From Sight to Light

From Sight to Light
Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Total Pages : 470
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780226528571
ISBN-13 : 022652857X
Rating : 4/5 (57X Downloads)

Book Synopsis From Sight to Light by : A. Mark Smith

Download or read book From Sight to Light written by A. Mark Smith and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-11-16 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 shift—which A. Mark Smith characterizes as the “Keplerian turn”—lies at the heart of this fascinating and pioneering study. 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. Kepler’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 instrument—as traditionally understood—Kepler’s account of retinal imaging helped spur the shift in analytic focus that eventually led to modern optics. 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.


From Sight to Light Related Books

From Sight to Light
Language: en
Pages: 470
Authors: A. Mark Smith
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-11-16 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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 o
Saving Sight
Language: en
Pages: 232
Authors: Andrew Lam
Categories: Medical
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-05-20 - Publisher: Irie Books

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Saving Sight, Dr. Andrew Lam explains the intricacies of human sight and shines a light on the heroes who fought to save it, while also revealing the persona
Language at the Speed of Sight
Language: en
Pages: 385
Authors: Mark Seidenberg
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-01-03 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

We’ve been teaching reading wrong—a leading cognitive scientist tells us how we can finally do it right
Discovering Light
Language: en
Pages: 0
Authors: Sara Aissati
Categories: Light
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-09-30 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What is light? Where are optics and photonics present in our lives and in nature? What lies behind different optical phenomena? What is an optical instrument? H
From Darkness to Sight
Language: en
Pages: 0
Authors: Ming X. Wang
Categories: China
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From Darkness to Sightchronicles the remarkable life journey of Dr. Ming Wang, a world-renowned laser eye surgeon and philanthropist. As a teenager, Ming fought