In the world, everything is in motion
The Adventure of Physics
Before mathematics helped us to precisely study nature, physics was mostly expressed in qualitative terms, and if we could absurdly make a scientist of today meet a colleague from the Middle Ages or the early Modern Age, they would hardly find a common language.
The mediation of the classics in the academic field
The oldest manuscripts on display testify to the influence of Aristotelian theories on the masters of medieval universities: many of them were learned Franciscans. This dependence favored extraordinary creativity. The extensive commentaries on Aristotle’s works generated insights and scientific theories that were developed in the following centuries. The splendid illuminated manuscript displayed here contains the exposition of the English Franciscan William of Ockham on Aristotelian physics (Super libros Physicorum Aristotelis).
The transition to the modern age
Attention to nature in all its forms is not limited to the Middle Ages; even in the Modern Age, scholars of the Order were in contact with the most up-to-date scientific production, composing synthesis and commentary texts, enriched with tables, diagrams, and explanatory drawings in which, not infrequently, the intent was to provide original contributions to questions concerning the various branches of physics.
In the displayed volumes, one can observe how in this era the focus was on the connections between mathematical theory and practical applications in the physical field, from ballistics to mechanics, from electricity to magnetism. These works contain diverse cultures and legacies, including meteorological experiments, Renaissance magical experimentalism, modern Galilean experiments, and a real curiosity: the complete project of a flying ship.
The use of images
In the section, there are ten precious and suggestive tables bound together to form a fascicle, probably used by the Order’s masters to make physics lessons in the convent more effective. One of them stands out for curiosity and imagination, representing a bizarre “pneumatic machine.”