Laird sets Moletti's Dialogue within the historical background of medieval and Renaissance mechanics, sketches the life and works of Moletti, and analyses the arguments and the geometrical theorems of the Dialogue.
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Front Matter Front Matter (pp. i-vi) -
Table of Contents Table of Contents (pp. vii-viii) -
List of Plates List of Plates (pp. ix-ix) -
List of Figures List of Figures (pp. x-x) -
Preface Preface (pp. xi-2) -
Introduction Introduction (pp. 3-62)It is a melancholy fact that most of works begun by Giuseppe Moletti were left unfinished at his death. His extant papers brim with the hopeful beginnings of numerous treatises and commentaries on all the diverse subjects that were proper to themathematicusof the sixteenth century, yet few of these are complete in manuscript, and fewer still were printed. Only four separate works were ever published under his name: an introduction to geography, which was printed with a translation of Ptolemy’sGeography; anEphemerides; a book of astronomical tables; and a treatise on the reform of the calendar.¹ A...
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[Plates] [Plates] (pp. 63-66) -
THE DIALOGUE ON MECHANICS THE DIALOGUE ON MECHANICS (pp. 67-181)Signor AN. Queste tante machine et questi tanti stromenti ch’ io veggo in questo luogo di Vostra Altezza mi fanno venire à mente una disputa ch’ io udi fare un giorno ad alcuni ingegneri et architetti insieme intorno à molte forze. Si domandavano l’ un l’ altro diverse cose, et tra le principali, l’ uno di loro ricercava all’ altro la cagione perché due pezi d’ artiglieria inequali ma così conditionate che l’ uno d’ essi porti minor balla, ma sia più lungo dell’ altro, tirerà di mira più lontano, et farà meno botta dell’ altro. Et l’ altro rispondeva,...
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APPENDIX: The Holograph Fragment on the Subject of Mathematics APPENDIX: The Holograph Fragment on the Subject of Mathematics (pp. 183-198) -
Glossary Glossary (pp. 199-200) -
Bibliography Bibliography (pp. 201-210) -
Index Index (pp. 211-222)