Science, in the course of its historical development, has often been interested in games. Of course, attention has focused primarily on those games that showed a greater connection with mathematical thinking, but there has also been no lack of reflection on other playful activities, that are less structured in terms of the rules of play. The case of the spinning top well represents these non-mathematical games. The interest of scientists and philosophers in this ‘object’ seems to arise only between the 15th and 16th centuries. The scientific re-flection of antiquity has left us no trace of a specific treatment devoted to the spinning top. Yet it is precisely through the recovery of the Greek ‘mechanica’ that the first scientifically satisfactory treatment of the characteristic movements of this curious human artifact is formed. An attempt has been made here to reconstruct the historical process, far from linear, through which the spinning top became a ‘object’ of scientific reflection.
La scienza, nel corso del suo sviluppo storico, si è spesso interessata al gioco. Naturalmente l’attenzione si è concentrata soprattutto su quei giochi che mostravano un maggiore le-game con il pensiero matematico, ma non sono mancate riflessioni anche su altre attività ludiche, meno strutturate dal punto di vista delle regole di gioco. Il caso della trottola bene rappresenta questi giochi non matematici. L’interesse degli scienziati e dei filosofi per que-sto ‘oggetto’ sembra sorgere solo tra il XV e XVI secolo. La riflessione scientifica dell’an-tichità non ci ha lasciato traccia di una trattazione specifica dedicata alla trottola. Eppure è proprio tramite il recupero della ‘mechanica’ greca che si forma la prima trattazione scientificamente soddisfacente dei movimenti caratteristici di questo curioso manufatto umano. Si è cercato qui di ricostruire il processo storico, tutt’altro che lineare, attraverso cui la trottola è divenuta un ‘oggetto’ di riflessione scientifica.
La trottola come oggetto di riflessione scientifica / E. Nenci - In: A Turning World : A Mutidisciplinary Approach to Spinning Tops and other Toys and Games / [a cura di] C. Lambrugo. - [s.l] : Milan University Press, 2023. - ISBN 979-12-80325-89-1. - pp. 317-343
La trottola come oggetto di riflessione scientifica
E. Nenci
2023
Abstract
Science, in the course of its historical development, has often been interested in games. Of course, attention has focused primarily on those games that showed a greater connection with mathematical thinking, but there has also been no lack of reflection on other playful activities, that are less structured in terms of the rules of play. The case of the spinning top well represents these non-mathematical games. The interest of scientists and philosophers in this ‘object’ seems to arise only between the 15th and 16th centuries. The scientific re-flection of antiquity has left us no trace of a specific treatment devoted to the spinning top. Yet it is precisely through the recovery of the Greek ‘mechanica’ that the first scientifically satisfactory treatment of the characteristic movements of this curious human artifact is formed. An attempt has been made here to reconstruct the historical process, far from linear, through which the spinning top became a ‘object’ of scientific reflection.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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