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Period: Oct 31, 1451 to
birth to death
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Nov 18, 1453
René Descartes' The World
René Descartes' The World, published 14 years after his death, present a theory whereby light is transmitted as pressure (a 'wave front') in a medium (consisting of a "subtle matter") that operates by contact, impact, and pressure. Descartes distinguishes between light 'as body' and light that we 'see' by suggesting that two different explanations be provided for the same phenomenon -
Nov 18, 1504
G-A Borelli's
In his Theories of the Medicean Planets G-A Borelli's (1608-1679) argues that planetary orbits result from an innate attraction to their centers and from a quasi-inertial tendency to remain in motion; it is a curious mix, as Borelli also argues that the two tendencies that give rise to planetary motion are somehow 'balanced'. -
Jan 1, 1515
Founding of the Accademia del Cimento
in Florence under the auspices of Prince Leopold of Tuscany and his brother, Ferdinando II; the Accademia thrived for about a decade but with fewer than half-a-dozen active participants, chief among them Borelli -
Jan 1, 1550
The Italian Marcello Malpighi
The Italian Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694) uses the microscope to observes capillaries joining arteries and veins. Malpighi showed in fine detail that blood circulates -
Jan 1, 1573
René Descartes' Treatise on Man is published
-- René Descartes' Treatise on Man is published posthumously arguing that human anatomy and physiology can be understood by means of mechanical principles -
Walter Charleton's presents atomism
Walter Charleton's (1620-1707) presents atomism to the English in his highly influential work .It now seems likely that this is the major source of Newton's information about Gassendi's work on atomism and the Frenchman's views on the probable character of knowledge -
Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens published yet another study of the pendulum clock, the brilliant and mature essay, Horologium oscillatorium (The oscillation of pendula). -
Huygens explains the changing appearances of Saturn as due to its being surrounded by a flat, thin ring of matter
Huygens explains the changing appearances of Saturn as due to its being surrounded by a flat, thin ring of matter. Controversy continued regarding how the appearances were to be explained and, perhaps more importantly, concerning the details of Saturn's inclination and the periodicity of its cycle. -
-- Christiaan Huygens provides still further information on his controversial pendulum clock
Christiaan Huygens provides still further information on his improved but still controversial pendulum clock yielding a substantial increase in accuracy, now a matter of seconds per day -
In Paris the Journal des Sçavans is published for the first time
1666 -- In his Theories of the Medicean Planets G-A Borelli's (1608-1679) argues that planetary orbits result from an innate attraction to their centers and from a quasi-inertial tendency to remain in motion; it is a curious mix, as Borelli also argues that the two tendencies that give rise to planetary motion are somehow 'balanced'.
