Opticæ thesaurus : Alhazenis Arabis libri septem, nunc primùm editi
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Al-Haytham (latinized as Alhazen) was the first to provide a comprehensive and systematic alternative to Greek theories of vision. Renouncing both the emission theory, which held that visual rays emanate from the observer's eye, and the intromission theory, which held that the rays emanate from the beheld objects, al-Haytham based his theory of direct vision upon the action of light, which is emitted from all visible objects (including non-luminous ones) in all directions. The eye perceives visible objects via rays hitting its front surface perpendicularly; all others are refracted. Al-Haytham taught that light spreads out spherically from each point on a visible object and improved upon Ptolemy's crude rule of refraction, which he showed only held true for small angles. He also investigated many particular cases of refraction and reflection, pointed out the light-ray's property of retracing its path when reversed, and postulated that the speed of light was finite. His account of the structure and functions of the eye (portrayed in one of the three woodcut illustrations) was not superseded until the seventeenth century. --
- This editio princeps of the Latin text of the Optics, edited by Friederich Risner, includes the spurious Treatise on Twilight (probably the work of the eleventh-century scholar al-Jayyani), containing the first calculation of the height of the atmosphere. It is followed by Perspectiva, an important commentary on the Optics by the thirteenth-century Polish scholar Witelo, which had first appeared in print in 1535; Witelo, John Pecham and Roger Bacon were the first to incorporate al-Haytham's theory of sight into their own optical treatises.--J. Norman, 2006.
Description
| Literal transcription: | Opticæ thesavrvs |
|---|---|
| Uniform title | Manāẓir. Latin |
| Type of resource | text |
| Form | |
| Extent | 2 volumes in 1 ([6], 288, [8], 474, [2] pages) : illustrations, diagrams ; 33 cm |
| Place | Switzerland |
| Place | Basileæ [Basel] |
| Publisher | Per Episcopios |
| Publication date | 1572; M D LXXII [1572] |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | Latin; Arabic |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Alhazen, 0965-1039 | |
|---|---|---|
| Contributor | Gherardo, da Cremona, 1113 or 1114-1187 | |
| Publisher | Episcopius, Eusebius, 1540-1599 | |
| Editor | Reisner, Friedrich, -1580 |
Subjects
| Subject | Optics and Photonics |
|---|---|
| Subject | Vision, Ocular |
| Genre | Rare materials, 1500s |
| Genre | Rare materials, top 100 |
| Genre | Terminology |
| Genre | Translations |
| Genre | Books |
| Genre | Subset, seidel nonwestern |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Ejusdem liber De crepusculis & nubium ascensionibus. Item Vitellonis Thuringopoloni libri X. Omnes instaurati, figuris illustrati & aucti, adiectis etiam in Alhazenum commentariis, à Federico Risnero. |
|---|---|
| Note | "Vitellonis Thuringopoloni Opticae libri decem" has special t.p. and separate pagination and signatures. |
| Note | Colophon: Basileæ, Ex Officina Episcopiana, Per Evsebivm Episcopium, & Nicolai F. hæredes. 1572 ... |
| Note | Contains Opticae liber primus [-septimus], and De crepusculis et nubium ascensionibus liber unus, Gerardo Cremonensi interprete (p. 283-288, 1st group, with caption title only). The former is a translation of al-Manazir. The latter, the original of which is lost, is probably not by Alhazen but by Abū 'Abd Allāh Muhammad ibn Mu'ādh al-Jayyāni: cf. Sabra, A. I. "The authorship of the Liber de crepusculis," Isis 1967; 58:77-85. |
| Note | Errata on leaves [alpha]3 and *4. |
| Note | Title vignette: Episcopius' device; a different device of Episcopius on verso of last leaf. |
| Note | Woodcut illustrations, diagrams, devices and initials. |
| Note | Cf. Lindberg, D. C. "Alhazen's theory of vision and its reception in the West," Isis 58 (1967), p. 321-341. |
| Note | Translation of: al-Manāẓir. |
| Referenced by |
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| Contains |
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| LCCN | 12019244 |
| OCLC | 2044265 |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/mx869vb3180 |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
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- Copyright
- Copyright © Stanford University. All Rights Reserved.
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