Theory of impetus

1582 woodcut of artillery, by Walther Hermann Ryff [de]

The theory of impetus[1] is an auxiliary or secondary theory of Aristotelian dynamics, put forth initially to explain projectile motion against gravity. It was introduced by John Philoponus in the 6th century,[2][3] and elaborated by Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji at the end of the 12th century.[4] The theory was modified by Avicenna in the 11th century and Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī in the 12th century, before it was later established in Western scientific thought by Jean Buridan in the 14th century. It is the intellectual precursor to the concepts of inertia, momentum and acceleration in classical mechanics.

  1. ^ Duhem, Pierre (1913), "Physics, History of", in Charles G. Herbermann; Edward A. Pace; Condé B. Pallen; John J. Wynne; Thomas J. Shahan (eds.), The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, and History of the Catholic Church, vol. 12, New York: Encyclopedia Press, p. 51
  2. ^ Craig, Edward, ed. (1998). "Philoponus, John". Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, volume 7, Nihilism-Quantum mechanics. Routledge. pp. 371–377. ISBN 978-0-415-18712-1. ISBN is for volume 7, not the set.
  3. ^ Lindberg, David C. (2007). The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450 (second ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. pp. 307–308. ISBN 978-0-226-48205-7. Link to page 307 from Google's copy of 2008 reprint.
  4. ^ Samsó, Julio (2007). "Biṭrūjī: Nūr al-Dīn Abū Isḥāq [Abū Jaʿfar] Ibrāhīm ibn Yūsuf al-Biṭrūjī". In Hockey, Thomas; et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer Verlag. pp. 133–134. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. (PDF version)