Physical-mathematical reasoning: Galileo on the extruding power of terrestrial rotation (Q1408664)

The paper deals with Galileo's refutation of an objection to Copernicanism that pertains to the topic of circular motion and the centrifugal forces connected to it. In a rotating system, all bodies have a tendency to move away from the center of rotation, as a consequence of the centrifugal force. Therefore it must be expected that all bodies will fly off the Earth's surface, and the Earth itself will disintegrate. The fact that this obviously does not happen was an argument of anti-Copernicanists against the theory of the rotation of the Earth. The author analyses the four criticism that Galileo advances against this argument in his \textit{Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems}. He concludes that Galileo's criticism includes purely physical reasoning, purely mathematical reasoning, and examples of reasoning that can be labeled physical-mathematical or applied-mathematical.