伽利略比萨斜塔实验的真伪争论史

The History of the Debate on the Authenticity of Galileo’s Leaning Tower of Pisa Experiment

维维亚尼及其追随者塑造了比萨实验的公众形象:(1)当众演示;(2)里程碑;(3)与落体定律相关;(4)同时落地。沃尔威尔与法瓦罗之间的争论拉开了比萨实验真伪之争的序幕,以库珀、柯瓦雷为代表的“伪派”与以塞特尔、卡梅洛塔为代表的“真派”先后占据上风。通过考察这场真伪之争,结论如下:伽利略很可能在一座高塔上做过类似的实验,但它是探索性实验,与落体定律无关,没有出现同时落地,对科学史也没有重要影响;在这个意义上,比萨实验的公众形象的确是一个神话;但从科学传播学的角度看,比萨实验对今天的读者仍然有意义。

The well-known story of the Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment was created by Viviani and his successors:(1)a public demonstration;(2)a milestone;(3)relating to the law of falling bodies;(4)reaching the ground simultaneously.The dispute between Wohlwill and Favaro opened the prelude of the debate on the authenticity of the Pisa experiment.Cooper and Koyré,representing the‘pseudo’school,and Settle and Camerota,representing the‘real’school,respectively,held the upper hand.Based on the debate over its authenticity,we can conclude that Galileo probably did a similar experiment on a high tower,but it was an exploratory experiment that had nothing to do with the law of falling bodies;the two bodies did not reach the ground at the same time,and the experiment had no significant impact on the history of science.In this respect,the well-known story of the Pisa experiment is a myth;nonetheless,from the standpoint of science communication,the Pisa experiment is still instructive to today’s readers.