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62Francesco Fontana (1580–1656) from practice to rules of calculation of lens systemsArchive for History of Exact Sciences 78 (2): 153-182. 2023.In 1646, Francesco Fontana (1580–1656) published his Novae Coelestium Terresriumque Rerum Observationes which includes discussions of optical properties of systems of lenses, e.g., telescope and microscope. Our study of the Novae Coelestium shows that the advance Fontana made in optics could not have been accomplished on the basis of the traditional spectacle optics which was the dominant practice at his time. Though spectacle and telescope making share the same optical elements, improving eyesi…Read more
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32Kepler's Optical Part of Astronomy (1604): Introducing the Ecliptic InstrumentPerspectives on Science 17 (3): 307-345. 2009.The year 2009 marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of one of the most revolutionary scientific texts ever written. In this book, appropriately entitled, Astronomia nova, Johannes Kepler developed an astronomical theory which departs fundamentally from the systems of Ptolemy and Copernicus. One of the great innovations of this theory is its dependence on the science of optics. The declared goal of Kepler in his earlier publication, Paralipomena to Witelo whereby The Optical Part of Astr…Read more
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309History of science and science combined: solving a historical problem in optics—the case of Galileo and his telescopeArchive for History of Exact Sciences 71 (4): 337-344. 2017.The claim that Galileo Galilei transformed the spyglass into an astronomical instrument has never been disputed and is considered a historical fact. However, the question what was the procedure which Galileo followed is moot, for he did not disclose his research method. On the traditional view, Galileo was guided by experience, more precisely, systematized experience, which was current among northern Italian artisans and men of science. In other words, it was a trial-and-error procedure—no theor…Read more
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32Geometry of Light and Shadow: Francesco Maurolyco (1494–1575) and the Pinhole CameraAnnals of Science 64 (4): 549-578. 2007.Summary In his Theoremata de lumine, et umbre (1521), Francesco Maurolyco (1494–1575) discussed, inter alia, the problem of the pinhole camera. Maurolyco outlined a framework based on Euclidean geometry in which he applied the rectilinear propagation of light to the casting of shadow on a screen behind a pinhole. We limit our discussion to the problem of how the image behind an aperture is formed, and follow the way Maurolyco combined theory with instrument to solve the problem of the projection…Read more
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29The Optics of Giambattista Della Porta : A Reassessment (edited book)Springer Verlag. 2017.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, 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 …Read more
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54Kepler's optical part of astronomy (1604): Introducing the ecliptic instrumentPerspectives on Science 17 (3). 2009.The year 2009 marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of one of the most revolutionary scientific texts ever written. In this book, appropriately entitled, Astronomia nova, Johannes Kepler developed an astronomical theory which departs fundamentally from the systems of Ptolemy and Copernicus. One of the great innovations of this theory is its dependence on the science of optics. The declared goal of Kepler in his earlier publication, Paralipomena to Witelo whereby The Optical Part of Astr…Read more
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5Between discovery and disclosure: Galileo and the telescopeBibilioteca di Nuncius 49 173-190. 2003.
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Theory and practice of early telescopic observation: Galileo and the telescopeIn H. Grob B. And Hooijmaijers (ed.), Who needs scientific instruments, Museum Boerhaave. pp. 195-200. 2005.
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7Magnification: How to turn a spyglass into an astronomical telescopeArchive for History of Exact Sciences 66 (4). 2012.According to the received view, the first spyglass was assembled without any theory of how the instrument magnifies. Galileo, who was the first to use the device as a scientific instrument, improved the power of magnification up to 30 times. How did he accomplish this feat? Galileo does not tell us what he did. We hold that such improvement of magnification is too intricate a problem to be solved by trial and error, accidentally stumbling upon a complex procedure. We construct a plausibility arg…Read more
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91Science and instruments: The telescope as a scientific instrument at the beginning of the seventeenth centuryPerspectives on Science 9 (3): 259-284. 2001.: Scientific observation is determined by the human sensory system, which generally relies on instruments that serve as mediators between the world and the senses. Instruments came in the shape of Heron's Dioptra, Levi Ben Gerson's Cross-staff, Egnatio Danti's Torqvetto Astronomico, Tycho's Quadrant, Galileo's Geometric Military Compass, or Kepler's Ecliptic Instrument. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, however, it was unclear how an instrument such as the telescope could be employed …Read more
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
General Philosophy of Science |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |