Originally published in 1991. Philoponus’ long commentary on Aristotle’s definition of light sets up the major concerns, both in optics and theory of light,

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

In studies of early Christian thought, ‘philosophy’ is often a synonym for ‘Platonism’, or at most for ‘Platonism and Stoicism’. Nevertheless, it wa

Prior to 20th century physics it was believed an ethereal medium pervaded all space. It was believed the ether is necessary to explain light as waves propagatin

An account of what Arabic scholars have written, either as commentators or as more independent authors, on the subjects treated in Aristotle's Meteorology, this