Synopses & Reviews
From its inception in Greek antiquity, the science of optics was aimed primarily at explaining sight and accounting for why things look as they do. By the end of the seventeenth century, however, the analytic focus of optics had shifted to light: its fundamental properties and such physical behaviors as reflection, refraction, and diffraction. This dramatic shiftand#151;which A. Mark Smith characterizes as the and#147;Keplerian turnand#8221;and#151;lies at the heart of this fascinating and pioneering study.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
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Breaking from previous scholarship that sees Johannes Kepler as the culmination of a long-evolving optical tradition that traced back to Greek antiquity via the Muslim Middle Ages, Smith presents Kepler instead as marking a rupture with this tradition, arguing that his theory of retinal imaging, which was published in 1604, was instrumental in prompting the turn from sight to light. Keplerand#8217;s new theory of sight, Smith reveals, thus takes on true historical significance: by treating the eye as a mere light-focusing device rather than an image-producing instrumentand#151;as traditionally understoodand#151;Keplerand#8217;s account of retinal imaging helped spur the shift in analytic focus that eventually led to modern optics.and#160;
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A sweeping survey, From Sight to Light is poised to become the standard reference for historians of optics as well as those interested more broadly in the history of science, the history of art, and cultural and intellectual history.
Review
and#8220;From Sight to Light is an exciting and valuable addition to the diachronic history of science in an area of crucial importance not only to our understanding of medieval science but also to the formation of modern science itself. This is history of science at its best.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;In its text-based approach, From Sight to Light offers a convincing conceptual history of optics. Well argued and based on a lifetime of close study of the primary sources, it deserves to be widely read. From Sight to Lightand#160;has the potential to be a classic alongside David Lindberg's Theories of Vision.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;No one doubts Keplerand#8217;s contribution to optics and vision. and#160;But here, as never before, his ancient and medieval debts are set in deeper historical context, and importantly, his dramatic departures are carefully reassessed and critically revised.and#160;Smithand#8217;s fresh interpretation of the Western optical traditionand#8212;impressive in scope and rigor, and written with remarkable clarityand#8212;will likely become a classic.and#8221;
Review
andquot;A magisterial history of optics over the course of two millennia. . . . This is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of sight, vision, light, and the study thereof.andquot;
Review
andquot;Absolutely delightful to read, with an elegance far exceeding that of the overwhelming majority of scientific papers. The book holds oneand#39;s attention and is difficult to put down.andquot;
Review
andquot;In what will surely become a canonical work, Smith surveys the development of optics in the Western world from classical Greece through Johannes Kepler. . . . Smith systematically guides readers through all major texts in the history of optics, at times in painstaking detail, making this book a valuable reference work. At the same time, he never lets the big picture recede into the background for too long, consistently and clearly articulating the larger textual traditions and conceptual innovations in his sources and weaving them into a coherent, engaging story and historical argument. Students and faculty alikeandmdash;in fact, anyone interested in the nature and development of premodern opticsandmdash;will need to consult this book. Essential.andquot;
Synopsis
Kepler's successful solution to the problem of vision early in the seventeenth century was a theoretical triumph as significant as many of the more celebrated developments of the scientific revolution. Yet the full import of Kepler's arguments can be grasped only when they are viewed against the background of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance visual theory. David C. Lindberg provides this background, and in doing so he fills the gap in historical scholarship and constructs a model for tracing the development of scientific ideas.
David C. Lindberg is professor and chairman of the department of the history of science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Synopsis
From Sight to Light traces the development of optics from Greek antiquity to the later seventeenth century. It has long been held that Ibn al-Haytham, or Alhacen, laid the foundations of modern optics on the ruins of ancient optics, thus paving the way for Kepler. A. Mark Smith provocatively argues instead that far from overthrowing ancient optics, in which science was concerned with the act of seeing, Alhacen perfected it by solidifying its theoretical and methodological foundations. In the process, he forged a tight connection between light-theory and sight-theory. By severing this tie and forcing a radical reconsideration of both the physics of light and the psychology of visual perception, it was Kepler, Smith shows, who heralded modern optics. A sweeping survey of our fascination with seeing,
From Sight to Light is poised to replace David C. Lindbergand#8217;s classic
Theories of Vision from Al-kindi to Kepler (Chicago, 1976) as the standard reference for historians of optics as well as those interested more broadly in the history of science, the history of art, and cultural and intellectual history.
About the Author
David C. Lindberg (1935-2015) was the Hilldale Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at the University of Wisconsinand#8211;Madison and past-president of the History of Science Society. His scholarship focused on the history of medieval and early modern science, especially physical science and the relationship between religion and science. He was the author or editor of many books, several of which were published by the University of Chicago Press.
Table of Contents
Preface Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The Emergence of Optics as a Science: The Greek and Early Greco-Roman Background
1 Early Intimations
2 Physical and Psychological Theories of Vision
3 The Anatomical and Physiological Grounds of Vision
4 Theories of Color and Color Perception
5 The Euclidean Visual Ray Theory
6 Euclidean Catoptrics
7 Burning Mirrors and the Analysis of Focal Properties
8 Conclusion
Chapter 3 Ptolemy and the Flowering of Greek Optics
1 The Ptolemaic Account of Visual Perception
2 The Ptolemaic Account of Reflection
3 The Ptolemaic Account of Refraction
4 Atmospheric Refraction and the Moon Illusion
5 Conclusion
Chapter 4 Greco-Roman and Early Arabic Developments
1 Plotinusandrsquo;s Theory of Visual Perception
2 The Later De anima Commentators
3 Saint Augustineandrsquo;s Psychological Model: The Inward Ascent
4 The Arabic Transition: The De anima Tradition
5 The Arabic Transition: Geometrical Optics
6 Conclusion
Chapter 5 Alhacen and the Grand Synthesis
1 The Elements of Alhacenandrsquo;s Analysis
2 Visual Discrimination, Perception, and Conception
3 Reflection and Its Visual Manifestations
4 Refraction and Its Visual Manifestations
5 Conclusion
Chapter 6 Developments in the Medieval Latin West
1 Background to the Translation Movement
2 The Translation Movement and the Inroads of Aristotelianism
3 The Scholastic Analysis of Perception and Cognition
4 Geometrical Optics and the Evolving Science of Perspectiva
5 Conclusion
Chapter 7 The Assimilation of Perspectivist Optics during the Later Middle Ages and Renaissance
1 Optics as a Quadrivial Pursuit in the Arts Curriculum
2 Theology and the Emergence of Optical Literacy
3 Optical Motifs in Literature
4 Renaissance Art, Naturalism, and Optics
5 Conclusion
Chapter 8 The Keplerian Turn and Its Technical Background
1 Technological, Social, and Cultural Changes: 1450andndash;1600
2 Rethinking Concave Mirrors and Convex Lenses
3 Rethinking the Eye
4 Keplerandrsquo;s Analysis of Retinal Imaging
5 The Analytic Turn
6 The Epistemological Turn
7 Conclusion
Chapter 9 The Seventeenth-Century Response
1 The Conceptual and Cultural Context for the Keplerian Turn
2 Extending Vision in Both Directions
3 New Theories of Light
4 Recasting Color
5 The Epistemological Consequences
6 Conclusion
and#160;
Bibliography
Index