Lebenswelt Structures of Galilean Physics: The Case of Galileo's Pendulum

Author(s): Duan I. Bjelic

Source: Human Studies, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Oct., 1996), pp. 409-432
Published by: Springer
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Human Studies 19: 409-432,

Academic

1996 Kluwer

Lebenswelt
Pendulum

1996.

409
in the Netherlands.

Printed

Publishers.

Physics: The Case of Galileo's

of Galilean

Structures
*

DUSAN I.BJELIC
of Criminology,

Department

University

of Southern

Maine,

Portland,

ME

04103,

U.S.A.

Abstract.
account
aim of this paper
of Galileo's
is to give a self-reflective
of the building
pendulum
to discover
the practical
of building
the pendulum
what were
and using
contingencies
In doing
structures
the law of isochronism.
Lebenswelt
for demonstrating
this, the unique

The

in order

of "Galilean physics" are explicated through the ethnomethodological concepts developed

by Harold Garfinkel. The presupposition is that the practical logic of "Galilean physics" is
In building
themselves.
the pendulum
and recovering
its original
a first-hand
for ethnomethodologists
becomes
practical
discovery.
physics"
a reconstruction
of the mind
of the historical
Galileo
but, rather, an explication
an
on
as
the
instrument
and interchangeable
intersubjective
perspective
practical

in the instruments

embedded
use,
This

"Galilean
is not

of Galileo's
standpoint

for ethnomethodological

available

analysis.

This

enables

us to study

facts

historical

from the standpoint of the practical logic of the original practice with a pedagogical eye for
the instructive

reproducibility

of science.

this paper offers an ethnomethodological

clarification
of
"Galilean
clarification
consists
of a
This
concept
physics."1
scientific practices which are, eth
demonstrable
inquiry into simple Galilean
accountable
locally
nomethodologically
speaking,
produced and "reflexively
In the broadest

sense,

of Husserl's

of order*" (Garfinkel,
1991: 10; 18). According
to Husserl,
the
phenomena
in
the
Galilean
rests
of
model
of
upon
origin
"objective knowledge"
physics
amethod peculiar only to Galileo.
In order to produce "objective knowledge"
of things, this method
the very same world of their
deprives
the
Instructed
by
ethnomethodological
concept of Lebenswelt
given plena.
science (Garfinkel et al., 1988), Iwill argue that the Galilean method
of de
in
the
world
is
itself
This
is
about
paper
plentiful.
pedagogically
plenum-izing
about

the world

discovering

it.

this paper is about Galileo's

action.
pendulum as a pedagogical
Specifically,
The assumption
is that "Galilean
science"
is a pedagogical
of
institution
a
The
order
of
Galilean
nat?
science
is
coherent
field
of
reasoning.
practical
ural scientific

achieved
and maintained
phenomena,
reflexively
This
its competent
takes
the practical
instructibility.
analysis
a
as
It
to instruct
of
Galileo's
order*.
aims
pendulum
problem
*

I would

Schweizer-Bjelic

like

to
for

thank Mike
their comments

Lynch,

Eric

Livingston,

Jim MacLachlan,

by means

of

of
pedagogy
the reader on

and

Shelley

410
how

DUSAN

I. BJELIC

to use

bleable,
instructed

this text as a ready-to-hand

kit of order*,
for the purpose of learning aspects of Galileo's

portable and assem

science as one's own

action.

further points will clarify this ethnomethodological

standpoint. First,
et al. propose
Garfinkel
that the discovering
work2 of natural sciences has
an order of practical
structure is a socially objective
action whose
order.3
Two

Second, Galilean
and is explained

is a distinctive

physics

practical
its unexplicated

action of doing discovering

structures.4 The intention

by demonstrating
on
of this paper is to introduce an ethnomethodological
shift in the discussion
the origin of Galilean
from
Husserl's
its
about
physics
philosophical
question
to a praxiological
foundations
of
its
structures.
explication
unique discovering
the "transcendental"
shift aims to demystify
of Husserl's
presuppositions
about
the
foundations
of
scientific
how
problem
knowledge
by discovering
"Galilean
is practiced.5
science"

This

that Galilean
is a unique form
Ethnomethodology
acknowledges
physics
of practical
action and situates the question
of "foundations"
of objective
into
the
Lebenswelt
into
the
and locally
itself, i.e.,
knowledge
unexplicated
are
structures of practical accountability.
Once sciences
situated
primordial
in their Lebenswelt,
"origin" is released
on the ontological

in the practice
and the
itself, the issue of "foundations"
its mentalistic
Instead
of
presuppositions.
insisting
over objective
foundation
seniority of the "transcendental"
from

ethnomethodology
knowledge,
achieved
action.
is a practically

takes at face value

that objective

knowledge

for ethnomethodology
The real question
is not what comes ontologically
first but, rather, how is this knowledge
produced? Under which practical cir?
as
work of physics pro?
cumstances,
they might be, is the discovering
unique
duced

as a matter

of rule? Ethnomethodology
duality of Husserl's
philosophical

makes

a move

meditation

to substitute

the
the

by elucidating
laid out by Livingston's
and Garfinkel's
duality of scientific practices
structure
struc?
of
The
Lebenswelt
of
the
Lebenswelt
science.6
concept
pair
ture of science
of two constitutive
is composed
parts. The first part of the

ontological
practical

object
pair is the formal structure of science as an accomplished
as presented
in the form of theorems, hypotheses,
in textbooks and journals
data, etc. The second part of the
descriptions,
logic of inquiry, experimental
of tacit discovering
Lebenswelt
production
pair is the actual and unexplicated
a
as
is
structures.7 Galilean
produced
paired object made of these two
physics

Lebenswelt

the first part of the pair is the formal account of

parts in which
the informal and tacit structures of the second.8 Thus, to recover the second
of the first inwhich
the
part of the pair one has to begin with the performance
constitutive

text of the first

of "Galilean

serves

physics"

as a clue for the second. What

is an account

of the second

in the model
ismissing
of
the
part
pair. Accord

LEBENSWELTSTRUCTURESOF GALILEAN PHYSICS

ingly, the task of this paper

for some aspects

is to account

of the second

411
part

of the pair by respecifying Galileo's pendulum as it is described inGalileo's

text. This

the discovered
be accomplished
by simply cataloguing
structures of Galileo's
inventory of the particular discovering

account will

praxiological
pendulum.

is not to be understood
as a universal

Physics

pair of scientific
the order
which
describes
concept
structure of a homogeneous
field of practice. Science

and Garfinkel's

Livingston's
practices
of science

of Galilean

Structures

Lebenswelt

of
concept
as amaster

the Lebenswelt

field of practices with different sets of

is a dispersed and highly discontinuous
worksite
textual
skills, instruments,
renderings,
settings, etc., (Lynch, 1993:
as a universal
of science
does not allow for the idealization
299) which

and coherent field of logical inquiry as Popper (1959) would have proposed.
structures is
Instead, the local character of science with its unique discovering
case
or
as
of
"that" perspicuous
science. The concept
"this"
recovered always
to
trace
and "thatness"
down
the
"thisness"
is
of Lebenswelt
designed
pair
It is
structures of scientific discovery.
its local and unexplicated
of science,
in these tacit structures that the unique criterion of the practical validity of

science is revealed (Bjelic, 1992). This is done by respecifying the particular

practices discovered
as a methodological

with

the help of the text. In that sense this concept appears

the inquiry into the Lebenswelt
for organizing

device

of practice. This
and is not a pre-conceived
description
a
not an a priori
and
will
be
lived
that
there
practice
concept only guarantees
is applied to the case of Galileo's
structure. Let us look how this concept
structures

of science

pendulum.
Consider
Lebenswelt
concerning

text as a case of the first part of the

(1974: 97-98)
theorem
only. He states the following
physics
pair of Galilean
of hanging bodies:
of the motion
the isochronism

Galileo's

to the ratio of times of oscillation

of bodies hanging
from strings of
are
as
roots
the
the
those
times
of
square
string lengths;
lengths,
or we should say that the lengths are as the double ratios, or square, of

As

different

of one
if, for example, you want the time of oscillation
to be double the time of another, the length of its string must
pendulum
be four times that of the other ... It follows from this that the lengths of
the strings have to one another the [inverse] ratio of the squares of the
the times. Thus

number
The

theorem

of vibrations
is formalized

made
as:

in given

time.

412

DUSAN

I. BJELIC

T?Time
L?Length
T=L

T=^/L
uses

the pendulum
to Aristotle,
fall. According
is determined
by the weight

Galileo

as a part of his demonstration

of the law of free
bodies falling freely have a constant speed which

of the object. In contrast to Aristotelian

physics
1978:
Galileo's
law claims that first, the free
1-15;
65-78),
(Koyre,
and not speed, and second, that this
falling body has a constant acceleration
constant acceleration
is a function of time and not of weight ? specifically,
1968:

the acceleration

is proportional

to the square of time. However,

Galileo

was

not able to demonstrate free fall directly (Hill, 1994: 504) since acceleration
is not easily observable
from a short distance and a long enough distance was
not available.
For this reason, he had to demonstrate
this law indirectly by
so
the
free
down
and
the acceleration
slowing
falling motion
by
doing making
an
use
or
a
of
observable
with
inclined
through
plane
pendulum.
Galileo's

use

of

the simple pendulum

defies Aristotelian
demonstrably
1970:
about
the
relation
between
(Kuhn,
118?128)
assumptions
speed and
First, pendulular period (time) is isochronous
weight.
regardless of the object's
friction
and
resistance
is
medium
(if
weight
suggests an
suspended). Galileo
two p?ndula with
with
the same length but different weighted
experiment
balls (one of lead and the other of cotton) which
demonstrates
that these
same
two objects have the
in spite of drastically
different weights
period
1967: 151). Henceforth,
the period is not determined
(Galileo,
by the weight,
as Aristotle
between

the relation
Second,
thought, but by the length of the pendulum.
the length and the period ismathematically
the
functional,
namely,
to
root
decreases
the
of the pendulum's
square
proportionally
length

period
and increases
theorem,
(1974:

to the square of the length. To account for this

proportionally
the following
of the pendulum were given by Galileo
specifications
to
construct
it
in
order
and
prove the theorem by its use:
107)

lead balls, or similar heavy bodies, from three threads of different

two oscillations,
the
lengths, so that in the time that the longest makes
four and the other makes
three. This will happen when
shortest makes
the

Hang

the middle
longest contains sixteen spans, or other units, of which
[length]
all these from the vertical
contains nine, and the smallest, four. Removing
and then releasing
them, an interesting
interlacing of the threads will be
such that at every fourth oscillation
of the
seen, with varied meetings
longest, all three arrive unitedly at the same terminus; and from this they
depart, repeating again the same period.

413

LEBENSWELTSTRUCTURESOF GALILEAN PHYSICS

Note thatGalileo did not specify how to build the pendulum, how to tie a
knot,

how

many

a swing, how and from where

to look at swings, or how
are needed
to witness,
to mention
just some of the practical
that come with the theorem and the pendulum.10
The task of

to make

people

contingencies
this study is to account

for this aspect of his theorem,

i.e., the second part
of
If
Galileo's
theorem.
the
first
part of the pair is
pair
sense is the
the theorem-account,
then the theorem-account
in a praxiological
of the second part of the pair, i.e., the lived practice of
precise description
inGalilean physics,
The
second
part of the pair is eliminated
proving.
leaving
as
a
structure
not a lived structure. "How
its
and
semantic
only
'signed object'
of the Lebenswelt

is assembled?"
the pendulum
to discover
left to physicists

and "How

the demonstration

for themselves

to the unexplicated
practice. Their findings
structure which proves
tasks is the practical
When Galileo
the specifications
proposed
instrument), he unintentionally
to the practitioners
to discover

is performed?"

are

the text for clues

by consulting
as to "how" to accomplish
these
or disproves
the theorem.

for the pendulum

(or any other
a set of practical contingencies
left
to the specific
and resolve according
local

invented

the structures and their

(see note 10). In a word,
of the discovery
of motions
of hanging bodies are available
descriptions
?
the discovery
is reproduced
in the pendulum
and in the
only there where
*
The respecification
of this Galilean
demonstration.l
practice
requires the
conditions

of their work

of the pendulum
and the demonstration
in order to describe
respecification
the practical contingencies
the proof is achieved. The task of
through which
this study is to respecify
the demonstration
in order to survey and catalogue
the praxiological
the
of
structures.
'inventory'
particular discovering
s Pendulum
Galileo
Respecifying
of the Lebens welt Pair

as the Way

to Account for

the Second

Part

and demonstrating
the corresponding
By rebuilding Galileo's
pendulum
phe?
nomenon of motion,
the assumed discovering
structures of the laws of isochro
nism and free fall were
revealed
1981: 73). The first step was to
(Drake,
the
build
with
measurements
the
actually
pendulum
specified by Galileo;
the second was
account

to make

itwork

as promised;

and the third was

to take into

its praxiological

inventory.
first thing that I had to do was to visualize
the instrument and the
demonstration.
Three pendular balls were hanging on three different
length
in occasional
Then
strings from a horizontal
pole, swinging
synchronization.
I proceeded
to construct the instrument as imagined. I began by finding
lead
The

a catalogue,
I ordered three lead balls of the same size (3/4")
balls. Through
the following
shape (see Fig. 1):

with

414

DUSAN

I. BJELIC

Figure

1.

next step was to tie the balls to strings of specified

lengths and onto the
? a
the string is fixed. Since Galileo
did not specify
pole to which
'hanger'
that any string would
do and any object with a
how to do this, 1 assumed
serve as a
from which
horizontal
stringed balls could hang would
position
My

So 1 looked around and found in my son's fishing box a roll of

that I could use for string and my table lamp appeared to suffice
line
fishing
as a horizontal
I knew that fishing
line will
pole for the hanger.
hanging
stretch if a heavy object hangs from it, but since the balls are of the same
remain the same. I did not speculate
the ratio of the stretching would
weight
that maybe
there could be forces acting on the string other than weight which
to the square
could alter the stretching to an extent that would not correspond
'hanger.'

of

their

for me

that Galileo's
left room
unspecified
procedures
a common-sense
to engage inmaking
physics by
to the presupposed
them according
and assembling
forces

lengths. I realized
as the demonstrator

selecting materials
a sense that this 'will do' for the purpose I have inmind.
and achieving
What Galileo
did not say and was left to me to discover was how to tie the
string to the balls and to the 'hanger.' The balls had a place for tying but I did
on how to tie. Iwas not clear if the knot itself should
not have instructions
or should not be included

in the specified

length of the string. My

conclusion

was that the knot itself should be part of the length since it swings with the
as the beginning
the knot should be understood
of
rest of the line. Therefore,
to
center
have
the
the
should
that
of
ball
later
learn
the specific
length (only
or end of the length). So, by looking at this part of the
been the beginning
that the lengths of the lines (4": 7
ball and tying the line through it, I assumed
1/9": 16")12 are to lie between

the knot at the ball and the hanging

pole.

LEBENSWELTSTRUCTURESOF GALILEAN PHYSICS

O^"-??pL

t/i'

415

i6"

-*i
Figure

2.

It became
clear to me that if Imake a knot on one side of the string (the
ball or the hanger), the other knot has to be made
in a way that it ends exactly
at 16", 7 1/9" or 4" from the other knot (see Fig. 2).
is presumed
here is that I as the demonstrator
What
have the skill to tie
a knot at the predetermined
on
the
and
that the replicator's
point (x)
string
a knot around this
'know'
how
much
it
to
takes
tie
fingers already
string
particular ball and this particular hanging pole, all of which
before in this manner. The part that I could not master was

I have never done

tying the string at

to
7
the
without
1/9"; 16")
point (4";
lamp-pole
creating an extra
between
the
knot
and
the
space
lamp-pole.
The problem of exactly replicating
the string lengths emerged
in the space
the marked

the ideal position of the knot and the achieved one. The second part
of the problem was that this uncontrolled
space is by no means
standardized,
a
that
knot
have
different
the actual and
every
space between
meaning
might
the ideal position
of the knot depending
and my manip?
upon the material
between

ulative

skills. A

lack of skill

This

in tying the ideal knot did not allow

a lot of 'noise' - the swings were

for exact

in turn created

not quite
specifications.
as synchronie
as they should have been, showing only repetitive
tendencies
at the terminal. Also,
toward the ratio and not exact, synchronized
meetings
not swing neatly on the plane but after a few minutes would swing
and
interfere with the routes of the other. However,
after doing my
erratically
I
best (and not without
not
settled
for
exact
the
but
measures13
frustration),
for the best that I could do with the available objects at that time and for the
they would

this text.
purpose of writing
This led me to realize that my knots were achievements
of my skills, i.e.,
that the string I had and the pole with all of its unique features organized my
in a way that the assembling
skillful work of knotting
order of the pendulum
describes

adequately

the skills

incorporated

in it. By

this Imean

that by virtue

416

DUSAN I.BJELIC

of my

in front of me-the
practical skills the instrument
and
the
distinct
Galileo's
lengths,
positions?embodied

strings, the balls, the

law as the operational

order of it.

The

Order

Intersubjective

Galileo's
Building
of the pendulum

of Galileo's

Performative

is not simply a work

it self-reflectively
Doing

pendulum

Mathematics

of putting
is above

different

parts
all the way
to
of Galileo's
I
pendulum.

together.
the practical contingencies
of the workings
will briefly outline two discovered
related regions of Galileo's
praxiologically
one
is
the
of
observation
the other of operation.
In
and
pendulum:
region
discover

the following

part of this paper,

I will

analyze

in detail

their praxiological

structures.

Operational

Region

is one in which
the demonstra?
region of the instrument
operational
a witnessable
tor approaches
for the purpose
the instrument
of producing
Within
the overall division
of standpoints
demonstration.
of the pendulum

The

in standpoint from the witnessing

this region is different
region of the demon?
it requires unique skills for manipulating
stration in one important respect:
of synchronized
the pendulum's
motion.
delivery of the phenomenon
Contingency

?
1 How

to approach

the pendulum?

structure of this region relates to the

to the oper?
and
intuitive
yet
formally unspecified
required
body orientation
has
ation of the instrument. For the instrument to be used, the demonstrator
to incorporate
into his or her collection
of habitual practices.
the instrument

The first discovery

of the Lebenswelt

that I incorporated
the pendulum
from the right side
case, I discovered
were
no
as
inGalileo's
selection.
There
instructions
it
my
facing
pre-reflective
should approach
the instrument. The
text as to which
side the demonstrator
Inmy

entrance

by the intuitive field of the practitioner's

a formal point of view, it is not relevant to the purpose of the
in terms of operation,
but it is praxiomic
demonstration
i.e., in order for the
to
somehow.
to
it
be
This
used
has
be
approached
problem was left
pendulum

pendulum's
body. From

is surrounded

into the
for the body to resolve
intuitively. The body moved
pre-reflectively
ones habitual relation to it just as
field of the instrument, thereby establishing
did or anyone else.
Galileo

LEBENSWELTSTRUCTURESOF GALILEAN PHYSICS

Contingency

Two hands,

417

three balls

the demonstration
led me to another discovery.
At the
Starting to perform
a
of
the
I
demonstration
faced
trivial
point
starting
seemingly
problem: "How
to hold three balls on the same plane with only two hands."
This
surface

question, which
two important

the invented

may seem trivial at first, is actually deep. It helped to

inferences. First, there is a unique logic to the field of
that sets up the practical contingencies
for its operation

pendulum
the time of its origin. Renaissance
scientists as well as undergraduate
beyond
same
students inAmerican
face
the
colleges
practical problem: "How to hold
It is an anthropological
three balls with two hands?".
dilemma.
this
Second,
a
tacit inquiry into the unique order of the
constraint requires
anthropological
three-balled

instrument

in order

to find a two-handed

solution.

?
Contingency 3 How to hold the balls?
the balls had its own practical requirements.
The weight
of the lead
Holding
balls hanging on the rod were felt on my palm. While
on
my palm,
resting
they would often escape and swing erratically. Palms are not smooth surfaces
on which
three balls can be easily placed as if on an inclined plane (sometimes
Iwould use a large hard cover book as a plane instead of my palms). On the
other hand, there is no other way but to use the palms. I had to learn how to
contain

palm, on the same inclined plane, and to release them

at will. This required time to familiarize my hands with these
Over time I felt the balls intuitively and I learned how tomake
in my

them

simultaneously
contingencies.
them swing

in concerted

swings. The lead balls were not a philosophical

in
sense of a thing-unto-itself,
the
Kantian
but a ball as
object
an object which organizes my practice;
they are balls that swing, that escape
with other
my control, but also balls that can be tamed to swing synchronically
balls. In other words,
the observable mathematical
an
order
ratio,
logically
of the physical
when applied in Galilean
independent
contingencies
physics,
the motion
of hanging bodies conform when
appears to be the rule to which
skills. This led me
swings are smooth and synchronized
by demonstrational
a thing

for me,

to the next discovery.

Contingency

Making

the inclined

plane

the balls up to swing in synchrony

is the next task of the operational
this the three lead balls require the body to tune itself to
region. To achieve
their order for the purpose of a successful
demonstration.
As I was having
in producing
difficulties
the synchronized
motions
of three balls with only
two hands, I realized a very important distinction
between
different
starts
Setting

418

DUSAN

I. BJELIC

in the demonstration.

I learned that the start, the moment

of attunement
of
to the balls, is a pre-reflective
For
start
is
every
practice.
example,
from the previous one. However,
they can be typified as successful
or unsuccessful
to the
upon the degree of the body's attunement
depending
the body
different

balls. The

result

A successful

is either erratic or synchronized

swings.
of two achieved components.

start consists

First, all three balls

on the same inclined plane (my palms or a book cover).
be positioned
The second component
is that the balls have to be released simultaneously
from the same inclined plane. If one or the other component
is not achieved,

must

the claimed synchrony

the swings will not demonstrate
and ratio.
a successful
I
In achieving
that
motion of a released
learned
while
the
start,
is not. Synchrony
is a temporal achievement
of
fact, synchrony
are unexplicated
which
the object-relational-skills
themselves
achievements
of the very same discovering
practice of Galileo's
physics. Discovery
through

ball

is a natural

structure of discovery
is a part of the Lebenswelt
in
The pendulum
these skills into the phe?
Galileo's
incorporates
pendulum.
nomenon
it appear as a natural facticity and not a practical
of motion, making
of the very same skills. However,
this concealment
of the
accomplishment
an achieved

synchrony

a synchrony
in the operational
of the hand by achieving
region is
to shine through in the witnessable
for the mathematics
region.
account
in the witnessing
Thus the mathematical
region is praxiologically
tied to the skills from the operational
region. One might argue that the Greek

workings
essential

to use Bachelard's
term (in
applied by Galileo,
as
a
not
form
of
here
"rational
is
memory"
60),
operating
skills related to the project. Not only are the skills
embodied
a
to shine through in
for mathematics
prerequisite
pendulum

mathematics

1978:
Derrida,
but as a set of
of building
the
the witnessable

a successful
and pre-reflective
but, also, it presumes
inquiry into the
as
the achieved and yet unexplicated
region
logic of the operational
practical
for as a mathematical
order. Witness?
accounted
'order' of the phenomenon
in
law
smooth
is
the
mathematical
synchronie
swings
certainly a great
ing
region,

craftsmen.
of the practical grace so unique to the Renaissance
a
construction
of the demon?
it is also
tacit criterion for the competent

achievement
But

strational
That

instrument

and its use.

is, and will

any physicist was,
circumstances
under ordinary

gencies
tioned for this specific pendulum.
of tacit practices when
recruitment

be facing the above described

contin?
is unique and anthropologically
condi?
Galileo
ignores the fact of the instruments'

to give us a cue and leaves it

he neglects
as a tacit problem
to discover. But in so doing, he created
for the physicist
as an explicated
science of physics.
order of the very discovering
physics
not
there
would
be a dissemina?
initial
silent
this
Without
problem
solving
tion of Galileo's

demonstrational

practices.14

This

silent problem

requires

an

LEBENSWELTSTRUCTURESOF GALILEAN PHYSICS

419

of the "how of its origin" (Husserl,

1970: 29); not in
discovery
on-the-spot
terms of the Husserlian
"how" of the "transcendental
ego's"
intentionality
but in terms of the instructively
the demonstrational
instrument

respecifiable
is assembled

an explicational
object is extracted from
inventory of the order of the instrument.

"how" of the practical detail. As

and used, "Galilean physics" as
the instrument's

use

as a practical
from the acquired

It is inseparable
in a way
that even the historic Galileo
himself would
have had to
same
was meant
if
the
This
is
what
facing
practical
contingencies.
acquire
are
I
that specific skills
when
required in order to enter the field of
proposed
skills

demonstration.
So I proceeded with resting the ball of the longest string in the palm of my
left hand and the balls with the middle
length and shortest strings in the palm
of my right hand.
Contingency

How

to count

swings?

In holding and releasing

the balls, I gradually achieved more and more syn?
chronie swings. As the synchrony became more and more distinct
it became
clear that another problem was emerging:
"How to account for three separate
of the balls at the same time?"

movements

I discovered
that the three separate
a
one
as
motions
intricate Gestalt. Since
single person only
by
the three different motions
have to be counted separately and simultaneous?
ly, it cannot be done from a single standpoint
(which is not to be confused
can be observed

with

a single

or a personal view). Here is another

anthropological
labor. Counting must
requires a division of observational

individual

which
contingency
be done collaboratively
swings remain in every

in order
instance

for the ratio

to be observable.

object. Here is an important point

in Galileo's
demonstration.
To make what

regarding the order of witnessing

to do the counting
is 'occult' visible
requires the viewer
one
either
after
or, if it is done
another,
swings;
singly,
For one

Otherwise,

an 'occult'

of the individual

by three viewers,
the ratio, one has to either count every
to compare
it with the rest of the swings or to

to witness

simultaneously.
single ball's swing in order
combine ones own account with

the account

of others. Only in calculating

and
them with other swings can the mathematical
ratio of the swings
comparing
be demonstrated.
This means
that only by doing separate or combined
counts
and comparing
them can one 'witness' the ratio.

420

DUSAN

I. BJELIC

The Witnessing Region of Galileo's Pendulum: Making Galileo's

Standpoint

Interchangeable
to a scholastic

In contrast

meditative

is the public
physics, "Galilean physics"
and witnessing
the workings
of scientific
instru?
a
faith
in
the order of
physics presupposes
personal

activity of demonstrating
ments. While
scholastic

to a given divine a priori, Galilean

according
an
the discoverer
poses
interchangeable
standpoint between
as an intersubjective
in
of
agreement
ground
phenomenon.15
the universe

character,
intersubjective
the
reciprocity
achieving
1

Contingency
nomenon
With

this new kind

in accounting

standpoint

of the pendulum

the invention

instruments

requires

for

of standpoints.
than a single

More

of physics

physics presup?
and the public
Because
of its

for the phe?

lies the important

initial standpoint

(and herein
instruments), Galileo's

praxiolog?
of looking

ical function

of scientific

at the object
the workings

it as an isochronic motion
and seeing
in
becomes
swinging
an instructively
of the pendulum
reproducible
standpoint. Thus
was a way to convince
demonstration
the
of the instrument's

the witnessing
skeptics of the initial

of the discoverer.16

standpoint

for intersubjective

that its requirement

constructed

was

The pendulum
was
witnessing

so

incorpo?

rated into the order of its assemblage (like building the jury bench in the court
room).17

at
needed
Galileo's
story we also learn that Galileo's
pendulum
to
account
two
in
for
the
demonstrated
order
least
phenomenon.
standpoints
one might say, a theoretical claim became
Through a collaborated witnessing,
and his friend. In fact, as we will see, a part
for Galileo
observable
empirically
From

in respecifying

of the discovery
actuality Galileo's

Galileo's
pendulum
of the mathematical

is a realization

that in

ratio of the pendulum's

in spite of his insistence
that

phenomenon
swings remains occult to the single standpoint
the law by simple observation.
demonstrate
his instruments empirically
Only
can the mathematical
of
labor'
order shine
division
the
'oscilloscope
through
through the pendulum
will discuss this issue

and be verified
in detail

as an intersubjective

achievement.

later.

Galileo's
oriented work of discovery,
pendulum
being a publicly
on all possible
sides and for
does not "radiate" the order of the phenomenon
or time spans can
all times. Only under certain angles of viewing,
distances,
While

one observe

a more

conform

to his

strations

is always

or less noticeable

theoretical

local contingencies.

claims.

a locally witnessed

The

tendency

of the assembled
of Galileo's

reproducibility
order. The following

to
objects
demon?

are some of these

421

LEBENSWELTSTRUCTURESOF GALILEAN PHYSICS

2

Contingency
nessing

The

operational

region must

be perpendicular

to the wit?

region

to the operational
The witnessing
region. While
region stands perpendicular
sees
one
next
to the other, the witness
the operator is facing the balls swinging
them swinging one behind the other. As we have seen from the analysis above,
what

in part depends upon the skills in the

to be seen by the witness
With
the
skillful
of the pendulum,
three lead
region.
operation
after
three different
lengths ought to show synchronie movements

is going

operational
balls with

a certain number of swings. The meeting

?
that the balls
line
the lamp post itself?
of the synchronie
are released

arrival

is the vertical
point of synchrony
to
at
rest.
when
The order
conform

of the three balls

from

balls

at the terminal

the same

inclined

the
plane when
two
is
after
plane

simultaneously
and four of
full swings of the longest, three of the middle,
ratio of the swings 2:3:4 is the result of the inverse square
each
So, a 16" long string and a 4" long string determine
the inverse ratio of their length squared, i.e., the square of
swings for the 4" long string;
long string.18 This synchrony
the mathematical

Contingency
time"
The

following
demonstrational

vertical
the field

the shortest.

The

of their lengths.
swings as

others

16 is 4, thus four
the square of 4 is 2, thus 2 swings for the 16"
to
of the motion
demonstrates
the conformity

rule.
?

Embodied

geometric
goal ?to

geometry

order
show

plane is perpendicular
of witnessing.
Each

and how

to find

the "inverse

square of

is incorporated
into the pendulum with one
the "inverse square of time and length." The
to the planes of the balls and is extended
into

ball's swing has its plane perpendicular

to the
to
two
and
the
of
the
other
balls'
plane
parallel
planes
swings. So
the
the pendulum
the
inclined
presumes
following
planes (see Fig. 3):
plane
(a) for the start; the three vertical and parallel planes of the balls (b; c; d); and
the vertical/terminal
plane for the display of the ratio (f).
terminal

The internal geometric

relations between
these planes assembles
all parts of
the pendulum
the
scientist's
the
observational
skills,
(the balls, lamp, strings),
and demonstration
into one dis?
field, and all of the parts of the performance
unit
?the
three parallel
temporal ratio of motion. While
covering witnessable
of a single ball, the terminal plane standing
planes display a uniform motion
to them organizes
the vantage point from which
the balls are
perpendicularly
seen in a row as a temporal cohort. Parallel planes display
single motions;
the terminal plane
invites their analysis. The internal logic of the pendu?
lum's planes transforms
the simple motions
produced within
into a theoretically
structured temporal cohort. This

domain

the operational
achievement
of

422

DUSAN I.BJELIC

Figure

3.

in the seen synchrony of motions

internal order is exhibited
the pendulum's
is the 'natural' aspect
the motion
in the designated
meeting
point. While
and
the
ratio of the
witnessed
the
of the pendulum's
synchrony
operation,
to
to
of
the
demonstrational
the
lucidity
aspect
pendulum's
swings belong
time
and
the
inverse
of
for 'finding
its internal organization
square
length.'
Because
viewing

must

the angle of
is in the terminal plane,
the point of synchrony
to it. In other words,
the internal order of the
be perpendicular

character of
and the transfigurational
geometry of the pendulum
performative
of
into the field
the terminal/analytical
public witnessing.
plane is extended
to see the synchrony
For the viewers
they must conform to the order displayed
have to queue for the terminal
on the terminal/analytical
plane. Viewers

423

LEBENSWELTSTRUCTURESOF GALILEAN PHYSICS

at an analytical
in so doing place themselves
are
to
count
able
the swings
they
comparatively

and

plane
which

vantage
and find

point from
the inverse

have to literally position

their heads
length. Witnesses
to
of
the
the
balls
and
the
terminal
parallel planes
perpendicularly
along
serves
as
axis
of
the
the
demonstrational
which
field in
witnessing
plane
order to see the balls in a row and to count.
of time and

square

4 ? How

Contingency
Let me

to count

swings?

account of the pendulum

at work
the single witnessing
if
a
a
to
would
first
One
release
three
find
balls
way
by
single person.
two hands from the same inclined plane (a) position,
them at
releasing

done
with

describe

the same

time and counting

(by stepping out of the operational
the
after
balls were released)
the swings
standpoint

witnessing

field

into the

of the longest

string. Since it is difficult to determine the full swing by looking at the starting
of the swing
and turning point, the terminal plane is the point of completion
and the standard for counting the swing.19 After counting two full swings, the
to see if all three
focus shifts to the entire pendulum, waiting
observational
balls will meet
middle

at the same vertical

terminal.

The

same order applies

to the

and the shortest.

1.

Table

Marking swings in cohorts of temporal synchronies

first
second
third
fourth Nth

16"

//

//

//

//

//

7 1/9"

///

///

///

///

///

4"

////

////

////

////

////

In the case of a single person observation,

three separate observations
must
in order to verify the inverse square rule. I selected one of the three
its numbers of swings from the time of the
p?ndula at the time and counted

be done
release

to the first moment

of swings correspond
inverse square rule.
The

of synchrony with the other two. If the numbers

to the ratio 2:3:4 as 16": 7 1/9": 4, it verifies Galileo's

release of the balls allows them simultaneously

to leave the
an
at
is determined
incline position
The
angle which
by the demonstrator.
balls swing in different arcs. Though
leave
the
at
the
they
starting positions
same time, they return to them in a different
time sequence.
In this order,
the pendulum
builds
its own time. The temporal placement
of each of the
balls

successful

is situated

in the whole

temporal

pattern of the pendulum.

For example,

424
the ball with
after

I. BJELIC

DUSAN

the longest swinging

and the shortest

the middle

arc always
in the first

arrives

at the terminal

two swings.
after the shortest and before

medium

The

position
ball with
the

the longest, while

length string arrives
the shortest always arrives first, and so on.
to the others.
Every ball forms its own time row arithmetically
comparable
Each swing is a part of its swinging-time-row,
the
latter
whereby
signifies
the account of each of its single constituent
swings as a first, third, seventh,
. . .Nth. Once
a comparative
the time series is established,
measurement
can be done in order to determine
the ratio between
the three swinging-time
rows. But counting
the swing is the pendulum-organizing
work upon whose
are formed,
the swings'
time-rows
in the
location
respective
and
the
rows'
the
of
release
found,
comparison
provided. Monitoring
the ball and counting "first" allows the logical space for the "second" place

achievement
rows

which

the "first" was already established

only because
is logically anticipated.
The series of the logical
is formed by the observation
of the single ball. It is by observing
of the single ball that the swing-structured
of
locations
logical

becomes

in memory
placements
the swing
the ball
observable

the "second"

and the "third"

in the instrument-occupying
It is the field
time-row.

the viewer

work

are available

to itself as the ball's

of the pendulum's
swings that occupies
It is only after the intersubjective
structure of

in a structured way.

this field is established (the oscilloscopic division of labor) that there is any
proof of the 'order' of motion.
If one releases
the balls,
lets
becomes
clear that there are more

them

the pattern,
it
swing, and observes
and less successful
"suc
swings, whereby
to seeing the mathematical
is assessed by reference
cessfulness"
law of ratio
in the demonstration.
The best I could achieve was to get synchronie move?
after which
only for (at best) a half of a minute,
only briefly, displayed
that at that point, the skills of producing
the balls acted erratically. This means
dis-incarnated
from the field, leaving the impression
the synchrony
that the

ments

of order itself fled the pendulum with the 'law' of the thing in its
This
suggests that the Gestalt of the ratio ismaintained
only to the extent
jaw.
skills master
the field of the instrument thereby hold?
that the demonstrator's
'demon'

to it. Therefore,
the ratio as an observable
ing the 'demon' of order hostage
is not for all times and for all places
shows that the law of physics
Gestalt
but only for the time set by the skills' unique relation to the instrument. Only
in the successful
is the 'ratio' more or in less successful
less
swings
swings
visible

as a mathematical

are short swings and long swings, fast

is an account of the demonstrator's
manipulation

rule. There

ones

and slow. Every swing

of the balls. These demonstrational
and counted
ones.

as such. There

'Bad' swings

instantly

as the ball's swing

and only a few 'correct'
the lack of demonstrational
skills and

skills will

are many
explicate

be exhibited

'bad' releases

LEBENSWELTSTRUCTURESOF GALILEAN PHYSICS

425

1962: 98) broken hammer,

the demon?
In
the
ones,
contrast,
transparent.
'right'
by displaying
of swings, conceal
the demonstrational
skills
the Gestalt
of the synchrony
of the field. It is the smooth synchronie
and the practical organization
swing

like Heidegger's
make,
strational organization

(Heidegger,

the naive perception

into seeing the self-ordered
the ball's swings builds the time cohort of
of the swing. Counting
it analytically
the specific ball and makes
comparable with others as a ratio
the swinging
is like
pattern. Seeing
rhythm and not three individual
swings

which

'transubstantiates'

time cohort

it as the harmony
stroking the strings of a harp in a given order and hearing
it is not any more
this or that ball but their
of the scale, so one. Therefore,
relations are not about the balls as things but
relations. These
observable
observations.
the order of the ball-organizing
can
with
it
that
'this' equipment Galileo
is organizing
be
Therefore,
argued
of making
the smooth synchronization
of the three balls as a
the practices

about

in hanging bodies.
In doing so, one
the law of motion
way to demonstrate
can analyze how the swing's work
'transubstantiates'
naive observation
from
use
instrument
into
of
the
the
the
synchronized
seeing
seeing
organization
swinging

balls

as a mathematical

ratio.

Analysis
the work of time measurement
"as the endoge
pendulum
organizes
of
details"
achieved
coherence
and
1992:
Wieder,
(Garfinkel
pulsed
nously
of
which
consists
and
the
191)
synchronically
observing
counting
pendu?
lum's swings.
Just as the metronome
the count of the tempo, so
organizes
the count of a swing. Swings
does the pendulum
and counts are
organize
a
embodied
locally
paired objects forming
through instrumental
workplace

Galileo's

and bodily synchronization.

The embodied production of the swings, hearable
as the counting of a swing, is a coherent account of the motion
because
it is a
a
In
as
coherence
is found
"the organiza?
synchronie
loudly,
pulse.
counting
tional thing evidently, really, actually,
and . . . unremarkable
and ordinarily"

(Garfinkel andWieder, 1992: 191-192).

the above

the second part of the Lebenswelt

findings,
pair
of Galilean
of the above described
consists
order of the
physics
practical
instrument use. Within
this use, Galilean
is performed
physics
(in this case,
as the inverse square root of the strings'
of motion
the synchrony
lengths)
Based

upon

the skillful management

of these very instruments.
In specific,
by developing
the second part of the Lebenswelt
pair consists of:
between
the pendulum
A) The logic of the internal connections
(three
with
balls
inverse
ratio
skills
hanging
pre-specified
lengths), manipulative

426

DUSAN I.BJELIC

(how to hold three balls with two hands, how to release them simultaneously),
of the inverse square ratio.
and the demonstrated
phenomenon
B) The logic of the internal connections
accounts
and achieved
demonstrational

between

these

instruments,
skills,
'tacit' inquiry into the
requires
into the field of demonstrational
objects.
are not 'blank' objects
learn from Galileo,

entry
logic itself as a necessary
Demonstrational
instruments, we
but, rather, assigned ones; they are found

in the order of the demonstrational

as

The demonstrational
order of
'instrument-organizing
practices.'
practice
own
in
'tacit'
has
its
need
of an
the instrument-organizing
logic
practices
of
The
the
the
into
logic
inquiry
inquireable
instrument-organizing
inquiry.
the necessary
discoveries,
entry into the field of doing physical
practices,
in order for the natural scientific discovery
to occur. This
a
at
once
into
is
Galilean
the
of
logic
physics
practical
pre-requisite
inquiry
to occur and necessary
to the discovery
of the second
for Galilean
physics
the formal logic of Galilean
part of the Lebens welt pair, the structure inwhich

must

be successful

is discovered.

physics

C) The second part of the Lebenswelt

pair of Galileo's
physics makes
for
of
the
available
mathematical
order
world
the
analysis.
equipmentally
The unaccounted
logic of the instrument-organizing
inquiry into the practical
structure of Galileo's
invented a
theorem. Galileo
is the discovering
practices
'subver?
machine'
from this 'tacit' inquiry whose
kind of 'transubstantiating
'
to transform public trust?ordinary
sive operation presumes
witnessing?into
a mathematical
account of the demonstrational
field. By giving oneself away
as a witness
work of
to a successful
inquiry into the equipment-organizing
achievement
is equipmentally
'transubstan?
this unaccounted
the physicists,
?a
a
of
natural
law
demonstrable
the
into
tiated'
rationally
empirical facticity
of Renaissance
miracle
physics. Having achieved proof through the workings
allows
the possibility
for the scientific
of the instrument, Galilean
physics
to reverse the signification
Instead of signi?
of its formal meaning.
an
an object
can
in
also
be
it
the
'object-explicator,'
physics
proof
fying only
as
own
use
its
its
which explicates
part of the pair. This
forgotten constitutive
reverse
a
case
of
this
is
analysis.
analysis
instrument

Notes
1. Aron Gurwitsch

(1988: 388-401)

argues that for Husserl "Galilean physics" is not a

name
a generic
structure
for the invented
of an objective
knowledge
at once epitomizes
of
of the constitution
to Husserl,
the central problem
which,
according
sense of
a radical
an opportunity
for achieving
and at the same time creates
all meanings
fact

historical

science

but

by elucidating

foundation.

its "transcendental"

For

the question

of "foundations,"

see also Edmund Husserl (1970: 353-354).

Science

in a radical

sense

means

one which

explicates

its own

assumed

ground

as

its true problem; this is what Galileo failed to do. Husserl argues that by uncritically

LEBENSWELTSTRUCTURESOF GALILEAN PHYSICS

427

as the given a priori

the tradition
of Greek
and as the ontology
of all
geometry
a particular
created
of meaning
to resolve. Galileo
for philosophy
things, Galileo
problem
never
the pre-scientific
of mathematics
he applied
it to
itself before
origin
questioned
If he had, Husserl
he would
have realized
that the objective
continues,
physics.
knowledge
accepting

of mathematics

with
its "how,"

constitution,

its a priori
is itself

is itself constituted
ground
meaning
a phenomenon
in need of genuine

its
and, moreover,
See Husserl

inquiry.

(1970: 29).
An

elaborate

of

analysis

this construct

and

its role

in Husserl's

overall

is

philosophy

contained in thework of Husserl himself (1970); see also Jacques Derrida (1978: 35), Aron
Gurwitsch (1974: 59); Gurwitsch (1988: 388-401), Joseph J.Kockelmans and Theodore J.
Kisiel (1970: 75). An ethnomethodological clarification of Husserl's concept of "Galilean
physics" is given inGarfinkel et al. (1981: 131-158; 1988) andDusan Bjelic andMichael
Lynch (1992).
et al.

2. Garfinkel

be understood
skills,
it.
3.

settings,

In the way
in natural

that the work

of discovery
in the natural
sciences
is to
(1988)
proposes
as finding
the order of natural phenomena
of using
instruments,
by means
the order becomes
the scientist's
first hand account
of
etc., through which

that Husserl

to the production

of

as central
physics"
et al. treat Husserl's

treats "Galilean
so does

sciences,

Garfinkel

the foundation

of

science.

to the questions
of foundations
as central
"Galilean
physics"

Garfinkel

et-al.

(1988:

107) writes,

"...

Galilean physics is a distinctive discovering science of practical action and is explained by

as a practical
The demonstration
these structures."
of "Galilean
demonstrating
physics"
structure
it to be the instructively
order of the assembly
of details
presumes
reproducible
as just "this" and "that," "here" and "there." See also, Harold Garfinkel
and Lawrence
D.

Wieder (1992: 177).

4. Garfinkel et al. (1981, 1988: 107) propose thatwhat characterizes Galilean physics is the
that it produces.
It is a practical
as independent
unique object
object
'adopted'
by scientists
of its circumstances.
is taken from Wittgenstein's
on Frazer.
Here
comments
It
'adopted'
women
to take a boy whom
refers to the custom
to
intend
and
among Bosnian
they
adopt
as the original
their clothes. Afterwards
he is regarded
son, see
push or pull him through

Ludwig Wittgenstein

(1979: 65). Accordingly,

the Galilean object is like the 'adopted'

son with

'amnesia'
he saw while
about what
under his
'mother's'
skirt. The
complete
recover
to
is
task
the
circumstances
of the object's
praxiological
origin.
Another
relevant
feature
of the Galilean
is its instrumentally
object
"performative"
as an object
character.
The object
is achieved
extracted
from the equipmental
complex,
the work-site
of the exhibited
here and now and always
in the hands of the
competencies,
in situ as a "physical"
rendered
The "independent
Galilean
practitioner,
object.
object,"
et al. argue,
Garfinkel
is in hand at all times in and through the inquiry into the equipmental
et al. (1981:
See Garfinkel
137).
complex.
The importance
of their argument
for this paper
is to presuppose
to study
that the way
the "independent
Galilean
is to respecify
its instrumental-complex
to
in order
object"
account
for the practical
of which
the Galilean
is not independent.
contingencies
object
et al. have already
Garfinkel
the study of Galilean
initiated
science
the
by respecifying
instrumental

complex

of Galileo's

experiments

with

motion

on

an

inclined

plane.

See

Garfinkel et al. (1988).

5. Michael Lynch (1993: 125) eloquently articulates this ethnomethodological shift: "These
retain Husserl's
critiques
their efficacy
and adequacy
and
treat

socially
organized
this "foundation"

idea
on

that

rules

of method

and

cumulative

of an unexplicated
a discipline,
but contrary

the basis

of
praxis
as a unitary

source

of

intuition

and

foundation
to Husserl,

obtain
techniques
in the embodied
they

no

longer

Instead,
practical
certainty.
Husserl's
centralized
consciousness
dissolves
into the discursive
and embodied
activities
of situated
social praxis,
and there is no longer a transcendental
outside
ego reposing
to endow
the world
it with meaning.
The role of the ego is taken over by assemblages
of acts situated
in discursive
and embodied
of a world
articulations
that is always
and

428

DUSAN

I. BJELIC

Figure

4.

Figure

5.

shot through with meaning.

For ethnomethodologists
and other
inheritors
of the
already
the Husserlian
Lebenswelt
is no longer coordinated
Husserlian
with
the acts
problematic,
on a unitary
It is not founded
consciousness.
of a transcendental
domain
of experiential
acts but is instead treated as a locally organized
order of social activities."
See also, Lynch

(1991:83).
6.

the next

See

7. For

note.

the origin

and

extensive

analysis

of

see Eric

the Lebenswelt-pair,

and

Livingston

Harold Garfinkel (1983), Livingston (1986, 1987, 1993), Garfinkel et al. (1988), Garfinkel
andWieder (1992), Bjelic and Lynch (1992), Bjelic (1992), Lynch (1993), and the next
note.
8.

In an abbreviated
of both
For

as follows:
works
the idea is that an account
form, the Lebenswelt-pair
for an adequate
of the necessary
of a specific
discovery.
understanding
Proof
consider
the "Chinese
of the Pythagorean
Theorem
the
by consulting

sides

pair

example,

following figure (see Fig. 4) as it is given inLivingston (1987: 119?120).

is the proof
This figure
it is ordinarily
is realized,

of the Pythagorean
as being
perceived

theorem

but

in the figure

the trick
itself

is to see

and not

it. If the proof

an achievement.

The proof is achieved by seeing that two unshaded squares on the right side (see Fig. 5)
are
on

of the two sides of the triangle

the squares
the hypotenuse.
the left is the square above

second
sketches

the unshaded

square

out by inspecting
the figures
is the actual work
of proving.
to the adequacy
of understanding
the
parts of the pair amount
or
the
first
of
the
the
actual
the
the
and
part
pair,
figure
proof-account,
proof:
of proving,
such as looking
and thinking, making
of the pair, the lived work
these

Figuring
two
Thus,
mathematical

and correspondingly

relations

constitutive

part
with

and eraser, consulting

of achieving
the
others, are the lived structures
pencils
in understanding
is not ontologically
of adequacy
This duality
preferential
are two aspects
or the other segment.
of the same practice.
The same
They
the physics.
constitutes

proof-account.
one
towards
pairing
9. Also

to note that the suggested

it is interesting
tested the pendulum,
who
actually

to Viviani

is 16, 7 1/9, and 4. See Galileo (1974: 107n).

lengths by Galileo
the correct
lengths

are not correct.

are 64/16,

64/9,

According
64/4;

that

LEBENSWELTSTRUCTURESOF GALILEAN PHYSICS

when

10. However,
isochronic

received

Galileo

motions

of bodies

his

from

in circular

news

friend

that he

he became
surfaces,
He (in Drake,
1978:

429
not

could

aware

of

confirm

for successful
70) writes:
respecification.
tingencies
in the [rim of a vertical]
sieve may
be very
tell me you made
inconclusive,
and again because
in a single
circular,
by reason of the surface not being perfectly

you

one

cannot

well

the precise
beginning
the work of demonstration,

observe

the surface,
and
ment,
to not producing
contribute

of motion."
a single

Galileo
passage

the

con?
the practical
"The experiment

questions
of the object

perhaps

passage
the instru?
that might

the proof.
as lived practices
set of techniques
of a special
see Steven
the corresponding
phenomena,

the supplements
11. Shapin and Schaffer
detect
to the replication
of scientific
instruments

and

Shapin and Simon Schaffer (1985: 226). Also, see Schaffer (1989), Harry Collins (1985).
a change
in the original measurements.
9 concerning
not for the most
For example,
of objects.
arrangement
optimal
to the pole and producing
less
better for tying the string closer
note

12. See

13. And

was a product
I got at that time as a synchrony
order of motion,
into the temporal
my skills, and material
out that in order to communicate
novel
Gooding
points

one. Whatever
insight

a cylindric
pole ismuch
than the angular
friction
of Galileo's
mathematical
resources.

the use of
through
must
that produces
scientists
them,
instruments,
pass on the know-how
including
see David
as well,
conventions
Scientific
mathematical
10-11).
(1992:
Gooding
proofs
as the know-how,
is institutionalized
that the instructive
science
presume
respecification,

14. David

facts

their

as a familiar habit. Shapin and Schaffer (1985: 226) mark the time when a discovery
a convention
in the case of Boyle's
air pump: "the moment
when
skill inmaking
a replica of a pump could be said to have been produced,
when
pumps had been transmitted,
as that reported by Boyle,
the same phenomenon
when
that replica had produced
and when
own claims."
a phenomenon
to Boyle's
could count as a challenge
becomes

15. Shapin and Schaffer (1985: 225) write: "A fact is a constitutively social category: it is an
item of public
is transformed

We
knowledge.
into a publicly

of replication

is basic

16. The

order

scientific

of

collective

individualism

radical

and

to fact-production

the witnessing
region
for generating
convention
of

this model

the process
and agreed

displayed
witnessed

a private
sensory
by which
In this way,
fact of nature.

in experimental
in Galileo's

science."

instruments

was

later canonized

facts.

like Boyle,
Early experimentalists,
as a reaction
towards
the Alchemists'

witnessing
of experimentation

(Shapin
of evidence

the justice
system of multiplication
a public
of scientific
verification
experiments.
since they were
could ever be replicated
only

used

He

and Schaffer,
and a collective

questioned

thought

experience
the notion

1985:

jury
if Alchemical

experiments
is the key

into a

insisted

on

idiosyncratic

55-60).
Boyle
as a model
for

and were

experiments
never
tried.

to scientific
of the claimed
by anybody
phenomenon
replication
objectivity.
write:
and
and
Schaffer
those alleged
(1978:
56)
"Many
phenomena,
particularly
Shapin
were difficult
to accept by those adhering
to the corpuscular
and mechanical
by alchemists,
seen them can much more
'that they that have
averred
Boyle
reasonably
philosophers.

The

believe

them,

than

they

that have

not.'"

out of Galileo's
instruments
is a model
while
which,
an explicit
was at the
for generating
method
and procedural
objective
knowledge,
becoming
amethod
a
same time, in Husserl's
of concealing
its foundations.
Trent Eglin makes
words,
the "esoteric"
and "exoteric"
distinction
between
aspect of laboratory
(implicit)
(explicit)
examination
of the laboratory
The first is a self-reflective
the latter
work.
while
practices
The model

of

science

that came

is an explicit
materialistic

structure
and formal
of what was
achieved.
and
"esoterically"
Corpuscular
in producing
the public
for experimentation,
chemistry,
protocol
pushed
an amnesia
from
laboratories.
As a consequence
of this process,
alchemists
developed
as the idiosyncracy
of laboratory work. Now
the "esoteric"
viewed
dimension
about
of
a radical
and

public
"esoteric"

individualism,

aspect

"esoteric"
of new

protocol
of

sciences.
has

were
replaced
by the formal
does not mean
that the
however,
from
but only
that it
laboratories,

of alchemy

foundations

laboratory
work
experimental

This,
vanished

DUSAN I.BJELIC

430

as an implicit
structures.
of the explicit
Accordingly,
presupposition
structures
to discover
of Galileo's
the "esoteric"
pendulum.
can be revealed
the very idea that the order of the world
by the use

is hidden
attempts

17. However,
made
object

this paper
of a human

one. Many
to
ofthat
time a demonic
of them refused
for many
scholars
a priori
even look through
since their theoretical
it as anything
the telescope
flatly rejected
as rather deceptive
In fact, it was viewed
1981: 166).
(Drake,
meaningful.
three lengths of 4:9:16,
of the time square rule that he
has chosen
because
18. Galileo
probably
was

had discovered earlier in his inclined plane experiment (Drake, 1975). The rule claims that
to the squares of elapsed
is constant
and is proportional
of a falling body
time units, first,
If an object
is falling
second,
third, fourth,
equal
through
as
of the falling
these units
increases
then the acceleration
Nth,
through
body
constantly
is an example
of
of these units, namely,
the squares
1, 4, 9, 16, . . .Nth. The pendulum
the circular
line. Since
the pendular
motion
is isochronous,
the free falling
body along
the acceleration
time

units.

then the time of the swing depends solely upon its lengths (presuming that all friction is
eliminated).
the motion

root of

square

are selected

If the lengths
conform

to the square
is the number

must

the longest

as if squares of time in the free fall 4":9":16",

then
root of their lengths but in an inverse order,
the
of the shortest and reverse.
of swings

19. I found in amanual of experimental physics (LeonardRose Ingersoll andMiles JayMartin,

1942: 63) the following instructions indicating thatmy decision to use the terminal plane
as

was
measure
the counting
reaches
the end of

correct:

its equilibrium

through

to determine

it is difficult

"Since

to note

it is better

its swing,

pendulum

the

the
just when
at which
it passes

time

position."

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