When Isaac Beeckman (1588–1637) was introducing the young René Descartes to mathematical physics in Breda in 1618, he gave him exercises to help him develop his skill in this new discipline. One of those exercises was to derive the hydrostatic … Continue reading →| The Renaissance Mathematicus
Some time back I wrote about the engraver and instrument maker Augustine Ryther (fl. 1576–1593), who stood at the beginning of a dynasty of instrument makers in the Worshipful Company of Groce…| The Renaissance Mathematicus
3 posts published by thonyc during September 2025| The Renaissance Mathematicus
Many people who write extensively about René Descartes concentrate almost exclusively on his philosophy and his hyped up, supposed role as the father of modern philosophy. However, he wrote extensively about a wide spectrum of scientific topics, including mathematics, optics, … Continue reading →| The Renaissance Mathematicus
This post is a first attempt to answer a question that came up when I was rude, not for the first time, on social media about Jim Al-Khalili’s book The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Save…| The Renaissance Mathematicus
On 31 August the New York Times published an opinion piece under the following title: Historians See Autocratic Playbook in Trump’s Attacks on Science From the headline illustration it was very obvious in which direction at least one part of … Continue reading →| The Renaissance Mathematicus
In his book, The History of the Barometer (The Johns Hopkins Press, 1964), W. E. Knowles Middleton whilst discussing the contact between Isaac Beeckman (1588–1637) and René Descarte…| The Renaissance Mathematicus
In the last post in this series, we took an in depth look at the career of the English mariner Sir Robert Dudley (1574–1649). This ended with an account of the scientific instruments that he left b…| The Renaissance Mathematicus
3 posts published by thonyc during August 2025| The Renaissance Mathematicus
We have already looked at the philosophical motivation behind the mathematisation of science in the early modern period as well as the impetus supplied by the mathematical practitioners but there i…| The Renaissance Mathematicus
Originally posted as a comment on a Facebook post, a wonderful truth expressed in a few words by the man who was responsible for me starting this blog, historian of biology John Wilkins. As I ha…| The Renaissance Mathematicus
4 posts published by thonyc during June 2025| The Renaissance Mathematicus
Back in 2020, I wrote a very positive review of Benjamin Wardhaugh’s fascination volume, The Book of Wonder: The Many Lives of Euclid’s Elements. This led me to also writing a positive review of Reading Mathematics in Early Modern Europe of which Wardhaugh was both a … Continue reading →| The Renaissance Mathematicus
Today we look at the life and work of the physicist and mathematician, Evangelista Torricelli (1608–1647), who is the second member of what I have termed the Galilei-Castelli school of mathema…| The Renaissance Mathematicus
Just another WordPress.com weblog| The Renaissance Mathematicus
4 posts published by thonyc during February 2025| The Renaissance Mathematicus
Have written far too many words damning Kate Kitagawa & Timothy Revell’s The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Global History of Mathematics & Its Unsung Trailblazers (Penguin,…| The Renaissance Mathematicus
As I stated at the start of the last episode both Niccolò Leoniceno (1428–1524) and Pandolfo Collenuccio (1444–1504), in their dispute over the quality, or lack of it, of Pliny’s His…| The Renaissance Mathematicus
