FM 99-5; original in mp_arc 99-244, chao-dyn 9907004 Last update: march 15, 2000

Autore: Giovanni Gallavotti

Titolo: Quasi periodic motions from Hipparchus to Kolmogorov

Sommario: The evolution of the conception of motion as composed by circular uniform motions is analyzed, stressing its continuity from antiquity to our days. Nota: This is, in part, a translation of the text of a conference at the University of Roma given around 1989, circulated in the form of a preprint since. The Italian text, not intended for publication, has circulated widely and I still receive requests of copies. I decided to translate it into English and make it available more widely also because I finally went into more detail in the part about Kepler, that I considered quite superficial as presented in the original text. Therefore this preprint differs from the previous, see http://ipparco.roma1.infn.it, mainly (but not only) for the long new part in the footnote about {\it Astronomia nova}, which might be of independent interest.

Parole chiave: Ipparco, Tolomeo, Copernico, Keplero, Kolmogorov, Moto Quasiperiodico, Caos, Meccanica Celeste

Indirizzo
Giovanni Gallavotti
Dipartimento di Fisica
Universita' di Roma "La Sapienza"
P.le Moro 2 00185 Roma, Italia

e-mail giovanni.gallavotti@roma1.infn.it

fax: +39-06-4957697 tel: +39-06-49914370