Girolamo Cardano’s Meteorological Predictions: Hippocratism, Weather Signs, Winds, and the Limits of Astrology
Craig Martin
Abstract The subject of meteorology was central to Girolamo Cardano’s thought. It held together his encyclopedism by tying the celestial realm sublunary world and human action. Meteorology, for Cardano, links abstract knowledge practical operative. While many Aristotelian predecessors understood weather prediction as distinct from a natural philosophical field, profound interest in conjectural arts probabilistic reasoning led him tie causal explanations methods forecasting future conditions air their effects on humans, especially regarding health disease. it might be expected that Cardano would have emphasized astrological tools forecasting, instead he went different direction, namely, embracing ancient tradition signs revising theories winds. At end career, which mostly spent writing commentaries Hippocratic writings, integrated understanding with rules prognosis, traditional understandings causes
Perspectives on Science|ARCA (Università Ca' Foscari Venezia)