Mathematics and the Rise of Scientific Disciplines

数学与科学学科的兴起

• 批准号: 8708452
• 负责人: Steven Livesey
• 金额: $ 1.8万
• 依托单位: University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1987
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1987-07-01 至 1989-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8708452&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Mathematics; Rise; Scientific; Disciplines

The "Scientific Revolution" of the 17th century stands as a watershed in the development of world civilization. A major component of the transformation which took place at that time in the way we look at the world is what Andre Koyre called the geometrization of nature. In order to understand science and how it has developed, it is essential that we should understand how and why Western natural philosophers turned to mathematics as the key to unlock the secrets of nature. Galileo sounded the battle cry for this revolution, but why was he so moved to put mathematics in this special place? Dr. Livesey is investigating this issue and has found a possible source coming from a most unlikely direction, at least given our current expectations. Despite its supposed antipathy to science, Dr. Livesey hypothesizes that the source of the mathematization of nature came from theology| Specifically, he has found in the commentaries in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries to a theological treatise, Peter Lombard's "Sentences," discussions of the nature of science which allowed for the use of mathematics in the study of nature. Aristotle, except in very limited circumstances, proscribed in his "Posterior Analytics" the use of mathematics in science. With this grant, Dr. Livesey will seek to determine the dimensions of the movement stemming from these theological commentaries to create a mathematical physics. The project will be carried out in two stages. The first stage will examine an early commentary by John of Reading, a contemporary of William of Ockham. The second phase of the study will be a more comprehensive examination of the later developments leading up to Galileo. This study holds great promise to radically change our view of the processes of development of modern science and of the relationship of science and religion. ***

17世纪的“科学革命”是世界文明发展的分水岭。 当时我们看待世界的方式发生的转变的一个主要组成部分就是安德烈·科伊尔所说的自然几何化。 为了理解科学及其发展方式，我们必须了解西方自然哲学家如何以及为何将数学作为解开自然秘密的钥匙。 伽利略为这场革命吹响了战斗口号，但为什么他如此感动地将数学置于这个特殊的位置呢？ 利夫西博士正在调查这个问题，并发现了一个可能的来源来自一个最不可能的方向，至少考虑到我们目前的预期。 尽管利夫西博士被认为对科学反感，但它假设自然数学化的根源来自神学| 具体来说，他在 14、15 和 16 世纪对神学论文 Peter Lombard 的《句子》的评论中发现了对科学本质的讨论，这些讨论允许在自然研究中使用数学。 亚里士多德，除了在非常有限的情况下，在他的“后分析”中禁止在科学中使用数学。 借助这笔资助，利夫西博士将寻求确定源自这些神学评论的运动的维度，以创建数学物理学。 该项目将分两个阶段进行。 第一阶段将研究与奥卡姆的威廉同时代的约翰·雷丁的早期评论。 研究的第二阶段将对伽利略号的后期发展进行更全面的检查。 这项研究有望从根本上改变我们对现代科学发展过程以及科学与宗教关系的看法。 ***