Molland G. Mathematics and the Medieval Ancestry of Physics 1995

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The central theme of this volume lies in the medieval consciousness of mathematics, and the variety of strategies adopted to apply it in other areas, notably natural philosophy. In diachromic terms, Dr Molland considers ways in which ancient mathematics (particularly geometry) was assimilated in the Middle Ages, and how it was radically transformed in the 17th century, especially by Descartes. A pervasive concern is with ideas of scientific progress: the author argues that medieval commentatorial and disputational modes encouraged probing attitudes to existing knowledge, aimed at deepening individual understanding, rather than more aggressive endeavours to advance public knowledge characteristic of later periods. What brought about this change is the subject of several studies here; others form more specifically on individual scholars, in particular the important figure of Roger Bacon.
Preface
An examination of Bradwardine's geometry
Campanus and Eudoxus; or, trouble with texts and quantifiers
Shifting the foundations: Descartes's transformation of ancient geometry
Implicit versus explicit geometrical methodologies: the case of construction
The geometrical background to the 'Merton School'
Richard Swineshead and continuously varying quantities
John Dumbleton and the status of geometrical optics
Cornelius Agrippa's mathematical magic
Ancestors of physics
Colonizing the world for mathematics: the diversity of medieval strategies
Roger Bacon as magician
Nicole Oresme and scientific progress
Medieval ideas of scientific progress
Mathematics in the thought of Albertus Magnus
The atomisation of motion: a facet of the scientific revolution
Continuity and measure in medieval natural philosophy
The Oresmian style: semi-mathematical, semi-holistic
Index