Marin Getaldić – preteča novovjekovnog pristupa istraživanju prirode
Authors: Borić Marijana 
Published: December 2023

Mathematics was the focus of Getaldić’s work, not only in the development of mathematical methods and the establishment of new disciplines, but also in building a new approach to nature research based on quantitative approach, application of mathematics and experimental work, as opposed to the hitherto frequent conception of mathematics as an abstract discipline unsuitable for describing the physical world. He introduces mathematics into the research and description of natural phenomena, considering it the key to understanding the world and the most appropriate and unavoidable science in the study of nature. Getaldić’s approach to the study of nature is fully reflected in his work Promotus Archimedes. Getaldić’s style of presenting physical material using scale and the geometric method is an early hint of the spread of the geometric method to various areas of 17th century philosophy, and the paper places it into general philosophical frameworks. In addition to introducing mathematics into the description of physical problems, Getaldić emphasizes another important aspect of the work, and that is its experimental validity, made possible by real measurements. Seen from the perspective of intellectual history and the history of transfer of knowledge, Getaldić’s Promotus Archimedes is a significant contribution to the development of hydrostatics, in which he places himself alongside Galileo Galilei with the excellence of results and elegance of mathematical derivations. Getaldić, experimenting with hydrostatic scales and dealing with physical problems related to determining the relative weight, gave some of the best solutions and methods in the then current field of hydrostatics. Inspired by ancient sources (Archimedes, Euclid, Vitruvius, and others), Getaldić not only participated in the transfer of theories and knowledge from the ancient tradition with his work Promotus Archimedes, but also contributed significantly to the further development of hydrostatics through new knowledge and through the rich reception of his work Promotus Archimedes in the European scientific community of the 17th and 18th centuries. Getaldić was active at a time when the accumulated knowledge of ancient works and the spread of humanistic education outgrew the ancient tradition, and gradually through methodological transformation, modern science was founded and shaped. It took almost twenty centuries for the ancient methodology and approach to the study of nature, complemented by knowledge assimilated from the Arab scientific and philosophical tradition, to change and develop new methods for achieving new theoretical knowledge and practical solutions. Under the influence of Eudoxus’ theory of proportion and Archimedes’ application of logistical methodology, that is, the arithmetic interpretation of geometry, Getaldić combines the various tendencies of the ancient scientific tradition in a unique and fruitful way.Getaldić’s application of the geometric method in the physical work Promotus Archimedes, and its characteristic methodological unit composed of a lesson, problem and accompanying numerical example, fully reflects the quantitative, modern approach to the study of natural science. The main features of Getaldić’s research are based on the permeation of hitherto opposite tendencies and approaches; they are based on the convergence of the empirical approach and mathematical theory. Getaldić consistently applies mathematics to the researched physical content, conducts the analysis with a strict scientific methodology, and each of his conclusions is accompanied by mathematical evidence, which is entirely derived in the spirit of ancient Greek mathematics. He uses Archimedes’ application of scale and logistical methodology, as well as the arithmetic interpretation of geometry. He systematizes the results of the research and presents them on the model of Euclid’s Elements, to which he refers several times in his work. For Getaldić, mathematics is the science that leads to true knowledge about the world and it is the key to our knowledge. Archimedes served as an inspiration for Getaldić to apply the geometric method upon the physical structure and in the arithmetic interpretation of geometry. Although Getaldić’s style of presenting the material in this work could be called Euclidean in its form, it was Archimedes, not Euclid, who used the logistical methodology, that is, the arithmetic interpretation of geometry in describing physical problems. Also, Archimedes provided the theoretical basis in this area on which Getaldić relies in his work Promotus Archimedes, so in that sense it is justified to consider Archimedes as the fundamental inspiration of this work. The new role of mathematics was fundamental to the modern philosophy of nature. In this sense, Getaldić’s Promotus Archimedes is an outstanding example of an early transformation that later fully developed in modern science. Unlike the previous tradition, Getaldić’s application of mathematics in science is neither symbolic nor figurative. He uses mathematics to connect it to real measurements. Mathematics serves Getaldić to shape sensory reality and he uses extensive mathematical deduction. Therefore, the work Promotus Archimedes fully represents an early hint of the future development of modern science, which some twenty years later will be theoretically exposed by Galileo Galilei in his work Il Sagiatore. Getaldić’s new methodological approach to nature research and the results of his theoretical and practical work, systematized and published in Promotus Archimedes, fully reflect Getaldić’s important role in the early formation of modern science, placing Getaldić alongside Galileo. This is evidenced by the rich transfer of knowledge from Getaldić’s Advanced Archimedes throughout the 17th century, which is presented as an inspiration to generations of scientists, from the publication of the work until the beginning of the 18th century. The paper presents a strong echo of Promotus Archimedes in modern natural science literature, which discusses its contribution to the transformation of modern science and epistemological aspects of Getaldić’s work. According to preceding knowledge, as many as thirteen scientists have used and transmitted the findings of Getaldić’s hydrostatic research in various ways. Starting from his Roman teacher, knowledge was passed on to younger generations of students and scientists. Even during Getaldić’s lifetime, this knowledge was passed on by: Christoph Grienberger, his student Giovanni Bardi and Giuseppe Biancani, a professor in Parma. The influence of Getaldić’s Promotus Archimedes was spread mostly by scientists and philosophers from Jesuit circles, so the findings of his research continue to be passed on after Getaldić’s life by Jesuits: Mario Bettini, Niccolò Cabeo, Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Kaspar Schott, Athanasius Kircher and Michael Klaus. In particular, Riccioli’s, Schott’s and Kircher’s works, created in the middle of the 17th century, emphasized the importance and role of Getaldić’s Advanced Archimedes in the history of hydrostatics. The theoretical and practical results of Getaldić’s hydrostatic research were incorporated by these three Jesuits and polyhistors into as many as eight printed works. Along with the works of older scientists who were inspired by Getaldić, Riccioli’s, Schott’s and Kircher’s works promote Getaldić into one of the most influential hydrostatists of the 17th century. Three of their works are particularly significant for this: Riccioli’s Almagestum novum (1651), Schott’s Magia universalis naturae et artis (1658) and Kircher’s Mundus subterraneus (1665). There are different branches and modalities of spreading knowledge from Getaldić’s Advanced Archimedes. Except within Jesuit circles, they were transmitted through an extensive network of scientific connections. The influence of Getaldić’s Advanced Archimedes spread not only in Rome, Parma and Bologna, as foci of Jesuit science, but also in England, France, Bavaria and Sicily, as evidenced by the works of William Oughtred, Marin Mersenne, Pierre Petit, Georg Philip Harsdörffer, and Giovanni Battista Odierna. The example of Getaldić’s work Promotus Archimedes shows that the transfer of knowledge did not take place only from European scientific centers to the periphery, but in his case the process of transfer of knowledge took place in both directions and Getaldić’s influence in shaping the foundations of modern science is confirmed.