Two Significant Works in the History of Science
Baldessare Capra, Usus Et Fabrica Circini Cuiusdam Proportionis, Per Quem Omnia Fere Tum Euclidis, Tum Mathematicorum Omnium Problemata Facili Negotio Resolvuntur, (in Latin) Bologna, heirs of Dozza, 1655, title page, 6 pp of prefaces and 80 pp of text
Galileo Galilei, Difesa di Galileo Galilei Contro alle calunie & imposture di Baldessar Capra, (in Italian) Bologna, heirs of Dozza, 1655, title page and extracted text paginated 83-160
$1,800, shipping included.
Both volumes contain multiple woodcut decorations to titles, woodcut initials, head-pieces and diagrams Both have been rebound in uniform, very attractive modern blind-stamped calf, and preserved in custom drop-back boxes, [Tomash & Williams C24 & G7], 4to
These are extracts from the first volume of the 1655-1656 Dozza (2nd) edition of Galileo's work The original edition was published in 1607
As described below, these scarce, paired works together document an important controversy of scientific history; Capra's work on the use and construction of proportional compasses and his plagiarism claims against Galileo and Galileo's successful refutation of those claims.
Provenance: Both volumes are from the collection of the prestigious Erwin Tomash Library of the History of Computing and bear the library's labels on the inside front covers
From Wikipedia:
Baldassarre Capra (1580-1626) was an Italian scientist who disputed Galileo's claim to priority of the discovery of Kepler's Supernova and also claimed to have invented the proportional compass, accusing Galileo of plagiarism
Capra's second confrontation with Galileo was sufficiently serious for Galileo to decide he needed to confront it openly In 1602 Capra and his father had asked Galileo to let them observe how his proportional compass worked. Although Galileo had not invented the instrument, he had made it much easier to use and had devised new applications for it. In 1605 the Capras had borrowed a Galilean compass for a time from their friend Giacomo Alvise Cornaro, and they spent time at the workshop of Marc'Antonio Mazzoleni, the craftsman who made Galileo's instruments for him By these means they were able to learn how the compass was made
In 1607 Baldassarre Capra published the tract Usus et fabrica circini cuiusdam proportionis, per quem omnia fere tum Euclidis, tum mathematicorum omnium problemata facile negotio resolvitur, which was more or less a translation into Latin of Galileo's 1606 work Le operazioni del compasso geometrico et militare Capra dedicated the work to Cornaro and used it to claim that he had invented the proportional compass himself Galileo had successfully defended himself against a previous charge of plagiarism fought against him in 1602 by a Flemish mathematician, so he could not afford to take Capra's claims lightly He therefore asked for the matter to be adjudicated by the rectors of the university.
During the hearing, Galileo was able to demonstrate not only that he had not copied Capra's work, but that Capra had copied his work, and where he had introduced original material of his own, he had introduced errors The testimony of Galileo's friend Paolo Sarpi was crucial to the hearing, and he declared that Galileo had given him a compass as early as 1597.
In the face of this, Capra stated that he was willing to apologize for his unfounded allegation of plagiarism by publishing a book in which he would acknowledge the offense caused to Galileo Galileo refused however, wanting to give the widest possible publicity to Capra's eventual condemnation The hearing continued and Capra's position was further weakened when he refused to demonstrate to the tribunal how the compass was used The rectors found him guilty and ordered that all copies of his book were to be destroyed, though some had already been sent outside the Republic of Venice Galileo published their verdict in his favour, as well as a tract entitled Difesa contro alle calunnie et imposture di Baldessar Capra (Venice, 1607), which showed how Capra's accusations were false.
Galileo apparently believed that it had been Simon Mayr who had instigated Capra's false claim, and in his great work The Assayerhe accused Mayr of having translated his instructions on the compass into Latin and then having them printed using Capra's name After the hearing Capra left Padua and returned to Milan where he continued to teach the use of the compass His disgrace was apparently not forgotten however, as in 1620 he was refused admission into the city's College of Medicine.
2. Andre-Marie Ampere, Essai sur la philosophie des sciences, Chez Bachelier, Paris, 1834 & 1843. (In French)
$800, shipping included
2 vol, First editions of this two-volume study by Ampere, notable for containing the first known use of the term "cybernetics"
Vol 1 1834, 272 pp, one folding chart after text
Vol 2 1843, 189 pp two folding charts after text
folding tables (a few small tears), marginal browning, attractive 19th century morocco-backed boards, joints a little rubbed, [Tomash & Williams A74], 8vo, Paris, Bachelier, 1834 & 1843
Provenance: The prestigious Erwin Tomash Library of the History of Computing (label inside front cover)
Andre-Marie Ampere(1775-1836) was a French physicist and mathematician who was one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as "electrodynamics" He is also the inventor of numerous applications, such as the solenoid (a term coined by him) and the electrical telegraph An autodidact, Ampere was a member of the French Academy of Sciences and a professor at the Ecole polytechnique and the College de Ferance The SI unit of measurement of electric current, the ampere, is named after him His name is also one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower
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