Witelo

• To the Bishop of Minden see Widelo of Minden.
• For the lunar crater, see Vitello (crater ).

Vitelo, also Witelon, Vitellio (* probably around 1237 at Liegnitz in Breslau, Silesia, † around 1280/90 [ after 1275; prior to 1314 ] ) was a Silesian monk and natural philosopher Thuringian origin.

Life and work

Witelos father was a settler from Thuringia, his mother was a Silesian noble family. He called himself " filius et Thuringorum Polonorum ", son of the Thuringian and Poland. Chance his name was given later as " Erazm Ciolek ". Vitelo studied around the year 1253 in Paris, in 1260 at the University of Padua before he went to Viterbo. There he met William of Moerbeke know ( whom he later dedicated his main work Perspectiva ). His other life data is unknown: he seems to have maintained influential relationships and was probably on diplomatic trips to Southern and Western Europe on the way; after 1280 he died in Witów monastery (? ) near Petrikau Piotrków.

Vitelo is known primarily for his major work, the Perspectiva ( as the short title of the first edition from 1535, the original title of the ten-volume manuscript was Peri Optikes ). The font can be on a thorough knowledge of ancient and Arabic authors ( Alhazen, Heron, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Sina, Apollonius of Perga, Galen, and Roger Bacon) close. It largely follows the " optics " Alhazen.

The light is treated to a from a purely physical point of view - light refraction, reflections, etc. - where Vitelo the first was probably that described the spherical aberration of both lenses as well as concave mirrors. He also discovered that the ratio of the inlet to the outlet angle of a light beam is different (on a light-refracting surface ) at different angles.

On the other Vitelo address the issue of the physiological and psychological perception and methodology. A major part of his speech to take a associations ideas images; they are based on the metaphysical idea that there are mental and physical body, which by divine light ( enlightenment) are causally connected.

The work was long considered a masterpiece, both physical ( geometric ) and metaphysical (religious ) treated aspects of the phenomenon of light. For optics it became the authoritative textbook for centuries, but also served as a basis in mathematics and astronomy, and even for didactics.

Most of the other writings Witelos - he mentions it in the Perspectiva - are lost.

Aftereffect

Significant influence on the later development of optics had as a subject of scientific research Perspectiva, as Johannes Kepler 's Ad Vitellionem Paralipomena, Quibus Astronomiae Pars Optica Traditur ( " additions to Vitelo in which the optical part of astronomy continues " ) published in 1604. Witelos teachings were for Kepler the starting point for his analysis, criticism and further development of the optics ( which was later extended by Isaac Newton ). In the physiological range only Goethe and Helmholtz came out much more about the findings Witelos.

Also led Witelos discussion of the concept of motion Nicole Oresme and William of Ockham to a first criticism of Aristotle's teachings - a milestone on the way to the Renaissance thought.

The influence of Witelos work - even centuries later - makes it clear that he - though largely unknown - in the history of science occupies a key position.

The lunar crater Vitello, named after him.

Writings

• First printing: Vitellionis Mathematici doctissimi Peri optikēs, id est de natura, ratione & proiectione radiorum visus, luminum, COLORUM atque formarum, quam vulgo perspectivam vocant. Nuremberg in 1535 (edited by Georg Tannstetter which provided the template, and Peter Apian, who took over the pressure).
• Witelonis Perspectivae Liber primus, ed Sabetai Unguru, Studia Copernicana XV, Warsaw 1977
• Liber secundus & tertius, ed Sabetai Unguru, Studia Copernicana XXVIII, Warsaw 1991
• Vitellionis mathematici doctissimi ... vulgo Perspectivam vocant libri X, Nuremberg 1535
• Part Output in BÄUMKER 1908, 127-179.
• English translation of the first book in: Sabetai Unguru: Vitelo as a Mathematician, A Study in XIIIth Century Mathematics, University of Wisconsin ( Diss ) 1970.