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Preface
ChrisSchabelinhisexcellentbook:uTheologyatParis1316-1345.Pe-
terAuriolandtheproblemofdivineforeknowledgeandfuturecontin-
gents”openshisPrefacewithastatementwhichsuitablyreflectsthe
contextofourresearchintotheOxfordCalculators’14th-centuryphi-
losophyofnature.WerepeatafterSchabel:uThepaththatthispresent
studyhastakenhasbeenasroundaboutasthehistoriographicalpath
[…]thatledtotheseriouslacunathatthisbookattemptstofll.”
StudiesintotheOxfordCalculatorstraditionhadtheirbegin-
ningswithPierreDuhem’sresearchpublishedatthestartofthe
20thcentury.Thediscoveryofmathematicalphysics,which,inac-
cordancetothecommonopinionofhistoriansofmedievalscience,
wasuintroduced”byThomasBradwardine,initiatedintensivere-
searchinthefeld.KonstantyMichalski,MarshallClagett,Annelise
Maier,LamarCrosby,CurtisWilson,JohnMurdoch,ErnestMoody,
GeorgeMolland,JohnLongway,StephenRead,FabiennePironet,
SabineRommevaux,andEdithSylla,tomentiononlyafewnames,
devotedtheirstudieseithertopreparingcriticaleditionsoftheOx-
fordCalculators’textsortopresentingthemainideasoftheCal-
culatorsthemselves.Theprimaryandsecondaryliterature,asour
Bibliographyshows,isextensive.
Thepredominantbelief,expressedbyEdithSylla,andcommonlyac-
cepted,isthat:uTheCalculatorscarriedtheiranalysesandcalculations
abittoofarforittobeplausiblethattheirmaingoalwasdiscover-
iesinnaturalphilosophy”.Inheropiniontheworksofsuchpersonali-
tiesoffourteenth-centuryOxfordphilosophyasRichardKilvington,
ThomasBradwardine,WilliamHeytesbury,JohnDumbletonandRich-
ardSwineshead,albeitfullofdiscussionofproblemsfromnaturalphi-
losophy,wereintendedfromtheoutsettobefrstofall,moreorless
advanced,logicalexercises,meantprimarilyforadvancedundergradu-
ates.We,however,madeanaffordtoprovethattheOxfordCalculators
workswereaimednotatformulatingincreasinglycomplicatedlogical