Saving the Appearances
Abstract
‘Saving the appearances’, , is a slogan that, in its time, stood or was made to stand for many different methodological positions in many different branches of ancient natural science. It is not my aim, in this paper, to attempt to tackle the subject as a whole. I shall concentrate on just one inquiry, astronomy. Nor, with astronomy, can I do justice to all the complexities of what was certainly one of the central methodological issues, if not the central issue, in the history of ancient theoretical astronomy. I have a quite limited aim, to examine the foundations, and test the applicability, of a widespread and influential line of interpretation of ancient Greek astronomy according to which it was essentially, or at least predominantly, what we may call ‘instrumentalist’ in character—that is, broadly speaking, that Greek astronomical theories were devices or fictions put forward purely for the sake of calculations with no claims to correspond with physical reality.
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Dobrzycki and Kremer raised the possibility that Peurbach developed non-Ptolemaic models based on Islamic sources similar to ones Copernicus later used.
“they raised the distinct possibility that Peurbach may well have developed non-Ptolemaic models based upon Islamic sources that were similar (if not the same) as ones that would be used in the next generation by Copernicus.”
From Copernicus and His Islamic Predecessors: Some Historical Remarks (2007) · cites this paper as [27]
Dobrzycki and Kremer concluded that at least one Maragha source must have been available to the Latin West before 1461.
“at least one of the Maragha sources must have been available to the Latin West before 1461, the year of Peurbach's death.”
From Copernicus and His Islamic Predecessors: Some Historical Remarks (2007) · cites this paper as [27]
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Copernicus and His Islamic Predecessors: Some Historical Remarks
Ragep, F. J. (2007) · History of Science · doi:10.1177/007327530704500103 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
- Authors
- Lloyd, G. E. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Lloyd, G. E. R.
- ORCID
- Lloyd, G. E. R.
- Venue
- The Classical Quarterly
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 1978-05
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 202-222
- ISSN
- 0009-8388 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-6844
- OpenAlex
- W1986144738
- Cited by
- 164
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Classical Quarterly (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Historical Astronomy and Related Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Classical Philosophy and Thought
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies
- Keywords
- Greek astronomy, theoretical astronomy, instrumentalism, methodological positions, history of astronomy
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