Lodovico delle Colombe
Lodovico delle Colombe (20 January 1565 – after 1623) was an Italian Aristotelian scholar, famous for his battles with Galileo Galilei in a series of controversies in physics and astronomy.
[5] In 1606, Delle Colombe published his discourse on the phenomenon,[note 1] dedicated to Alessandro Marzi Medici, the Archbishop of Florence.
[2] In support of these arguments, delle Colombe drew not only on astronomical observations but on the authority of Aristotle, and of many other Peripatetic thinkers, including the Conimbricenses, Gasparo Contarini, and Julius Caesar Scaliger.
Nevertheless, in his discussion of earthshine he implied that the Earth changes its position rather than remaining static, and then added: ' Let these few remarks suffice us here concerning this matter, which will be more fully treated in our System of the World.
We shall prove the earth to be a wandering body surpassing the moon in splendor, and not the sink of all dull refuse of the universe; this we shall support by an infinitude of arguments drawn from nature '[14]Galileo may have been trying to quietly introduce his more speculative ideas about the universe among the empirical observations made with his telescope, but these few sentences gave delle Colombe sufficient grounds to attack him at an apparent weak point, in an attempt to force him to defend the motion of the Earth specifically.
[18] The final section of this work marked a shift in the arguments put forward by delle Colombe – instead of simply defending Aristotle or challenging Galileo for empirical proofs, he introduced a series of scriptural and theological objections to his claims.
(Galileo appears to have used delle Colombe's arguments as the basis for those of the character Simplicio in his 1632 work Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.)
[19] Galileo decided not to respond to delle Colombe's invitation to argue his case about literal and other readings of holy text, saying that as 'Contra il Moto della Terra' had only been circulated in manuscript and not published, there was no reason for him to reply.
[20] While the main arguments in 'Contro il Moto della Terra' are concerned with the Earth's motion, delle Colombe also responded to Galileo's claim that the surface of the Moon was rough and mountainous.
Indeed, Galileo, who privately ridiculed delle Colombe mercilessly, never gave him the satisfaction of a formal public response to his challenges.
[22] In July 1611 a debate about the nature of cold was held at the house of Galileo's friend Filippo Salviati, with two Aristotelians, it:Vincenzo di Grazia and Giorgio Coresio.
[23] In the days before this proposed meeting, delle Colombe took his demonstration to the streets and public places of Florence to show how easily he could prove Galileo wrong.
Galileo then proposed that they meet on a new date at Salviati's house, and that on this occasion the objects to be placed on the water should all be thoroughly wetted first (which would have removed the surface tension effect).
Galileo may have felt no useful purpose was served by involving himself directly in this debate, and he may simply not have had the time to respond in detail to all the errors in delle Colombe's book.
Castelli's Risposta alle Opposizioni del S. Lodovico delle Colombe [note 9] was published in 1615, marking the end of this particular dispute.
[30] Among the Pigeon League's members was Delle Colombe's brother Rafaello, a leading Dominican, close to archbishop Marzi Medici, who frequently sermonised against Copernican ideas in general and Galileo in particular.
[32][33] In December 1611, soon after the dispute over floating bodies, Cigoli wrote to Galileo warning him that a group of his enemies were meeting regularly in the house of the Archbishop, "in a mad quest for any means by which they can damage you."
On 20 December 1614, he preached a sermon in Santa Maria Novella in Florence, attacking Galileo and quoting the Acts of the Apostles,"Viri galilaei, quid statis adspicientes in caelum?"
