Het Scaliger Instituut en de Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden nodigen u uit voor een lezing door dr. Karin Verelst (Vrije Universiteit, Brussel):
Huygens - Leibniz - Fatio De Duillier: a post-Principia Debate on the Nature of Force
It is common place knowledge that some basic conceptions still used in present-day science - space, time, gravitational force - emerged in the seventeenth century as a result of new empirical discoveries and the debates on their implications for the metaphysical categories gone before. Less well known is that the great Dutch natural philosopher and scientist Christiaan Huygens played a pivotal rôle in these debates and influenced their protagonists, Newton and Leibniz, in decisive ways. After reading Newton's Principia, Huygens re-thought his own ideas on the origins of gravity in the latter part of his life. Witness to this fact are the notes on theses matters left in the Huygens collection at the Leiden University Library, which have only very partially been published. It is clear that Huygens did not get convinced by Newton, both on conceptual and on empirical grounds. They concerned the dissemination of the experimental results collected during a 1688 marine expedition ordered by Huygens on behalf of the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, and the enduring enigma of gravity's cause and modes of action. He voiced his doubts in a vivid correspondence with Leibniz and the obscure Fatio De Duilier, a close friend of Newton's. In this contribution we will look into these textual sources and establish the links between them, and point out their lasting influence.
Dr. Karin Verelst is post-doctoral research fellow at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels and a member of its interdisciplinary research centre, the Centrum Leo Apostel. Her area of competence is History of Philosophy and Philosophy of Science. She was visiting research Fellow at the Faculty of Philosophy at Leiden in 2007 and Scaliger Fellow in 2008. She continues to do research on the connection between metaphysical conceptions and what we to-day consider scientific ideas in the work of seventeenth century protagonists Newton, Leibniz and Huygens. The profound, but underestimated, influence of the latter is at the focus of her present research interests.
Belangstellenden worden van harte uitgenodigd deze lezing bij te wonen op dinsdag 3 juni a.s. van 15.00 tot 16.00 uur in de Grote Vergaderzaal van de Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden (Witte Singel 27). De lezingen wordt afgesloten met de mogelijkheid tot het stellen van vragen en het bekijken van enkele boeken en/of handschriften.
Het Scaliger Instituut is een initiatief van de Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden in samenwerking met de Faculteiten van Letteren, Theologie en Wijsbegeerte, met als doel het stimuleren van onderzoek en onderwijs in de Bijzondere Collecties van de Universiteitsbibliotheek. Hiertoe beschikt het Scaliger Instituut over een eigen gasthoogleraar (momenteel Prof. dr. Harm Beukers), worden lezingen, workshops en masterclasses georganiseerd en is er een fellowship programma voor binnen- en buitenlandse onderzoekers.
Voor nadere inlichtingen kan men contact opnemen met Kasper van Ommen (coördinator), tel. 071-5272905, e-mail ommen@library.leidenuniv.nl.
Locatie:
Universiteitsbibliotheek
Grote Vergaderzaal
Witte Singel 27
Leiden