De Motu: The History of the Understanding of Motion, from Aristotle to Newton

This excursus reviews the conceptual basis of the classical theory of motion from Aristotle in Hellenic science, through the medieval theory of impetus, to the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. The concept of impetus became central in physics after Aristotle and served as a mediator between Aristotelian and Newtonian mechanics. Familiarization with older theories provides the latter with both conceptual and cultural perspectives and encourages organizing knowledge while preserving a scientific discourse of ideas in science. Pioneers in the theory of motion were philosophers and enthusiasts of exploration of reality in an objective sense. Our depiction and analysis address not only the subject matter but also the employed epistemology, the type of evidence practiced, and the reasoning used—the method of science. We argue that understanding physical ideas is reached through comparison with older ideas, through acquaintance with the intellectual products of bright minds from the past who suggested other theories of motion and essentially contributed to scientific progress.