be surmised that term sphere is only due to an anachronism of later authors. Contrarily, the term sphere is used in the description of cosmogony as a sort of sphere of flames around the air. In my talk, I will speak on the slight possibility of Anaximander fashioning a three-dimensional model since it could lead to revision in his conception of the universe. Mainly I will focus on the analogy between Anaximanders map of the earth and the map of the universe which can be that sphere. I will also discuss some problematic points in the Anaximanders conception of cosmology which can be solved by the supposition that Anaximander made a map of the universe.

A Map for Aratus

Anna Santoni, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy

This paper aims to investigate the characters and the different versions of a type of celestial map preserved in some of the manuscripts of the Greek and Latin Aratean tradition (mss. Vat. Gr. 1087; Basil. AN IV 18; Harl. 647; Bern. 88; etc.); the map includes all the constellations of the Aratean sky from the North Pole to the Tropic of Capricorn; it is easy to prove that it could be used as the simplest iconographic support to the comprehension of the first part of the poem, since it allows an overview of all the constellations introduced by Aratus in his description of the sky (Phaenomena, vv. 26.454): the reader can move his finger on the map according to the instructions of the poet and follow the path of his verses through the starried sky. Two versions of the map are preserved in our manuscritps: the first one contains the archaic Zodiac with eleven figures, perfectly consistent with the sky of Aratean-Eratosthenic times. The second version of the map, probably originated in the context of the Latin tradition of Aratus, contains an up-dated version of the sky with the twelve Zodiac figures, in consequence of the introduction of the Libra from the first century a.D. onwards (in place of the Claws of the Scorpio). Despite the presence of other more detailed types of celestial maps in these manuscripts, the permanence of the earliest kind can be considered a piece of evidence of its value in the tradition of the Aratean text. The role of the illustrations in the Greek poem will also be discussed in relation to the structure of the Phaenomena and in relation to the influence of the Eratosthenic extracts.

12

Reflection of Ancient Greek Tradition in the 13th c. Premyslid Celestial Globe Saved in Bernkastel-Kues Alena Hadravova, Petr Hadrava, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic

In 1444 Nicolaus Cusanus bought a collection of astronomical instruments and manuscripts belonging formerly to Czech Kings from Premyslid and Luxembourg dynasties. One of the instruments was a wooden celestial globe of about 27cm in diameter dated to the 2nd half of the 13th century, saved until now in Bernkastel-Kues (Germany). Letting aside several Arabic globes, the Premyslid globe is, after the three preserved ancient globes (Atlas Farnese, Mainz-globe, Kugel-globe), the oldest one originating in the Christian Europe. All fourty eight Ptolemaic constellations are marked on this globe with most of the stars from the Ptolemys Star catalogue. The relations between the constellations and their parts as well as positions of the stars within them correspond with the ancient textual tradition known from the works by Aratos, Pseudo-Eratosthenes and Hyginus. Provenience of the globe is unknown (Prague or Germany are speculated in the literature). The lack of an Arabic influence in the iconography of the globe sugests that it has not originated in the Toledan court of Alfonso X the Wise. We assume that the globe is probably connected with the Sicilian court and cultural centre of Friedrich II of Hohenstaufen, known by the direct continuation of the ancient Greek tradition.

Mathematical Investigation of the Premyslid Celestial Globe Saved in Bernkastel-Kues

Petr Hadrava, Alena Hadravova, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic

Regarding the uniqueness and importance of the Premyslid celestial globe and also the deteriorating state of this fragile artifact, it deserves a careful investigation and documentation. For this purpose we perform measurements of scanned photographs taken almost a century ago as well as of recent digital photographs. Spherical coordinates of the marks of stars and of drawn lines are then fitted by least-squares method. The Premyslid globe was constructed as the universal precession globe which is described in the Ptolemys Almagest, i.e., in ecliptical coordinates. According the results of our measurements, the positions of most of stars correspond with those given in Almagest with root-mean-square error of a few tenths of degree, i.e., within about one millimetre. It reveals that the globe was not a mere decoration but remarkably precise instrument.

Almagest's Star Catalogue and First Celestial Maps

Giancarlo Truffa, Milan, Italy

The star catalogue contained in the Almagest has been the standard star catalogue for European astronomers and astrologers from the Roman Empire until the end of XVI cen. when the Landgrave of Hessen and Tycho Brahe made new observations of star positions and created new star catalogues. I will analyze the transmission of the Ancient star catalogue and the other star catalogues derived from it between the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Based on these star catalogues, "scientific" celestial maps were created, the first dating from the end of XIV century. I will examine some of these maps preserved in manuscripts, in engravings and on one astronomical instrument.

13

An Arabic Ephemeris for the Year 1026/1027 CE. in the Vienna Papyrus Collection Johannes Thomann, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

The Vienna Papyrus Collection (Papyrussammlung) forms part of the Austrian National Library (sterreichsiche Nationalbibliothek) and is one of the largest collection of its kind. It is famous for its 70000 Greek documents from Ancient Egypt. There is an even greater number of Arabic documents, approximately 75'000. From these, less than 2000 pieces are published. In an ungoing survey of Arabic astronomical documents in the Vienna Collection a number of datable texts were discovered. Among them are horoscopes for the years 1007 (or 1210?), 1044 and 1058 (or 1117?) CE.. Further, a fragment of an astrological almanach for the year 991 CE. was found. An ephemeris for the year 931/932 CE has been edited in Kaplony, A. /Roemer, C. (ed.) , From Nubia to Syria (forthcoming). Another ephemeris for the year 994/995 is in process to be published. During the last research visit in 2011 a fragment of an ephemeris was found which derserves special attention (A.Ch. 25613). It contains the top left corner of the recto and top right corner of the verso of a leave. On the recto the last three column headings are preserved. They are jawzahar ([ascending] lunar node) and below al-aqrab (scorpion), al-irtif (rising [of the sun at midday]) and sat al-nahr (hours of the day). In the last column the three first values for the day-lenght indicate to the month of April. On the verso the names of the four calendars are frs (Persian), ynn (Greek), qif (Coptic) and arab (Arabic). In a fifth columns the days of the week are indicated. Three lines of the chronological columns are preserved. The best fitting year for these synchronies is 1026 CE. It is corrborated by the position of the lunar nodethe. The recalculated value is SCO 28 for April 9, 1026 CE, the date corresponding to the first line of data on the recto.

From Oxyrhynchus to Nrnberg: Ancient and Modern Ephemerides

Alexander Jones, New York University, New York, USA

The term "ephemeris," often loosely applied now to any table of positions of heavenly bodies computed for a series of dates, referred specifically at two widely separated periods to calendrically structured tables of daily positions directed towards astrological predictions. The ephemerides preserved in papyri from Greco-Roman Egypt from the late first century BC through the fifth century AD show remarkable similarities to the printed European ephemerides of the fifteenth century and after. If there was a historical connection linking these practices, what was it? Two possibilities deserve consideration: a medieval Arabic tradition that has only recently come to light, and a set of anonymous texts embedded in Byzantine astrological manuscripts.

The Doctrine of the 3rd, 7th and 40th day of the Moon in Ancient Astrology

Stephan Heilen, University of Osnabrck, Osnabrck, Germany

The doctrine of the importance of the third, seventh, and fourtieth day of the Moon after a persons birh is attested in more than a dozen texts from the first century CE through the Byzantine period to the Latin Middle Ages. We find it in Greek and Latin manuals of astrology such as those of Dorotheus of Sidon, Antigonus of Nicaea, Vettius Valens, Firmicus Maternus, the astrologer of Emperor Zeno, Rhetorius of Egypt, in the Liber Hermetis, Theophilus of Edessa, and Hugo of Santalla. In addition, there are some references to it in orginal horoscopes found on papyri. The doctrine certainly goes back to the early stage of Hellenistic astrology in Ptolemaic Egypt, probably to the pseudepigraphic manual of Nechepsos and Petosiris (2nd c. BCE). The relevant sources have never been collected and analyzed systematically. I plan to investigate the connection between this doctrine and the lunar cycle, its debt to old number speculations and to Greek medical especially embryological theories, and the astrological significance attached to it.

14

Tables, Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, and Medieval Latin Astrological Texts

Richard L. Kremer, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA

The Latin translation of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos is extant in about 20 manuscripts, all of which present the text in a prose format, divided into chapters, without any images or diagrams. Only at the end of Book I do several tables appear, in which the "terms" of each zodiacal sign are presented in rows and columns. These tables have twelve rows for the signs, and 6 columns, displaying the number of degrees within the sign and the planet for each "term" of that sign. As far as I know, Ptolemy was the first self-reflexive table-maker. In the Almagest, he presented much material in a tabular writing format and at several points discussed in considerable detail how and why he made the tables. He also introduced a Greek term (kanonion), used earlier to describe rulers, small beams, rods, or a monochord, to depict the tabular format, a term that subsequently would become widely used in Greek literature for "regularity, according to a rule." In this paper, I want to think about the place of writing formats, especially tabular formats, in medieval Latin astrological texts. Even though Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos is filled with information that might, to our thinking, be more efficiently presented in tables rather than prose (e.g., properties of planets), in that text Ptolemy used only one table. Yet by the time the twelfth-century translators began bringing Greek and Arabic astrological texts into Latin, tables start appearing more frequently in these materials. Why the shift from prose to tabular formats? What might have been gained (or lost) in such shifts? Can other self-reflexive table makers be found among the astrological authors or their scribes? On the basis of a survey of writing formats in some of the major Latin astrological texts from the thirteenth through the fifteenth centuries, I hope to draw some conclusions about the epistemological consequences of pushing astrological content, especially from the Tetrabiblos, into rows and columns.

Religion in the Cosmological Ideas in Ukraine (from XI to XVII century)

Oksana Yu. Koltachykhina, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

In Ukraine in the early XIth century, a great authority, and the spread had a Byzantine texts. Ukrainian chronicles (beginning with the XI-XII) described the structure of the world. There were several options: Christian topography by Cosmas Indicopleustes, Shestodnev by John the Bulgarian, Chronicle by George Hamartolus. The astronomical interpretation of cosmological ideas, a system of Ptolemy, was stated in Izbornyk treatise. Courses of philosophy which were read in Ukraine in the first half of XVIII century were saturated with religious influence. Innocent Gizels philosophy course The work of the whole philosophy taught at the Academy in the 1645-1647 includes knowledge about all directions of philosophy. Chronologically, this work was the first course of philosophy, read at the Academy. Besides geocentric world system, Gizel I. studied the system of Copernicus. It was the first mention of the name of M. Copernicus in Ukraine. Theophane Prokopoviches work Physiophilosophy or physics defines the notion world. According to him, the world is the structure that consists of heaven, earth and other elements that are located between the heaven and earth. In other words, the world is the order and location of all that is saved God. Prokopovich acquainted with all common theories about the universe of that time. At the beginning, he taught the world system of Ptolemy. Then, he taught Copernicans system and the theory of Tycho. Despite the fact that in his course Th. Prokopovich taught various systems of the world, he believed that the world had been created by God. He mentioned that according to Holy Scripture, the world did not exist forever, Heaven and Earth were originally created'. So, Ukrainian schools gave students information about all existing at the time cosmological theories, but at the same time, religion had a big impact.

15

The reception of ancient astronomy in the early histories of astronomy

Daniel Spelda, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic

Considering the fact that in the history of astronomy there is a missing entry a history of the history of astronomy my contribution concerns the reception of ancient astronomy in the early histories of astronomy which began to appear during the 18th century. In particular, I will focus on the way the first historians of astronomy evaluated the historical importance of ancient astronomy. Some questions arise: How did they imagine the origins of astronomy? How did they assess the persuasiveness of ancient heliocentrism (e.g. Pythagoreans, Aristarchus)? Did they think that the history of astronomy ran in cycles of success and decline, or did they assume the existence of continual linear progress in astronomical knowledge? The answers of the early historians of astronomy to these questions will be commented upon by looking to the philosophical, anthropological, economical, and cultural ideals of the Enlightenment. My attention will focus particularly on these works: Bailly Histoire de lastronomie ancienne (1781); C. G. F. (anonymous) Geschichte der astronomie (1792); Cassini De loriginie et du progress de lastronomie (1699); Costard The History of Astronomy (1764); Esteve Histoire de lastronomie (1755); Heilbronner Historia matheseos (1741); Montucla Histoire des mathmatiques (1758); Weidler De ortu et progressu astronomiae (1741).

16

SYMPOSIUM 2

Around Henri Poincars Centenary: physics, mathematics and philosophy Organizers Christian Bracco, UMR Artmis, Universit de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, OCA, CNRS, Nice, France (associate researcher in the team Histoire de lastronomie, Syrte, Observatoire de Paris) Enrico Giannetto, Universit Degli Studi di Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy

Year 2012 will celebrate the centenary of the death of Henri Poincar (April 29th 1854 in Nancy, July 17th 1912 in Paris), who was one of the last great universal scientists. Not only Poincar has made important contributions to mathematics, celestial mechanics and mathematical physics, but he was also interested in philosophy, in diffusion of science and (less known) in science teaching. If everyone agrees to praise Poincars works in the field of mathematics, the situation appears to be more contrasted in the field of theoretical physics, due in part to an underestimation of the conceptual role of mathematics in physics and to an abusive recourse to conventionalism so as to specify his philosophy. We propose to focus this symposium on Poincar's last works in physics (the dynamics of the electron and the gravitation in 1905, and the quanta in 1911) on which he comes back, with a more philosophical point of view, in Mathematics and Science: Last Essays (1913). Poincars late contribution to the theory of quanta is not well known and his attitude towards relativity theory has suffered from repeated misconceptions concerning, either the Palermo Memoir and its logic, or his scientific popularizing texts which reproduce principally Lorentz approach with some additional pedagogical remarks, bearing no relation with the Memoir. In this text, the role of the electromagnetic conception of Nature needs to be clarified. More generally, this symposium aims to associate an analysis of the contents of Poincar's contributions to modern theoretical physics with a discussion of his scientific methodology, emphasizing his aptitude to operate unexpected relations between e.g. precise mathematical results or concepts and paradigmatic changes in physics.

Poincars 1905 Palermo Memoir: analysis of its logic and comparison with secondary texts Christian Bracco, UMR Artmis, Universit de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, OCA, CNRS, Nice, France (associate researcher in the team Histoire de lastronomie, Syrte, Observatoire de Paris)The analysis of La dynamique de llectron (The Palermo Memoir, submitted 23th July 1905, published January 1906), has been renewed recently . Although Poincar starts from Lorentz electromagnetic conception of matter, his approach, which is more intelligible through his letters of May 1905 to Lorentz, is quite original and modern, although different from Einsteins one: introduction of active Lorentz Transformations to account for the contraction of the electron (without any change of reference frame); call for a group condition restricting to Mechanics (by elimination of dilatations) the invariance properties of electromagnetism; emphasis of the role of action and its invariance to derive the relativistic Lagrangian; discussion of electron models in order to get an existence theorem. Due to the technical difficulty of the Memoir and for the sake of simplicity, many discussions on Poincars point of view on relativity rely on his conferences for large audiences. Unfortunately, such discussions may lead to misinterpretations because Poincar adopts there an historical Lorentzian approach (without quoting his own contribution) and because he

17

usually concludes them by the necessity to keep Newtonian Mechanics (only in the perspective of teaching). This talk aims to present the content and the logic of the Memoir and to compare it with his secondary writings.

Principles of Physics in Poincars thinking: from history to philosophy of science Isabel Maria Serra, Maria de Paz, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

In his paper The Principles of Mathematical Physics Poincar presented a historical overview of physics, describing its evolution from the physics of central forces to the physics of principles. Despite the crisis of physics in the late 19th Century, Poincar had great confidence that the principles could be preserved. He based this confidence in the historical evolution of physics in earlier centuries. It was precisely his knowledge of the history of physics which led him to hold some philosophical positions, such as conventionalism. However, Poincar was not the only philosopher-scientist to use the historical significance of the physical principles to support a philosophical conception. That is the case of Mach, who in his critical positivist insight, affirmed that Poincar was right in asserting that the mechanical principles are conventions. Taking into account the development of the history of science and its relevance for philosophy, we aim to compare Machs and Poincars views in the light of the role played by the physical principles. We also want to put forward how the use of the principles as a guide for theoretical research, led Poincar to important discoveries in science, such as the new mechanics in which he reveals the essential character of the relativity principle. As a result, our purpose is to show the success of his historical-philosophical methodology. Finally, we will reveal that in the year of the centenary, his ideas are still inspiring.

Poincars Space and Time Conference and his Attitude towards Relativity

Jean-Pierre Provost, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Eze, France

The conference Space and Time (in Mathematics and Science: Last essays) held by Poincar at the London university, May 4th 1912, two months before his death, is particularly interesting from the point of view of the Maths-Physics relation because it illustrates the influence of the new theory of relativity (to which he contributed in the 1906 Palermo Memoir) on his conception of geometry (formulated for example in Science and Hypothesis). For the first time, Poincar makes in this conference a comparison between geometry and Lorentz relativity. It leads him to modify his past point of view on geometry, the invariance of physical laws with respect to Lorentz group replacing now the role of Helmholtz solids for the definition of motions. Making a clear cut between what he calls psychological relativity (possibility of simultaneous deformations of objects and instruments known today as diffeomorphism invariance) and physical relativity (Lorentz one), he raises the question of the true convention which lies behind the principle of relativity. For him, this convention is the independence of local observers, a formulation which could be considered as insignificant (or axiomatic), if one forgot that it is precisely this independence which will be abandoned in the future gauge theories of interactions. These not well known positions of Poincar with respect to relativity may also enlighten what could have been Poincars attitude towards Einsteins geometrical formulation of relativistic gravitation.

18

Poincar and the Negative Results: an Attitude of Deconstruction

Thierry Paul, France

Twice at the two extremes of his life Poincar presented as negative two important results concerning first celestial mechanics and then quantum theory. In the (well known) first case Poincar let emerge the new paradigm of chaotic dynamical systems out of precise and tedious readings of astronomys computations. In the (much less known) second one Poincar not only proves the mathematical impossibility to obtain Plancks law of blackbody radiation from continuous energy exchanges but also the necessity of Plancks hypothesis. In both situations this aptitude of Poincar to associate paradigmatic changes in physics by a deep technical analysis of failures of reasoning seems to be one of the original signatures of his scientific methodology. The purpose of this talk will be to show how Poincars attitude with respect to negative results, especially his deep analysis of writings of the formulae, can be truly seen as a deconstruction of negative.

Scientific Generalization, Order and Compatibility between Disciplines in Poincars Thinking

Anne-Franoise Schmid, Universit de Lyon, Lyon, France

The philosophy of Poincar is usually analyzed discipline by discipline and not in its systematicity. So that it is difficult to understand exactly the limits of his conventionalism and its so called "inductivism". It has sometimes been told that Poincars positions with respect to Newtons or Einsteins mechanics were examples of his conventionalism (considered as a mark of his philosophy of science). In fact, paradoxically, although a convention is out of the reach of experiment, it seems that in Poincars mind a necessary condition for an assertion to become a convention is its confirmation by experiment. The convention becomes the philosophical link between science and reality. More generally, one might wonder whether Poincars attitude with respect to science (pragmatism, structural realism, reticence to axiomatism, conventionalism, continuity of ideas in an historical perspective) is part of a general philosophy. Poincar operates unexpected relations between scientific disciplines: it is the heuristic side of what he calls "decomposition" between the observed fact and the language chosen for its scientific generalization. Rather than a philosophy looking for classical criteria of scientificity, the posture of Poincar is the one of a thought which looks for compatibilities between different disciplinary languages (for example mechanics and algebra), on the condition of respecting an order between them. This talk aims to present the Poincars criterion of scientific generalization and his thinking about the value of science.

Poincar's Relativistic Dynamics and the Electromagnetic Conception of Nature

Enrico Giannetto, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy

The revolution in xxth century physics, induced by relativity theories, had its roots within the electromagnetic conception of Nature, yielding that light (electromagnetic field) is the only physical reality. It was developed especially by Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853-1928), Joseph Larmor (1857-1942), Wilhelm Wien (1864-1928), Max Abraham (1875-1922) and Henry Poincar (1854-1912), through a tradition related to Bruno and Leibniz physics, to the German Naturphilosophie and English xixth physics. Electromagnetic conception of Nature was in some way completely realised by relativistic dynamics

19

of Poincar on 1905, even if Poincar said relativistic dynamics could be indipendently true. Einstein, on the contrary, since 1907 linked relativistic dynamics to a mechanistic conception of Nature. Here, a comparison between these two conceptions is proposed to understand the conceptual foundations of special relativity within the context of the changing world views. A short look to Poincars electromagnetic quantum relativistic mechanics is presented.

20

SYMPOSIUM 3

Byzantine and post-Byzantine Alchemy: Principles, Influences and Effects Organizers Gianna Katsiampoura, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece Jennifer Rampling, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK Rmi Franckowiak, Universit des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, Lille, France

Historical research has traced the first written documents of alchemy back in the 3rd century AD. From the 1st to the 4th centuries, alchemical practice develops itself into an art of metallic transmutation and two distinct alchemical schools seem to emerge: the one, represented by Ostanes, is still based on the practical knowledge of craftsmen, blacksmiths and dyers, although a shift is being accomplished from chrysosis (giving to a base metal the appearance of gold) to chrysopoeia (transforming a base metal to gold); the other, represented by Zosimos and Maria the Jewess, assumes a religious, Gnostic orientation, putting the emphasis on the elaboration of distillation techniques. The period of Byzantium is a turning point, not only because there are many commentators of the ancient alchemical texts, but for the attempt, during the 10th century, to collect these texts and to articulate them in a coherent corpus, the surviving manuscript copies of which comprising, to our days, the main evidence for the emergence and the historical development of Greek alchemy. During the last decades, historians have shown that from the Renaissance onwards a field of knowledge concerning chemical phenomena begun to crystallize itself and to be differentiated from traditional chrysopoeia, in the sense that it implies more an experimental research of how physical bodies are composed or decomposed than a quest for the proper process of metallic transmutation. We may denote this field of knowledge by the term Chymistry. Key role in the articulation of chymistry played a kind of occultism which has developed at the end of the 15th century in Florence by Marsiglio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. What we may call Renaissance Occultism is the outcome of piecing together the fragments of many different ancient and medieval traditions. The whole construction, though, is a consistent one, aiming at the knowledge of nature in terms of becoming, and thus at the unfolding of the occult life of God, who permeates nature and is regarded as an emanative cause, tending, more and more, to be an immanent cause. Chymistry seems to emerge when this occultism gives an epistemic horizon to the late medieval, and especially Geberian, alchemy, in a way that henceforth the empirical knowledge of substances properties and natural principles has to be developed into the theoretical knowledge of material transformations. In this context, we will try to explore in this symposium the relationship between Greek, Byzantine and post Byzantine alchemy, as well the transformation of alchemical principles from Eastern to Western Europe.

Les traits techniques du corpus des alchimistes grecs

Robert Halleux, Universit de Lige, Lige, Belgium

Dans sa collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs, Marcellin Berthelot a regroup sous le nom de traits techniques un ensemble htrogne qui rassemble des fragments dauteurs connus (Zosime), des recueils de recettes anonymes et des traits darts et mtiers. Une analyse codicologique des

21

manuscrits M (Marcianus Graecus 299), B (Parisinus Graecus 2325) et A (Parisinus Graecus 2327) permet de dfinir exactement le contenu du corpus et den dater les lments qui schelonnent du IVe sicle au XVe sicle et refltent lvolution de la technique byzantine.

Which Kind of Alchemy is Handed down by the ms. 67 of the Aghios Stephanos Monastery of the Meteors?

Matteo Martelli, Humboldt Universitt zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

This paper would like to focus on a recently discovered alchemical manuscript, copied down in the 1503/504 and kept in the library of the Saint Stephen Monastery (Meteors), which has been not yet either fully described or taken into account in the recent studies concerning Greek and Byzantine alchemy. I would like to present a general introduction to its content, by focus my attention on the possible criteria used by the complier for selecting specific passages or specific texts from the precedent alchemical tradition. Particular attention will be paid to an interesting recipe book (ff. 180-202), for which the codex is one of the most important testimonies.

John Kanaboutzes Commentary on Dionysios of Halicarnassus: A Perception of Alchemy in a late Byzantine Text

Sandy Sakorrafou, Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece Gerasimos Merianos, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece

The so-called Alchemical Corpus does not exhaust the references on alchemy in Byzantine literature. Other texts of various literary genres designate Byzantines familiarity with what they considered to be an art. In this paper we study John Kanaboutzes reference on alchemy in his commentary on Dionysios of Halicarnassus. He wrote the commentary in the first half of the 15th c., and dedicated it to Palamede Gattilusio, the Genoese lord of Ainos and Samothrace. Kanaboutzes owned, among other, a manuscript containing the Testament of Solomon. Thus, his interest in alchemy was probably a manifestation in occult knowledge. Whether he practiced it or not is unknown. Kanaboutzes defines alchemy as (art of chymia). By the term (or any of its different spellings) Byzantines ascribed to what we call alchemy a certain philosophical and practical system. As his commentary is addressed to a Latin ruler, he shows interest in clarifying the etymology of the Latin-derived term (archymia), which is analyzed into arte and chymia. Accordingly, he defines the subject matter of the alchemical study in practical terms of the dissolution of metals. Throughout the passage in question he repeats that is a mystical, secret and sacred art. A notion that probably reflects the belief that alchemy has a ritual and occult character, identified with the subjection of supernatural forces in controlling nature, a knowledge which cannot be accessed by anyone. Yet, as the key-concept that penetrates the commentarys prooimion is , the relation of with the theoretical natural philosophy is revealed. Probably this judgement echoes the Byzantines attempt to connect alchemy with Greek philosophy, or the Latin approach, which considers alchemy as a science among others in the hierarchical structure of natural knowledge. For Kanaboutzes, the emphasis is given to the primary object of alchemical study, the transmutation of metals and minerals, which occurs with the aid of the lapis philosophorum. It is this knowledge of transmutation, often received as a result of divine inspiration, which places alchemy as a part of natural philosophy. It is noteworthy that the use of Latin terms is most likely related to Kanaboutzes dedication to Gattilusio, but still implies Western influence on Byzantine scholars at that time.

22

Ex Oriente Ignis: Incendiary Weapons Technology between Byzantium and Islam

Christos G. Makrypoulias, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

Of all the weapons in Byzantiums arsenal, Greek Fire is perhaps the best-known. Its appearance at the end of the seventh century is thought to have saved the empire from the Arab onslaught and its composition was regarded as a state secret not to be divulged to barbarians. The aim of this paper is to put the myth of the Greek Fire in its proper perspective, shifting through the various references in the sources in order to give an accurate picture of the incendiary weapons used by both Byzantines and Arabs, as well as of the scientific knowledge that was necessary to produce this level of military technology.

Athanasius Rhetor: a Greek in Paris, a Priest in Alchemy

Remi Franckowiak, Universit des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, Lille, France

Athanasius Rhetor, born in Cyprus in 1571 and died in Paris in March 1663 was certainly a particular and obscure personage among those who contributed to the intellectual life of the French capital in the second third of the seventeenth century. Greek priest of the Church of Constantinople who attended a Jesuit school before owing allegiance to the pope, settled by his love of learning in Rome in the 1610s, then in Paris in the 1620s Athanasius became the protg of the French Chancellor Sguier. He contributed to the development of his library (and of the Mazarins one too) by spending 10 years in acquiring hundreds of manuscripts in Mount Athos, Meteora, Constantinople and Cyprus, and by selecting manuscripts to be copied from the French royal library. He had an extensive knowledge of Greek philosophical and patristic literature, and published a series of philosophical works, one of which was against Campanella. He wrote other texts remained unpublished and based on Aristotles, Platos and especially Neo-Platonism inspired writings. Sguier appropriated Athanasius manuscripts and papers left behind at his death (remnants of his library went to the library of the Abbey of Sainte Genevive). Among these papers there were alchemical papers. It is certain that Athanasius writings have not received the interest which they deserve from the researchers, and they still remain quite ignored. But it is equally certain that his alchemical papers have never been studied nor even really read. These papers, most of them in Greek, represent a completely striking account, even unique, about a man whose classical and religious culture did not exclude an unquestionable interest for the alchemical subjects. We discover here a man who was being trained in a Western and Paracelsian alchemy particularly from Italian and French handwritten sources, who was encountering difficulties to translate in Greek some terms of substances and processes and was reluctant to take up a certain alchemical editorial style, who was carrying out operations of transmutation, who was in touch with Capuchins chemists, and who wrote down even a few Levantine alchemical receipts.

Cosmopoiesis as a Chymical Process: Jean d'Espagnet's Enchiridion Physicae Restitutae and its Translation in Greek by Anastasios Papavassilopoulos

Vangelis Koutalis, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece

The anonymous work Enchiridion Physicae Restitutae was first published in 1623 (according to some sources, there may have been an edition of 1608, but no copies of it are preserved). Its authorship is attributed to Jean dEspagnet (1564-1637), president of the parliament of Bordeaux, whom Pierre

23

Bayle, in his Dictionnaire historique et critique, calls one of the 17th century savants (Rotterdam 1695, p. 1095; 3rd edition, Rotterdam 1715, Vol. 2, pp. 1117-1118). It is a book exemplifying a strong conjunction between occult or Neoplatonist philosophy and empirical knowledge: natural phenomena are explained by recourse to the agency of certain primary chemical substances, while the order of nature is represented as following the pattern of Gods emanation, and Hermes Trismegistus, as well as the Scriptures, are considered as equally, if not more reliable authorities than Aristotle or Plato, in decoding the secrets of nature. Charting a middle course between David Gorlaeus atomism and van Helmonts chemical philosophy (according to the analysis of Lasswitz, Geschichte der Atomistik vom Mittelalter bis Newton, Hamburg, 1890, Vol. I, pp. 335-339), Espagnets restored physics is highly indicative of the way Renaissance occult philosophy (as developed by Mirandola, Ficino, and Agrippa) was utilised, during the 17th century, both as a theoretical background and as an epistemic horizon for the transformation of early modern alchemy into a new kind of philosophy, a renovated philosophy on nature. As an index of its influential role in the articulation of such a new philosophy, we will examine its manuscript translation into Greek by Anastasios Papavassilopoulos (middle of the 17th c. middle of the 18th c.), surviving in three copies, and dated 1701. This translation, which had been already preceded by translations into French, English, and German, was also the first, as far as we can tell, compendium of modern, non-Aristotelian natural philosophy rendered available in Ottoman Christian communities.

Chemical Medicine in 16th and 17th c. Europe: Remarks on Local, Religious and Ideological Connections

Georgios Papadopoulos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

Although the roots of chemical medicine could be traced back to the alchemy of the Middle Ages, its expansion during the 16th and 17th centuries was based to a great extent on the writings of Paracelsus. During this time its exponents formed a quite separated group that seemed to have connections to Protestantism although Paracelsus was never committed to the Reformation and e.g. Van Helmont remained a catholic until the end of his life. Although chemical medicine spread quickly over many European countries (France, England, Denmark etc.), a great deal of related activities seem to have been connected to German-speaking countries as documented e.g. by the appearance of publications or by the fact that the first chair for chemical medicine was established in a German university. On the other hand, it should be taken into account that a, so to say, hard core of exponents of chemical medicine (in which one should include Paracelsus, Van Helmont etc.) formed, by its own right, a separate group in view of their ideological (better: world view) background. This had possibly to do, to a certain extent, with their alchemical (or hermetic) roots or, in other words, with esoteric aspects of religious ideas; in this respect it is interesting to consider more closely the connection of their ideas with those of such personalities as Jacob Boehme. On the other hand many religious people not sharing these ideas were in fact their opponents. These conflicts and their ideological basis seem to have significant consequences for the further development this scientific domain. The paper aims to discuss the roles played by the mentioned connections and relationships and by their interactions on the development of chemical medicine in 16th and 17th centuries Europe.

Byzantine and post-Byzantine Alchemy: a Research Project in Progress

Gianna Katsiampoura, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece

In this presentation we report on recent progress and future work of a research program mainly concerned with the development of a digital archive of the works of and about alchemy in Byzantium and in the Greek-speaking communities of the Ottoman Empire and its educational as well as its cultural utilization. This project aims to address a significant gap in the current historiography of

24

sciences, by exploring and carefully mapping a vast unknown territory: that of Byzantine and post-Byzantine alchemy. The principal objective of the project is to reconstruct the history of alchemy in the Medieval and Early Modern Greek-speaking world, through the creation of a comprehensive, open access, digitized, and searchable archive of texts relevant to alchemy, written in Medieval or Modern Greek, from the period of Byzantium to the 18th century. More specifically the project aims to: a) Identify, collect, digitize, and classify all surviving manuscript primary sources relevant to the study of alchemy during the periods of Byzantium and of the Ottoman Empire. b) Identify, collect, digitize and classify the printed primary sources that are found to be relevant to alchemy. Thus, texts or passages extracted from texts, whose content is alchemical or at least refer explicitly or implicitly to alchemical practices, will be articulated in a coherent corpus of texts, so as the penetration of alchemical knowledge in different disciplines or arts to be illustrated. c) Collecting and classifying the secondary bibliography. d) Create biographical entries for every identifiable author, so as to map the actors of the history of alchemy, their roles in this history and the subjective positions pertaining to these roles. e) Evaluate, on the basis of the collected primary sources, the modifications or even transformations which Byzantine alchemical tradition has undergone through the passage of time, and to ascertain its relations with Hellenistic, Arabic, or (after the 10th century) Latin alchemy. f) Determine what twists in the development of alchemy have taken place after its introduction in the cultural context of Greek-speaking communities under Ottoman domination, from the 15th to the 18th century. Additional objectives of our project are the following: i) The enrichment of the history of Byzantium, drawing lines of connection between the historiography of Byzantine alchemy and that of the natural sciences in South-Eastern Europe. ii) The production of a historical material that is both profitable in terms of educational applications and suitable for activities tending to promote public awareness of the different temporalities that having been merged in the history of science and render the written monuments of this history tokens of a common cultural legacy. The project is under the patronage of the International Academy of History of Science.

25

SYMPOSIUM 4

Cartesian Physics and its Reception: between Local and Universal Organizers Delphine Bellis, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Mihnea Dobre, University of Bucharest, Bucarest, Romania In our symposium, we would like to address one of the most important receptions of a system of natural philosophy in the seventeenth century. Namely, we shall focus on how Descartes physics has been commented and developed in a number of places, including France, Switzerland, the Low Countries, and England. The various ways in which Descartes philosophy influenced the seventeenth-century thought can hardly be overestimated. However, most of the studies on the reception of Cartesian philosophy in the second half of the seventeenth century focus on Descartes metaphysics. Our symposium aims at providing a fresh perspective on the reception of Cartesian physics and its development against various backgrounds throughout Europe. After Descartes death, new followers of his philosophy began to print their own thoughts; contributing to something that Dennis Des Chene notoriously called Cartesiomania. Yet, general Cartesian ideas became fertile in particular contexts which clearly influenced the way Descartes physics was understood, discussed, adopted, and modified, some of its dimensions being highlightened and some others being left in the shadow. Our team will explore several physically oriented Cartesians in an attempt to discern the influence of particular philosophical, political, institutional, and religious ideas upon the evolution of the new physics. For many of Descartes own contemporaries, his physics was considered as built upon the atomist theory. Alexandra Torero-Ibad will expose the various contextual reasons for this reception of Cartesian physics as atomism. Ren Sigrist will discuss the context of Calvinist Geneva, where Cartesian physics came to be adopted in its Acadmie. The diffusion of Cartesian physics in England through Rohaults Trait de physique and its association with Newtonianism will be presented by Mihnea Dobre. However puzzling this association may seem, it will be better understood if other earlier episodes are taken into account. For this, our symposium will discuss two other important contexts: Leibnizs early critique of Cartesianism (by Epaminondas Vampoulis) and Regius inner development of a more empirical approach to natural philosophy (by Delphine Bellis).

Descartes' Laws of Motion and Rules of Impact

Ricardo Lopes Coelho, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

The foundations of Descartes theory of motion consist of the law of conservation of the quantity of motion, three laws of nature and seven rules of impact (1644). As usually presented in the history of science, the first two laws form together the law of inertia and the third one is wrong. Only one of the seven rules of impact is correct. Due to this, Descartes has been criticised for decades by historians of science and philosophers as well (Tannery 1926, Dubarle 1937, Dugas 1954, Blackwell 1966, Costabel 1967, Hbner 1976, Szab 1977, Clarke 1979, Gabbey 1980, Jammer 1990, Garber 1992, among others). Moreover, the connection between the laws of motion and the rules of impact is a standard question of the literature (Garber 1992). The equations for the rules of impact (Coelho 2005) show, however, that Descartes theory of impact is mathematically coherent. Furthermore, this enables us to understand the role of the laws of

26

motion in founding the rules of impact. Understanding the laws in this way, it follows that the two first laws of motion do not form together the law of inertia. Nevertheless, they play a role within Descartes theory of motion, which is analogous to that which is played by Newtons first law in classical mechanics or Hertzs fundamental law in his mechanics (Coelho 2010). The link between the laws of motion and the rules of impact, based on the equations referred to, as well as the interpretation of the first two laws will be presented in this paper. The main topics of the criticism of Descartes physics will be addressed.

Spinoza and Cartesian Physics

Filip Adolf Buyse, CHSPM, Universit Paris 1 - Panthon / Sorbonne, Paris, France

Spinoza (1632-1677) was not a physicist in the strict sense of the word. There is no doubt, however, that he was very interested in Cartesian physics, especially during the early 1660s. Moreover, according to a letter of C. Bontekoe, the Dutch philosopher tutored several students of the University of Leyden in Cartesian physics during that period. Spinozas interest in physics is very relevant for his philosophy and its development, but is underestimated in the secondary literature. It is well known that Spinoza wrote an interpretation of Descartes Principia: the Principles of Cartesian Philosophy (PPC). The PPC had started with an interpretation of the second part of Descartes Principia the part Descartes often called ma physique. We will demonstrate via several examples that Spinozas text differs from Descartes, albeit in ways that are not obvious. Furthermore, we will show also that Spinoza applies the Cartesian physics in a much more radical way than does Descartes (1596-1650) himself. Spinoza dealt with physics again in the second part of his main work, the Ethics, in the so-called Short Treatise on Physics. We will examine this treatise in comparison with the PPC. As we will see, the physics in The Ethics is different and less Cartesian than the physics in the PPC. There is thus an evolution in Spinozas physics. We will concentrate on the principle of inertia to illustrate this. Furthermore, we will argue that Spinoza very probably changed his physics under the influence of Hobbes De Corpore, which had been published in Amsterdam by Joannem Blaeu between the publication of the PPC and the redaction of the Ethics.

Leibniz and Descartes' Physics

Epaminondas Vampoulis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

Studying Leibnizs attitude towards Descartes physics means having to deal with a complicated issue. This is so mainly because this relation is a relation between two different kinds of thought. What makes things even more complicated is the fact that Leibnizs relation with Cartesian physics is closely related to the evolution of his own philosophy. One can quite easily trace back the steps of Leibnizs initiation to Descartes physics by following his correspondence. Additionally, any researcher of our times who wants to examine this issue in every detail is in possession of sources which are even more precious from the point of view of their content, sources revealing Leibnizs thoughts concerning the principles of Descartes physics: we have Leibnizs own remarks on Cartesian texts of great importance. Thus, we are in possession of two sets of remarks on Descartes Principia Philosophiae, remarks written during two different periods of Leibnizs career. While examining these remarks one can approach Leibnizs critique of Descartes through the lens of a comparative study which will reveal the points on which Leibnizs critique focuses as his thought evolves. In this paper we will try to shed some light on Leibnizs positions concerning the major issues developed in Descartes texts on natural philosophy. These issues include the problem of the nature of matter and the reduction of matter to extension; the problem of the definition of force; the problem of the laws of collision between bodies; the problem of the limits of mechanical philosophy.

27

Concerning all these issues the principles Leibniz chooses as a starting point for his thought are very different from those proposed by Descartes. But at the same time his writings are in a constant dialogue with Descartes natural philosophy and the basic premises underlying Cartesian physics. This dialogue serves, in fact, as the ground upon which Leibniz has built his own physics.

The Reception of Descartes Physics as an Atomism in 17th century Natural Philosophy

Alexandra Torero-Ibad, Paris, France

Descartes strongly opposes atomism, and especially the indivisibility of atom and the existence of void. However, his philosophy has been compared to atomism by some of his contemporaries, not only in the 1630s, but throughout the 17th century. Indeed, such assimilation comes from distortions and misinterpretations. It can also be explained by the controversial nature of some of these readings whether this comparison being malevolent or benevolent. However, such a reception has something to tell us about Cartesian natural philosophy. Without forcing Descartes into an atomist, it leads us to pay attention to some actual common points. Beyond, and in the very transformations and distortions, it can offer new keys to enter Descartes system itself. The posterior attempts to bring closer Descartes and atomists, such as Cordemoys and Boyles, can also bring to light some possibilities offered by the system, as well as some major internal tensions. Putting aside the assimilation of Descartes to atomism which belongs to religious controversies, I will focus on the philosophical reception. I will consider both the interpretations of Descartes as an atomist, and the uses of Descartes physics in an atomistic perspective. Beyond the question of the truth and the falsity of these interpretations, I will pay attention to the mechanisms of displacements, cuttings and reorganizations. Besides, I will try to study these receptions in the perspective of an interrogation on Descartes physics itself: what is at stake is to understand how the contrasted relation of Descartes physics to atomism (with consideration to both what opposes them and what brings them together) could be constituent of its elaboration and of its own legacy.

The Role of the Dutch Context in the Function Ascribed to Experience in Cartesian Natural Philosophy (the case of Regius)

Delphine Bellis, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

Regius was one of the first followers of Descartes and was mainly interested in natural philosophy and physiology. Nevertheless, the collaboration between the Dutch and the French philosophers ended up in 1646 when Regius decided to publish his Fundamenta physices. In the Conversation with Burman, Descartes reproaches Regius with his unwillingness to provide a demonstration of the way the organisation of the cosmos can be deduced from the first principles of physics (that is essentially extension and movement), contrary to what Descartes attempts to do in the third part of his Principia philosophiae. According to Descartes, this theoretical attitude is linked to Regius rejection of any metaphysical commitment. But this difference in the attitude of both philosophers also originates from a different understanding of experience. To a certain extent, Descartes does not fully understand the contextual reasons, political, academic, and above all religious, that play a role in Regius approach to natural philosophy. These have specific consequences on the function ascribed to experience for the constitution of natural philosophy. Indeed Orthodox Calvinists such as Voetius, while downplaying to a certain extent the power of reason, insist on the use of the senses in the constitution of knowledge as a way to counter some dissident reformed (sometimes seen as enthusiast) movements. They particularly stress the empiricist elements in Aristotles theories. The senses are therefore a source of knowledge, but also a way to control the validity of any theoretical statement. Whereas for Descartes, experience has no value independently from the possibility to be linked to all the phenomenal aspects of the world through a series of demonstrations, Regius elaborates an empiricist psychology and epistemology and considers experience as a source of

28

factual information on nature. For Regius, nature is a set of facts which can be considered independently and accounted for from mechanical principles. My aim will therefore consist in tracing empiricist elements in Regius natural philosophy back to the specific context that can account, at least in part, for them.

Aboa Aristotelico non-Cartesiana. Cartesian Physics and Strategies of Stability in the 17th-century Sweden

Maija Kallinen, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

Ren Descartes died at the court of Queen Christina in Stockholm in February 1650. His philosophy did not, however, land to Swedish seats of learning through his actual presence. Cartesian philosophy was imported to the flagship of Swedish universities, the University of Uppsala, by medics such as Olof Rudbeck in the 1660s. Disputes on the validity of Cartesian principles and the right to teach non-Aristotelian views were conducted in Uppsala in the 1660s and especially in the 1680s. Whether the teaching of Cartesianism should be allowed was not debated within the walls of the academia only, but the matter escalated into a power struggle between Faculties at the University of Uppsala, the Church of Sweden, and the estates convening at the Diet and no lesser authority was required to settle the dispute but the King of Sweden in 1689. On the other side of the Bothnic Gulf, at the University of bo (Turku in Finnish), such blatant disputes were carefully avoided. This was not due to ignorance of Cartesian philosophy, for theologians from bo were in fact active in discussing Cartesianism at the Diet in Stockholm. Moreover, Cartesianism was very thoroughly and cleverly attacked in a dissertation published in bo in 1661, about a year before any disputes began in Uppsala. My paper discusses the strategies of stability used by bo scholars to maintain their Aristotelianism intact from Cartesian or any other infection. Despite outspoken hostility towards novelties, I will show how bits and pieces of Cartesian physics were nevertheless introduced at bo, and integrated into the otherwise overtly Aristotelian natural philosophy. My paper discusses the question how and why it was possible, in an intellectual culture otherwise hostile to Cartesianism, to favor Cartesian physical theories without causing any argument about it.

Mixing Cartesianism and Newtonianism: the Reception of Cartesian Physics in England

Mihnea Dobre, University of Bucharest, Bucarest, Romania

In 1671, Jacques Rohault published his Trait de physique, a textbook on physics relying on his weekly conferences held in Paris. A good mathematician and at the same time a curious experimenter, Rohault was one of the main Cartesian figures of his time. His natural philosophy was quickly disseminated through translations of his book. The first was issued in Geneva, in 1674, when Thophile Bonet made a Latin translation, which was later used in various European universities, including Louvain, Leiden, and Cambridge. The importance of disseminating Cartesian ideas reveals important themes in the history of science and Bonets translation pictures an important lineage between Cartesian and Newtonian ideas. This Latin edition was used in England up to the end of the century and some of the first-generation Newtonians were learning physics from it. Not only that Rohaults physics has become an important textbook in Cambridge, but also, in 1697, a fresh translation was made by the celebrated Newtonian, Samuel Clarke. What is of great historical interest in Clarkes new translation is that he commented the text, making a mixture of Newtonian and Cartesian ideas. This edition was published a number of times in both Latin and English surviving up to the 1730s despite the increased Newtonian context. In my paper, I shall explore this puzzling fusion of Cartesianism and Newtonianism. A particular attention will be devoted to Rohaults experimental approach of some problems and to how Clarke commented on them. The experimental culture of the Royal Society will play an important role for

29

this reception, as I shall argue in the case of some experiments; for instance, the ones with air-pumps, which, at that time, were very fashionable on both England and the continent.

Cartesianism in a Calvinist Context: Geneva (1670-1720)

Ren Sigrist, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

Because of the orthodox character of the 17th century Calvinism in Geneva, the teaching of Cartesian philosophy was not introduced in the local Acadmie before 1669. Yet, given the strong connexions between theology and natural philosophy within this institution since the time of Thodore de Bze (1519-1605), Cartesianism had to fulfil the role devoted so far to Aristotelian scholasticism: that of providing a physical worldview compatible with the word of the Bible. Jean-Robert Chouet (1642-1731), the first Cartesian professor of philosophy at the Acadmie, had therefore to remain careful about the potential implications of his teaching for Calvinist theology. Yet, his defence of the libertas philosophandi took the form of weekly public lectures where current physical topics were examined through the means of experimentation. In academic teaching as well, a growing number of Cartesian explanations and principles had to be abandoned in favour of physical concepts borrowed from Leibniz, or later from Newton. After 1686, the crisis of Calvinist dogmatic theology opened new perspectives to Cartesianism and to natural philosophy in general. If some theologians remained seduced by the deductive and systematic character of the Cartesian method, others thought that the best means for fighting deists, sceptics and atheists was to develop the rational side of theology with the help of the critical methods of natural philosophy. Jean-Alphonse Turrettini (1671-1737), for instance, considered the Cartesian method expressed in the Discours de la mthode as containing the best precepts to guide human reason and to enlarge the capacities of the mind; he also saw in geometry the best means to convey clear and distinct ideas and to give exactness and precision in the conduct of investigations. These principles guided the 1703-04 reforms of the Acadmie curriculum, whereby natural philosophy and mathematics were introduced as the basis of intellectual training of pastors and magistrates. Inspired by Boyle, Genevan natural philosophers had themselves developed a tendency to insist on the harmony between faith and reason and to underline the usefulness of philosophy to prove Gods existence. The hypothetico-deductive method, as illustrated by Nicolas Fatio de Duilliers theory of zodiacal light, remained their favourite tool of investigation, although Chouets successors also introduced some experiments in their teaching of physics and a few observations of the heavens in their astronomy courses. By applying the Cartesian method of systematic doubt to the Cartesian principles themselves, they finally prepared the way to their gradual abandon in favour of a complete acceptance of Newtonian science (1718-1723). The aim of my presentation will be to analyse the methodological impact of Cartesianism in its various methodological interpretations (deductive, hypothetico-deductive method, critical), and the significance of experimentation within each of these different options. A concluding section will be devoted to the persistence, among a few scholars, of a mechanistic mentality of a Cartesian type even after the acceptance of Newtonian science in the early 1720s.

30

SYMPOSIUM 5

Cultural Identity and Trans-Nationality in the History of Science Organizers Kapil Raj, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France Kenji Ito, Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai), Kanagawa, Japan

Studies in the history, sociology and anthropology of science have in recent decades increasingly and convincingly shown that scientific research is based not only on logical reasoning but, like in the practical crafts, at least as much on locally specific and historically contingent pragmatic judgment. Local circumstances and cultures are thus as crucial to the understanding of scientific practices as are the wider shared values and transnational connections that make it possible for these spatially specific ideas, texts, practices, norms, instruments, procedures, protocols, personnel and materials to travel beyond their site of invention to cross and transcend national boundaries to other parts of the globe. Indeed, the very construction of these shared values and transnational connections is itself an integral part of scientific practice and its history as also is the seemingly contradictory strategy of simultaneously seeking to construct national and cultural identities through the very same objects, theories and practices. Although this question of the mobility of locally shaped knowledge has been the object of much work in recent history and sociology of science, the focus of these studies has been limited preponderantly to Western Europe and North America. Besides, their studies have tended by and large to seek in the objects, practices and norms certain inherent qualities such as fluidity or the appropriate mix of plasticity and robustness that ensure their transnational capacities and cultural specificities. This symposium will eschew this idea of intrinsic qualities that favour circulation. Based on individual case studies from across a wide range of spaces within and beyond the West, it is aimed at bringing out the methodological and historiographical issues involved in the problematic of circulation, while at the same time attempting to deparochialise the debate. This symposium is planned and supported by the International Association for Science and Cultural Diversity (IASCUD) and joined by the International Commission on Science and Empire.

Towards a History of the Historiography of Circulation of Knowledge

Karine Carole Chemla, REHSEISSPHERE, University Paris Diderot, CNRS, ERC Advanced Grant SAW "Mathematical Sciences in the Ancient World", Paris, France

In his research on the history of science in China, most notably in Science and Civilisation in China, Joseph Needham gave the issue of the circulation of knowledge a key role. He made his motivations explicit in the authors note that he inserted at the beginning of volume V.4 (1980, p. xxxvi), where we read: There is a danger to be guarded against, the danger of () denying the fundamental continuity and universality of all science. This could be to resurrect the Spenglerian conception of the natural sciences of the various dead (or even worse, the living) non-European civilisations as totally separate, immiscible thought-patterns, more like distinct works of art than anything else, a series of different views of the natural world irreconcilable and unconnected. Such a view might be used as the cloak of some historical racialist doctrine, the sciences of pre-modern times and the non-European cultures being thought of as wholly conditioned ethnically, and rigidly confined to their own spheres,

31

not part of humanity's broad onward march. However, it would leave little room for those actions and reactions that we are constantly encountering, those subtle communicated influences which every civilisation accepted from time to time" (my emphasis). These lines capture the issues at stake for Needham, when he chose to lay emphasis on questions of circulation of knowledge. They also illustrate a specific way of approaching these questions. The talk sketches Needhams practice of the history of science on this point. It more generally outlines a research program on the history of the historiography of the circulation of knowledge from the 18th century on, paying attention to specific issues, such as: What motivations can we identify that various practitioners of the history of science of the past had, when they addressed such questions? What was their historiographic practice in this respect? In which terms, with which concepts have they framed their inquiries?

Questioning the Transfer

Aleksandra Majstorac-Kobiljski, CECMEC, CNRS/EHESS, Paris, France

In 1895, Shimomura Ktaro quit his job as professor of chemistry and the head of the Harris School of Science at a missionary college in Kyoto and started learning French. Five years later, using Belgian technology he successfully set up Japan's first by-product coking plant in Osaka. What looked like a simple technology transfer was in fact a very creative process as he had to do far more than order sixteen coke ovens in Bruxelles and have them assembled in Japan. In fact, the imported ovens were useless for his purpose because they were made with good quality coal i