Matter, Motion, and Quantity from the Late Renaissance to Early Modernity

SILVIA MANZO

Berlín

Conferencia; Scientific Questions Then and Now; 2022

Max Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte

In this presentation, I explore some questions on matter that were central during the transition from the late Renaissance to early modernity. I focus on the views of two important figures in this transition process: Francis Bacon and René Descartes. First, I address the question of the activity or inactivity of matter, which is directly related to the explanation of the origin of motion. Second, I set out the different ways in which the quantification of matter began to be introduced as part of the mathematization of nature. These two interrelated issues will allow us to attend to the articulation between theoretical knowledge and practical application, at a key historical moment that shaped a model of technological dominion over nature—with negative and positive consequences for nature and humanity right up to the present day.