Mechanical Philosophy: Science of Mechanics

Abstract

Sixteenth-century Europe showed a marked rise in attention for machines as objects for theoretical reflection. Medieval society had a rich material culture involving both traditional instruments and striking new inventions (White 1962). Scholastic philosophers were familiar with some Alexandrian and Arabic texts treating the principles of the science of weights, to which authors such as Jordanus Nemorarius offered further developments (Moody and Clagett 1952). But there are no signs of the specific mode of articulation between material practice and theoretical