著者

中澤 聡

出版者

日本科学史学会

雑誌

科学史研究. 第II期 (ISSN:00227692)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.51, no.262, pp.74-84, 2012-06-26

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This paper examines the influence of the Italian school of river hydraulics in the Eighteenth-Century Dutch Republic. It highlights the Bolognese mathematician Domenico Guglielmini (1655-1710) and the Dutch natural philosopher Willem Jacob's Gravesande (1688-1742) and compares their research activities, focussing on their theoretical works as well as their approaches to the practical problems. Guglielmini formed his theory of open channel in the context of the discussion about the projected improvement of the Po rivers, while's Gravesande adopted it to apply to the problem about the improvement works in the Rhine Delta. In Guglielmini's research, focus is laid on deriving certain formula with which one can determine the discharge of a river by simple calculation. 's Gravesande, on the other hand, relied more on the actual measurement of flow velocity in practice, although his intellectual basis was Guglielmini's theory. This paper will conclude that the essence of what's Gravesande adopted from the Italian school was the concept of flow rate and the measurement method of flow velocity, while he was more cautious in applying simple discharge formulae to real rivers.