The Aristotelian Heritage in Early Naval Architecture. From the Venice Arsenal to the French Navy, 1500-1700

Abstract

This paper examines the Aristotelian roots of the mechanics of naval architecture, beginning with Mechanical Problems, through its various interpretations by Renaissance mathematicians including Vettor Fausto and Galileo at the Venice Arsenal, and culminating in the first synthetic works of naval architecture by the French navy professor Paul Hoste at the end of the seventeenth century.