Nicole Oresme's De visione stellarum (On Seeing the Stars): A Critical Edition of Oresme's Treatise on Optics and Atmospheric Refraction, with an Introduction, Commentary, and English Translation

Book info: Nicole Oresme's De visione stellarum (On Seeing the Stars): A Critical Edition of Oresme's Treatise on Optics and Atmospheric Refraction, with an Introduction, Commentary, and English Translation (Hardcover, 336 pages) – Brill, 2006. Language: English.

In this critical edition and translation of Nicole Oresme’s On Seeing the Stars, the renowned 14th-century natural philosopher proposes that the stars are not where they seem. And perhaps nothing is where it seems. In this earliest treatise on atmospheric refraction, Oresme uses optics and infinitesimals to help solve this vexing problem of astronomy. He is the first to propose that light travels along a curve through the atmosphere – two centuries before Hooke and Newton, who are credited with the discovery. Further, he calls all sense data into doubt. Oresme’s argument concerning the curvature of light is a major milestone in the history of science, confirming that Oresme was one of the most innovative scientists of the pre-modern world. Editorial Reviews About the Author Dan Burton, Ph.D. (2000) in History of Science, Indiana University, is Associate Professor of History at the University of North Alabama. He has recently co-authored Magic, Mystery and Science: The Occult in Western Civilization (2003).