Questions tagged [16th-century]
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7 questions
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Exhaustion method blocked by religious aspects?
Eudoxus developed the exhaustion method for calculating areas that continued with Archimedes and then only in the 16th century with Simon Stevin and Buonaventura Cavalieri. Why did it take so long? ...
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How critical were Tycho Brahe’s accurate observations?
I am speculating about the value of Tycho Brahe’s - for his time - accurate observations and Kepler’s calculations.
Might it have been possible for Kepler to formulate his laws based on Ptolemy’s ...
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What was the first "scientific", non-photographic depiction of Earth as seen from outside of Earth?
For a long time now, I've been thinking about this: when was the first painting, illustration or depiction of any kind where our planet Earth is seen as a sphere in space? Possibly even from the Moon?
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How was the term speed treated in the 16th and 17th centuries?
What did people in the 16th and 17th centuries mean by the term speed? Did they have
$$\text{speed} = \frac{ \text{distance} }{ \text{time} }$$
back then? Or did they have some other notion of speed ...
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How was stellar parallax tested by Tycho Brahe?
Explanations of stellar parallax that I have found involve examining the apparent motion of a nearer star relative to a background of more distant stars, as the Earth moves around the sun or as the ...
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How did artillery and physics co-evolve during 1400-1700?
Artillery was established in Europe around the year 1400. But physics, the mathematical and systematical description of how objects fall, the foundation of engine construction, didn't dawn until about ...
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What was the typical format of a 16th century mathematical debate?
In The Equation that Couldn't be Solved, Mario Livio writes of academia in 16th century Bologna. Apparently, mathematicians would take part in public debates, sometimes involving solving problems. ...
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