Replicating Mathematical Inventions: Galileo’s Compass, Its Instructions, Its Students

Abstract Questions about how closure is achieved in disputes involving new observational or experimental claims have highlighted the role of bodily knowledge possibly irreducible to written protocols and instructions build operate instruments. This essay asks similar questions a scenario that both related significantly different: replication an invention, not observation instrument through which it produced. Furthermore, machine considered here—Galileo’s compass sector—was typical industrial invention (like spinning jenny), but mathematical (a calculator), is, produces numbers, yarn. case study describes some similarities differences between replicating experiments, traditional machines producing material outputs, inventions yielding calculations information. comparison indicates that, as other kinds replication, involves texts (the calculator’s instructions) this cannot be properly described either tacit explicit. It rather takes shape memory—muscle memory—that may recalled from reading instructions.