Giovanni Battista Riccioli's Seventy-Seven Arguments Against the Motion of the Earth: An English Rendition of Almagestum Novum Part II, Book 9, Section 4, Chapter 34, Pages 472-7

TL;DR

This paper provides a complete English translation of Riccioli's 77 arguments against Earth's motion, highlighting historical scientific debates and their influence on subsequent physics and astronomy research.

Contribution

It offers the first comprehensive English version of Riccioli's arguments, facilitating understanding of historical scientific objections to heliocentrism.

Findings

77 arguments against Earth's motion detailed

Arguments span physics and astronomy

Influenced later scientific investigations

Abstract

In 1651 the Italian Jesuit Giovanni Battista Riccioli (1598-1671) published in his encyclopedic work on astronomy, the Almagestum Novum, 77 arguments against the Copernican movement of the Earth. These arguments are often mentioned in secondary sources, but a complete listing has not been readily available - thus one is provided here, in English. The 77 include interesting arguments from physics and astronomy that went on to become subjects of further investigation after the advent of Newtonian physics.