Academic literature on the topic 'Astronomicon libri'

The Astronomicon libri of Basinio da Parma is the first Latin astronomical poem written during the Italian humanism movement. According to the information we possess, Basinio composed the poem at the Malatestian court in 1455. It is usually believed that the work is nothing more than an “imitation” of Aratus’s Phaenomena or Hyginus’s De astronomia, and that it lacks real scientific competence in the astronomical and astrological fields. This article, however, aims to present a brief analysis of the poem by examining the results that have emerged through the preparation of its new critical edition. In particular, thanks to both the recognition of a new Basinio autograph and the Greek glosses inserted therein, this article will show how Cleomedes’s Greek astronomical treatise, Μετέωρα (Caelestia), can be considered the main source of Basinio’s Astronomicon libri.

Abstracttitle SUMMARY /title Giovanni Giacomo Marinoni (Udine 1676 - Vienna 1755), of humble origins, lived in Italy and Austria as an official of the Empire. In the early Eighteenth century he embarked upon a brillant carreer as a mathematics teacher, a topographer and a military engineer. He set up and run a military school in Vienna, partly financed by the Crown. The curriculum of the school included many new technical skills. As a cartographer and surveying instructor he was in the region of Lombardy where he defended the interests of the Austrians. He built the first Viennese astronomical observatory, again only partly financed by the Crown. He was ennobled and created Imperial counsellor. As an habitue of the Republic of Letters he corresponded with many scholars and became a member of the London, Berlin and Saint Peterburg Academies. He published his own works and owned a rich library.

Abstract<title> RIASSUNTO </title>Nella sua Lettera alla Granduchessa Cristina Galileo considerava due miracoli astronomici della Bibbia (il sole immobile davanti a Giosuè, e l'ombra solare che si muove a ritroso sui passi [cioè la meridiana] d'Achaz), citando alcune discussioni di questi passi nella letteratura precedente. Dopo aver esaminato le relazioni tra questi testi e altri commenti antichi della Bibbia da cui essi dipendono, l'Autore dimostra che Galileo non ha probabilmente esaminato tutti e sette i testi in prima persona, ma che la sua fonte era in realtà il commento di Magalhaens al libro di Giosuè, pubblicato nel 1612 (il più recente dei sette in cui gli altri sei sono citati); e che, oltre alla confusione già esistente nei testi citati, Galileo ha ulteriormente confuso i riferimenti testuali.

RESUMEN: La Revolución Científica trajo consigo, entre otras cosas, la definitiva constatación del modelo heliocéntrico del universo, gracias a los nuevos descubrimientos astronómicos, propiciados, a su vez, por un nuevo instrumental óptico. En este trabajo estudiaremos algunas de las consecuencias de estos nuevos descubrimientos en la obra de Francisco de Quevedo, partiendo de la ideología barroca propia de obra y autor. Nos ocuparemos de tres cuestiones básicas y de las razones de aparición de las mismas: la pervivencia en Quevedo de una concepción geocéntrica del universo, a pesar de estar presumiblemente al tanto del nuevo modelo heliocéntrico; el uso de dos pasajes bíblicos de protagonismo solar procedentes de El libro de Josué y el Segundo libro de los Reyes; y el juicio quevediano sobre los nuevos instrumentos ópticos que permitieron descubrir la naturaleza heliocéntrica del universo. ABSTRACT: The Scientific Revolution brought with it, among other things, the definitive verification of the heliocentric model of the universe. It was due to new astronomical discoveries, promoted, in turn, by new optical instruments. This work pretends to study some of the consequences of these new discoveries in the work of Francisco de Quevedo. For this it will be analysed the baroque ideology that characterizes both, writer and work. We will discuss three basic questions and the reasons for their appearance: Quevedo's persistence of a geocentric conception of the universe, despite he was presumably aware of the new heliocentric model; the use of two biblical passages of solar prominence from The Book of Joshua and the Second Book of Kings; and the quevedesque opinion about the new optical instruments that made it possible to discover the heliocentric nature of the universe.

AbstractThe Philosophiae naturalis adversus Aristotelem libri XII of 1621 is the first textbook in natural philosophy to combine anti-Aristotelian arguments with explicit corpuscularianism. While its uniqueness resides in the pioneering role it played in the history of the neo-atomist movement, its fateful attraction lies in the almost complete anonymity of its author. No other novator in the history of early modern thought has been as elusive as the man known as Basso, Basson, Bassus, or Bassone. This essay consists of two parts. The first part places the Philosophia naturalis within its time and summarizes its main theories, emphasizing the larger themes and the tensions found between its conflicting accounts of causality. Special attention is drawn to Basson's dual approach to atomism, namely physical and theological, which are not complementary, but contradictory. The fortuna of Basson from his own age down to his current status in the history of science is examined next. In combination with his methodological heterogeneity, Basson's anonymity are found to have led to disparate assessments of his aims. In the current literature, Basson figures as a Neoplatonist, a pre-Cartesian occasionalist, the earliest molecular chemist, a Renaissance studioso, a Stoic philosopher and a Calvinist zealot. The second part of this essay tries to improve this situation. Recently discovered documents show that Basson, after a Jesuit education in the 1590's and subsequent medical studies, became a Protestant. He spent the years 1611 to 1625, to which our documents relate, at the smallest of French Huguenot academies in the mountain town of Die (Dauphiné) where he taught at the local Collège. An analysis of Die's difficult historical circumstances, of its little academy and its official natural philosophy, and finally of Basson's own uneasy sojourn in the Dauphiné elucidates several aspects of the Philosophia, notably the theological motifs in Basson's atomism, the outdatedness of his astronomical and optical expertise, the argumentative reliance on late scholasticism, its "eloquent" style, and the timing of the publication. Yet it is undeniable that the context cannot account for the Philosophia itself, whose relation to Basson's circumstances remains perplexing. The author's conflict with the Genevan censors demonstrates that an explanation of his views in terms of Calvinist theology alone cannot explain the contents of his book. Our findings point towards the variegated nature of the forces behind the neo-atomism of the early modern period, and they force us to reconsider the coherence of the movement itself and the motifs of its proponents.