TY - BOOK ID - 73652293 TI - Nicole Oresme's De visione stellarum (On seeing the stars) : a critical edition of Oresme's treatise on optics and atmospheric refraction AU - Oresme, Nicole AU - Burton, Dan. PY - 2007 SN - 9004153705 9789004153707 9786611400514 1281400513 9047410890 9789047410898 9789047410898 9781281400512 6611400516 PB - Leiden ; Boston : Brill, DB - UniCat KW - Optics KW - Refraction, Astronomical KW - Science, Medieval KW - 509.02 KW - Medieval science KW - Astronomical refraction KW - Refraction KW - Spherical astronomy KW - Sciences History (500 - 1500) UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:73652293 AB - 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. ER -