Galileo gleanings : XVI: Semicircular fall in the Dialogue / Stillman Drake.
Abstract:
A reconsideration of Galileo's bizzarria in the Dialogue, relating to the true path of a falling body on a rotating earth, dissociates it from the question of projectile trajectories. An explanation is offered for certain misinterpretations that began with Mersenne and Fermat during Galileo's lifetime. The related question of 'circular inertia', as applied by Galileo in this unique passage, is shown to stand in need of reinterpretation in the light of this analysis
Physis A. 10, fasc. 2 (1968), p. 90-100