1. Mechanical Philosophy – A New Physics
Unit 3 - Day 5

2. Philosophers of a Mechanical Universe
Rene Descartes ( )
Born in Northern France to upper middle class family
Father is a prominent judge , wants him to become a lawyer; mother dies shortly after he is born
Attends school run by Jesuits (most intellectual of Catholic orders)
Goes on to study law at the University of Poitiers
As a young man, goes to the Netherlands and serves as a military engineer for the Dutch armies in the 30 years war
While there he devotes himself to mathematics and questions of epistemology – “I think therefore I am”
Writes a number of very well received treatises on the new mechanical approach to philosophy.
1649 invited to be chief philosopher to Queen Christina of Sweden. Dies of pneumonia in 1650.

3. The Cartesian “World”
Descartes becomes convinced of the correctness of the Copernican heliocentric cosmos. In 1630 he begins a book called “The World” (Le Monde) which attempted to account for heliocentrism using the principles of mechanical philosophy.
The trial of Galileo (1633), however, terrifies him and he keeps the book secret until after his death. Throughout his life he remains a committed Catholic.
1663 (13 years after his death) Pope Alexander VII places his books on the Index of Banned Books.
Diagram from Descartes “World’ showing how mechanical principles of the vortex (whirlpool) could account for the formation of solar systems.

4. Philosophers of a Mechanical Universe
Robert Boyle ( )
Born into high ranking English noble Family
Father is Earl of Cork
Travelled extensively in Europe in 1640s and meets many influential members of the scientific community.
Returns to England and founds a small group of scientific investigators (including Robert Hooke) who call themselves the “Invisible College”
1663 Charles II gives a royal charter to the group now called the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge
The Royal Society immediately becomes the most prestigious scientific community in England
Boyle devotes life to experimental inquiry, especially interested in chemistry, physics, alchemy, and theology

5. The Vacuum Pump and the “Spring” of the Air
Arguably the Royal Society was originally founded to support Boyle’s experiments which lead to the discovery of air pressure – which he called the “spring” of the air.
His proudest achievement and the most impressive experimental apparatus in the 17th century was the vacuum pump, which Boyle designed himself. The vacuum pump (or air pump) was, for its time, an unprecedented achievement of technical precision in an age before the development of machined parts.
More importantly it provided evidence against a fundamental principle of Aristotelian philosophy – the belief that “Nature abhors a vacuum.”
Famously Boyle and Thomas Hobbes (yes, that Hobbes) were involved in a fierce debate over the validity of Boyle’s findings.