Un'analisi della bizzarria di Galileo / Umberto Barcaro.
Abstract:
In a passage of the Second Day of the Dialogue Galileo attempts to prove that the falling motion of a heavy body, observed in a fixed refecence system not rotating with the Earth, is uniformly circular. The reasoning is clumsy and inexact, while the conclusion, which Galileo defines as a "Bizzarria", is simply absurd. If, in a strictly literal sense, the passage has little scientific value it is extremely valuable metaphorically since it provides a clear representation of the essential aspects of Galileo's scientific method. Studying the Bizzarria as a metaphor not only brings its true meaning to light but leads to specific results, for example the identification of "implicit hypotheses", these allow for a clearer understanding of certain aspects of Galileo's science, which are difficult to grasp by means of a strictly literal reading of the text. A metaphorical reading also leads on to the conceptual reference to other themes of Galileo's physics the underlying significance of these themes, as also that of the Bizzarria, can only be understood while bearing this reference in mind
Nuncius A. 8, fasc. 1 (1993), p. 27-39