Cometary theory in fifteenth-century Europe (Studia Copernicana) - Tapa dura

Cometary Theory in Fifteenth-Century Europe (Studia Copernicana 26)

Librería:

killarneybooks
(Inagh, CLARE, Irlanda)

Valoración

Valoración del vendedor:

Descripción Hardcover. Condición: Very Good. Estado de la sobrecubierta: Good. Cloth hardcover, 209 pages, b&w facsimiles and plates (pp. 71-85 & 131-161 & 171-193), b&w figures in text, NOT ex-library. Published in a limited scholarly edition of 490 copies. Based on Ph.D. Thesis (Yale University, 1978). Interior is gently age-toned, clean, and has the appearance of very little use (some leaves are still uncut/unopened); book is free of inscriptions and stamps, with unmarked text. A touch of tearing in the lower front hinge; binding remains secure and stable throughout. Dust jacket shows a sunned spine, fraying to upper/lower spine edges, rubbing to flap corners; faint dusty and handling marks. -- "Knowledge concerning astronomy and related sciences in the fifteenth century is still very scarce. It is impossible, however, to understand the evolution of scientific methods leading to modern thought, without a thorough study of 15th-century sources. This is especially true for optics, astronomy, as well as for arithmetic and trigonometry, as applied to astronomy e.g. by Giovanni Bianchini. Jane L. Jervis' Cometary Theory in Fifteenth-Century Europe contains perfect examples of different methodological approaches of fifteenth century scholars to problems arising from the observations of the sky. Mrs Jervis shows how Jacobus Angelus (1402), still staying on the level of qualitative description of phenomena, departs from Aristotle's treatment of comets as objects of a meteorological nature, in favor of Seneca's conception considering a comet as a celestial body, namely a planet, which, owing to its eccentric orbit, can only be seen in the lower part of that orbit. Peurbach (1456) on the other hand determines quantitatively the lower part of the comet's orbit, taking for granted, according to Aristotelian cosmology, that its upper part is limited by the lunar sphere. Regiomontanus (1472) "devised a theoretical method for determining a comet's size and distance [.] but he did not apply the method". Finally, Toscanelli (1433, 1456) was interested in a purely quantitative analysis of phenomena, based on systematic observations and devoid of any cosmological speculation." (from the Foreword by Grazyna Rosinska) -- Contents: Foreword; Introduction; 1. Cometary Theory in Antiquity; 2. The Medieval Tradition of Cometary Theory, to 1400; 3. The Fifteenth-Century Astronomical Context; 4. Jacobus Angelus [Jacopo d'Angelo]; 5. Paolo Toscanelli [Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli]; 6. Georg Peurbach [Georg von Peuerbach]; 7. Johannes Regiomontanus; 8. Epilogue: The Sixteenth Century; Summary and Conclusions; Appendix: A. Jacobus Angelus: "Tractatus De Cometis", Facsimile; B. Toscanelli's Mathematical Computations; C. Regiomontanus' "Sixteen Problems", Facsimile; D. "De Cometa", Attributed to Regiomontanus, Latin Text; References; Polish Summary; Subject Index; Index of Names. Nº de ref. del artículo: 007029

Más información sobre este vendedor | Contactar al vendedor