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8
Preface
riddles,butratheratdevelopingthenaturalscience,withaspecially
attentionputonuscienceofmotion’withinthetypicallyAristotelian
schemeoftheoreticalscience.
Takingintoaccounthowmuchhasbeendiscovered,editedandwrit-
tenontheOxfordCalculators,wedecidedtoreviseandcomparethe
resultsofourandotherhistorians’studiesontheintellectualheritageof
thesefourteenth-centuryEnglishthinkersinordertoprovidethosein-
terestedwithanupdatedandwellsupplementedaccountontheOxford
Calculatorsnaturalphilosophyinperhapsitsmostfundamentalaspect
-atleastfromthepointofviewofAristotelianphilosophy-namelyon
theuscienceoflocalmotion”.Thefrstconclusionthatmustbeform
here,attheverybeginning,isthatthetermutheOxfordCalculators’
school”isperfectlyadequateandwell-groundedasageneralnotionwith
respecttothethinkerswerefertobelow.Aswillbeshown,theconcepts
andsolutionsthesethinkersincludedintheirphilosophicalworkswere
developedwithinthecontextoftheideaspresentedbytheothergroup
members-sometimesassimplyborrowedideas,sometimesasones
deemeddubious,andsometimesasmereimpulsesforfurtherdiscussions
andsolutions.Theotherconclusion,perhapsfarmoresubversive,is
thatitwasnotThomasBradwardinewhointroducedmathematicsin
theformofthenew‘calculusofratios’totheAristotelianuscienceof
localmotion”,buthiscontemporary,oneofthemostingeniousand
unorthodoxpersonalitiesofthosetimes-RichardKilvington.Only
becausethereremainedsofewmanuscriptcopiesofKilvington’sworks
onnaturalphilosophy,oneshithertopoorlyscrutinized,didhistorians
ofmedievalphilosophyandsciencebetterknowThomasBradwardine
andhishandbookuOntheproportionsofspeedsinmotions”.
Toachieveourmaingoal,i.e.,toanswerquestionsaboutcontinu-
ityordiscontinuityinthedevelopmentofsciencefromtheMedi-
evalperioduptotheScientifcRevolutionweofferdetailedanalyses
basedonthefrstpublishedcriticaleditionsofLatin-manuscripttexts
byRichardKilvington,WilliamHeytesbury,theanonymousauthorof
thetreatiseDesexinconevnientibusandapartofDumbleton’sSummalogia-
caeandphilosophianarturalis(PartIII:Demotulocali).
Ourresearchconfrmsourbeliefthatscientifctruthsingeneral,and
evenhistoricalfactsinparticular,areneverestablishedonceandfor-
ever,thus,throughthepresentbookweintendtorevisethestoryofthe
OxfordCalculators’school.