V. Zubov

Vasilii Pavlovich Zubov (1900-1963) was a well-known specialist in the history of medieval and early modem science, particularly famous for his translations of Oresme, Buridan, Leonardo da Vinci, Alberti, and Dante into Russian. This paper, hitherto unknown to historians (it was recently found in the archive of philosopher A. F. Losev) documents an early stage in Zubov’s analytical work. Written in 1924, soon after his graduation from Moscow University, it is dedicated to the revival in the 16th and early 17th centuries of atomistic ideas which assumed the existence of vacuum. The paper provides a detailed account of arguments for and against atomism and shows that its eventual victory was based primarily on experimental evidence, such as that provided by Otto von Guerike.