Overview
- Presents a dedicated and fascinating history of binocular vision
- Spans from the Middle Ages to 17th-century European studies on ‘Perspectiva’
- Incorporates geometric and physiological optics as well as linear perspective, in a multifaceted approach
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Archimedes (ARIM, volume 47)
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Table of contents (11 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book clarifies the interrelationship between optics, vision and perspective before the Classical Age, examining binocularity in particular. The author shows how binocular vision was one of the key juncture points between the three concepts and readers will see how important it is to understand the approach that scholars once took. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the concept of Perspectiva – the Latin word for optics – encompassed many areas of enquiry that had been viewed since antiquity as interconnected, but which afterwards were separated: optics was incorporated into the field of physics (i.e., physical and geometrical optics), vision came to be regarded as the sum of various psycho-physiological mechanisms involved in the way the eye operates (i.e., physiological optics and psychology of vision) and the word ‘perspective’ was reserved for the mathematical representation of the external world (i.e., linear perspective).
The author shows how this division, whichemerged as a result of the spread of the sciences in classical Europe, turns out to be an anachronism if we confront certain facts from the immediately preceding periods. It is essential to take into account the way medieval scholars posed the problem – which included all facets of the Latin word perspectiva – when exploring the events of this period. This book will appeal to a broad readership, from philosophers and historians of science, to those working in geometry, optics, ophthalmology and architecture.Reviews
Selected by Choice magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2017
“Raynaud (science historian, Univ. of Grenoble Alpes, France) systematically examines themes connected to optics, linear perspective, and the theory of binocular vision, especially as these pertain to Renaissance art. … The book makes an important contribution to the scholarship of Renaissance optics. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.” (T. Timmons, Choice, Vol. 54 (10), June, 2017)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Dominique Raynaud is a science historian at the Université of Grenoble Alpes, France. He has published various articles and books in the field, among them are Optics and the Rise of Perspective. A Study in Network Knowledge Diffusion (Oxford, 2014) and Scientific Controversies. A Socio-historical Perspective on the Advancement of Science (New Brunswick, 2015).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Studies on Binocular Vision
Book Subtitle: Optics, Vision and Perspective from the Thirteenth to the Seventeenth Centuries
Authors: Dominique Raynaud
Series Title: Archimedes
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42721-8
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-42720-1Published: 05 October 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-82645-5Published: 14 June 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-42721-8Published: 26 September 2016
Series ISSN: 1385-0180
Series E-ISSN: 2215-0064
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 297
Number of Illustrations: 90 b/w illustrations
Topics: History of Science, Philosophy of Science, Geometry, Classical Electrodynamics, Ophthalmology, Architectural History and Theory