The Optics of Giambattista Della Porta (Ca. 1535-1615): A Reassessment

ISBN-13: 9783319843483 / Angielski / Miękka / 2018 / 205 str.

Arianna Borrelli; Giora Hon; Yaakov Zik

Recenzje

"This book makes a very valuable contribution to the knowledge and positioning of Della Porta in the history of optics. ... The Optics of Giambattista Della Porta is a must for anyone interested in the problems of optical practitioners of around 1600." (Huib J. Zuidervaart, Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 50 (2), 2019)
"The Optics of Giambattista Della Porta (ca. 1535-1615) is relevant to scholars interested in perennial issues arising out of classic Scientific Revolution scholarship (the mathematization of nature, the development of scientific laws, experiment versus experience, and so forth), natural magic, early modern optical technology, early modern diagrams, and epistemic images generally." (Tawrin Baker, Isis, Vol. 110 (2), June, 2019)

Spis treści

1. Introduction

Arianna Borrelli

2. A theater of experiments: Giambattista Della Porta and the scientific culture of Renaissance Naples

William Eamon

3. Giambattista Della Porta: A magician or an optician?

Yaakov Zik and Giora Hon

4. Optical diagrams as “paper tools”: Della Porta’s analysis of biconvex lenses from De refractione to De telescopio

Arianna Borrelli

5. Giambattista Della Porta’s theory of vision in De refractione of 1593: Sources, problems, implications

A. Mark Smith

6. Magi from the north: Instruments of fire and light in the early seventeenth century

Fokko Jan Dijksterhuis

7. Using invariances in geometrical diagrams: Della Porta, Kepler and Descartes on refraction

Albrecht Heeffer

8. Francesco Maurolico, Giambattista Della Porta and their theories on refraction

Ricardo Bellé

9. Conclusion: A reassessment

Yaakov Zik and Giora Hon

Blurb

This volume contains essays that examine the optical works of Giambattista Della Porta, an Italian natural philosopher during the Scientific Revolution. Coverage also explores the science and technology of early modern optics.

Della Porta's groundbreaking book, Magia Naturalis (Natural Magic), includes a prototype of the camera. Yet, because of his obsession with magic, Della Porta's scientific achievements are often forgotten. As the contributors argue, his work inspired such great minds as Johanes Kepler and Francis Bacon. After reading this book, researchers, historians, and students will have a better appreciation of this influential scientist. They will also gain a greater understanding of an important period in the history of optics.

Readers will learn about Della Porta's experimental method, a process governed by the protocols, aims, and theoretical assumptions of natural magic. Coverage also discusses the material properties and limitations of optical technology in the early 17th century, based on a recently discovered Dutch spyglass. It also demonstrates how diagrams were instrumental in the discovery of the sine law of refraction.

In addition, the book includes an in-depth analysis of previously untranslated Latin sources. This makes the material useful to historians of optics unfamiliar with the language. More than 70 illustrations complement the text.