Aviel Kanter
Period 0
Astronomy
12, October 2007
Pierre Gassendi
Pierre Gassendi was born on January 22nd, 1592 in Champtercier, France. He was initially educated by his uncle. He then was admitted to the College of Digne. He later pursued his studies at the University of Aix. Here he studied philosophy and theology. He also received the degree of Doctor of Theology at Avignon. He then took his holy orders in 1617. However, in 1624, Gassendi left Aix and moved to a canonry at Grenoble . It was here that he published the beginnings of his writings, Exercitationes paradoxicae adversus Aristoteleos.
In addition to his interest in ancient philosophy, he was greatly concerned with issues dealing with astronomy and optics. He published the works called Parhelia, sive soles quatuor (1630) and Mercurius in sole visus (1632). Gassendi followed Galileo and Kepler and became increasingly dissatisfied with the Peripatetic, or Aristotelian, system. Yet, as it was a controversial time period, he held off on publishing his theories.
He then moved to Paris and lived there from 1628 to 1632. Here he met many friends and colleagues such as Boulliau, Mersenne, Mydorge, Naude, and La Mothe le Vayer. He also traversed through Holland and Flanders, all the while continuing to observe and work on his speculations. During his travels, he wrote an essay parahelia, or “sun dogs,” and made observations on the phenomenon of the transit of Mercury that Kepler had predicted. Gassendi was also the first person to see the transit of a plant across the Sun. He viewed the transit of Mercury, just as Kepler had hypothesized. He also published a book called De motu impresso a motore translato, which delved into his theories on motion and inertia.
Gassendi’s observations also caused some controversy. His work, De motu impresso a motore translato, was assailed by criticism from his adversary, Jean-Baptist Morin. Gassendi also began to respond to the theories of Renee Descartes. He objected to the fundamental propositions that Renee Descartes set forth. These objections were published in 1642.
In 1644, Gassendi was appointed to the prestigious position of Chair of Mathematics at the College Royal in Paris. He lectured and taught there for several years with great success. In 1647, Gassendi produced one of the two works for which he is most remembered: De vita, moribus, et doctrina Epicuri libri oct. The second was Syntagma philosophiae Epicuri, which was published in the same year.
In 1648, bad health forced him to resign from teaching at the College Royal, and instead he traveled to the south of France. He came back to Paris in 1653 and published biographies on Tycho Brahe and Copernicus. In 1655, Gassendi passed away from a lung condition. A bronze statue was erected in Digne to keep his memory alive.
"Pierre Gassendi." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 10 Oct 2007, 21:21 UTC. Wikimedia
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