UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

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1 S E T T I N G A S I D E A L L A U T H O R I T Y

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3 Setting Aside All Authority Giovanni Battista Riccioli and the Science against Copernicus in the Age of Galileo INCLUDING THE FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF M O N S I G N O R F R A N C E S C O I N G O L I S essay to Galileo disputing the Copernican system, and the first English translation of R I C C I O L I S R E P O R T S regarding his experiments with falling bodies and with the effect of air resistance on falling bodies. C H R I S T O P H E R M. G R A N E Y University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana

4 Copyright 2015 by the University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana All Rights Reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Graney, Christopher M., 1966 Setting aside all authority : Giovanni Battista Riccioli and the science against Copernicus in the age of Galileo / Christopher M. Graney. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN (paperback : alkaline paper) ISBN (paperback : alkaline paper) 1. Riccioli, Giovanni Battista, Astronomers Italy Biography. 3. Jesuit scientists Italy Biography. 4. Copernicus, Nicolaus, Astronomy Italy History 17th century. 6. Science Italy History 17th century. I. Title. QB36.R386G dc The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

5 To my sister, Laura Kathleen Graney ( ), who had a great affection for the night sky, and who took great pride in her brother s work.

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7 Contents List of Illustrations and Tables Acknowledgments ix xiii 1 Giovanni Battista Riccioli and the New Almagest 1 2 The Universe that Riccioli Saw 9 3 The Anti-Copernican Astronomer 25 4 Stars and Adventitious Rays 45 5 Science against Copernicus, God s Starry Armies for Copernicus 63 6 Jesuits on the Tower Arguments An Angel and a Cannon The Telescope against Copernicus It Can No Longer Be Called False and Absurd 141 Appendix A: Francesco Ingoli s 1616 Essay to Galileo 163 Appendix B: Giovanni Battista Riccioli s Reports Regarding His Experiments with Falling Bodies 197 Notes 233 Works Cited 257 Index 265

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9 Illustrations and Tables Figure 1.1. Frontispiece of Giovanni Battista Riccioli s 1651 New Almagest. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries. 3 Figure 1.2. Details from the New Almagest frontispiece, showing Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus. Images courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries. 4 Figure 1.3. Detail from the New Almagest frontispiece, showing the world systems. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries. 4 Figure 2.1. The stars of the constellation Scorpius 11 Figure 2.2. The Moon partially eclipsed. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls. 21 Figure 2.3. Comparison of Earth s size to the distance to the stars 21 Figure 2.4. Diurnal parallax 22 Figure 3.1. Tycho Brahe s observatories. Images credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 27 Figure 3.2. One of Tycho Brahe s nontelescopic instruments. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 28 Figure 3.3. Astronomers Johannes and Elisabeth Hevelius using a nontelescopic measuring instrument. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 29 Figure 3.4. A vernier caliper. Image credit: M. Colcher. 29 ix

10 x Illustrations and Tables Figure 3.5. The hybrid geocentric hypothesis of Tycho Brahe. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 31 Figure 3.6. Annual parallax 33 Table 3.1. Tycho Brahe s apparent sizes of and average distances to celestial bodies 34 Figure 3.7. The relative sizes of celestial bodies calculated by Tycho Brahe 35 Figure 3.8. The relationship between the apparent size, the physical or true size, and the distance of a celestial body 36 Table 3.2. Tycho Brahe s apparent sizes of and average distances to the fixed stars 37 Figure 3.9. Brahe s calculated relative size for a mid-size star in the Copernican universe 38 Figure Paths of projectiles. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 39 Figure 4.1. The appearance of Venus changing over time, as seen by Galileo. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries. 55 Figure 4.2. Representations of Jupiter s cloud bands, from the New Almagest. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 58 Figure 4.3. A star as seen through a small aperture telescope. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 60 Figure 5.1. Illustrations of the Moon and Sun from Locher s 1614 Disquisitions. Images credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 65 Figure 5.2. Diagram of phases of Venus from Locher s 1614 Disquisitions. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 66 Figure 5.3. The Jovian system as illustrated in Locher s 1614 Disquisitions. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 67 Figure 5.4. Thomas Digges s sketch of the Copernican system. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries. 78 Figure 6.1. Pendulum diagram from the New Almagest. Image credit: ETH- Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 89 Figure 6.2. Riccioli s diagram of the Asinelli tower in Bologna. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 94

11 Illustrations and Tables xi Figure 6.3. Map of the Moon from the New Almagest. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries. 99 Figure 6.4. Detail from the New Almagest map of the Moon. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries. 100 Figure 7.1. Detail from Digges s sketch of the Copernican system. Image courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries. 109 Figure 7.2. Diagram from the New Almagest, showing Galileo s hypothesis regarding the motion of a heavy ball falling from a high tower. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 110 Figure 7.3. Diagrams from the New Almagest, showing the motions of falling bodies on a rotating, Sun-orbiting Earth. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 111 Figure 8.1. Diagram representing cannon shots on a rotating Earth 117 Figure 8.2. Figure from the New Almagest, showing the trajectories of a cannon fired to the north versus fired to the east. Images credit: ETH- Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 119 Figure 8.3. Diagram based on a sketch by Newton, showing an object dropped from a high tower on a rotating Earth 123 Figure 9.1. Riccioli s Jupiter and Saturn figures with comparison of the sizes of Sirius and Alcor. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 131 Figure 9.2. Riccioli s table of the telescopic sizes of stars, from the New Almagest. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 131 Figure 9.3. Riccioli s tables showing the calculated physical sizes of Sirius and Alcor from the New Almagest. Images credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke Figure 9.4. The effect, or lack thereof, of the telescope on the star size question. 136 Figure The Foucault pendulum at the Kentucky Science Center in Louisville 149 Figure Diffraction pattern formed by light passing through a circular aperture. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons. 155

12 xii Illustrations and Tables Figure A.1. A mechanical orrery. Images courtesy of Todd Timberlake, Berry College. 192 Figure B.1. Riccioli s diagram of the Asinelli tower in Bologna, with details. Image credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 202 Table B.1. New Almagest data table showing times and distances for eightounce clay balls dropped from varying heights 206 Table B.2. New Almagest data tables for pairs of balls dropped from the same height 210 Figure B.2. New Almagest data table showing times and distances for eightounce clay balls dropped from varying heights. Image credit: ETH- Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 221 Figure B.3. New Almagest data tables for pairs of balls dropped from the same height. Images credit: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Alte und Seltene Drucke. 224 Figure B.4. Plot of Riccioli s data from table B Figure B.5. Plot of Riccioli s four fully independent measurements from table B Figure B.6. Plots of distance travelled vs. time for two different balls falling through air 231