Abstract

This paper explores the experiments of the English mathematician Thomas Harriot (1560-1621) on specific gravity in the years 1600-1605, as recorded in a series of manuscript notes in British Library Add. MS 6788. It examines the programme of reading undertaken by Harriot before (or during) these experiments (including works by Jean Bodin, Giovanni Battista della Porta, Gerard de Malynes, Gaston du Clo, and Juan Bautista Villalpando), and describes a series of experiments conducted by him which compared the weight of a wide variety of substances in air and water. Harriot’s work is compared to that of his contemporary Marino Ghetaldi (1568-1626) in Promotus Archimedis (1603), and the work of both mathematicians can be positioned in the context of sixteenth-century mathematical responses to the famous problem posed by Hiero, King of Syracuse to Archimedes (as related by Vitruvius). Harriot’s use of proportional mathematics (especially the “rule of alligation”) in his experimental work and his application of this technique to problems in the alloying of metal and chymical analysis is examined in detail.

中文翻译：

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“好奇的观察体重的方法”：托马斯·哈里奥特（Thomas Harriot）及其比重实验

摘要

本文探讨了英国数学家托马斯·哈里欧（Thomas Harriot，1560-1621）在1600至1605年间进行的比重实验，该实验记录在大英图书馆Add中的一系列手稿中。MS6788。它检查了Harriot在这些实验之前（或之中）进行的阅读计划（包括Jean Bodin，Giovanni Battista della Porta，Gerard de Malynes，Gaston du Clo和Juan Bautista Villalpando的著作），并描述了一系列他进行的实验比较了空气和水中各种物质的重量。哈里欧特（Harriot）的作品与他在Promotus Archimedis中的当代Marino Ghetaldi（1568-1626）的作品进行了比较（1603年），两位数学家的工作都可以放在16世纪对锡拉丘兹国王希埃罗（Hiero），锡拉丘兹国王对阿基米德的提出的著名问题的回答中（与维特鲁威相关）。详细研究了Harriot在实验工作中使用比例数学（特别是“称呼规则”）以及将该技术应用于金属和糜蛋白酶分析的合金化问题的过程。