Optics of Giambattista Della Porta (ca. 1535–1615): A Reassessment

“This book makes a very valuable contribution to the knowledge and positioning of Della Porta in the history of optics. … The Optics of Giambattista Della Porta is a must for anyone interested in the problems of optical practitioners of around 1600.” (Huib J. Zuidervaart, Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 50 (2), 2019)“The Optics of Giambattista Della Porta (ca. 1535–1615) is relevant to scholars interested in perennial issues arising out of classic Scientific Revolution scholarship (the mathematization of nature, the development of scientific laws, experiment versus experience, and so forth), natural magic, early modern optical technology, early modern diagrams, and epistemic images generally.” (Tawrin Baker, Isis, Vol. 110 (2), June, 2019)

• 1. Introduction.- 2. A theater of experiments: Giambattista Della Porta and the scientific culture of Renaissance Naples.- 3. Giambattista Della Porta: A magician or an optician?.- 4. Optical diagrams as “paper tools”: Della Porta’s analysis of biconvex lenses from De refractione to De telescopio.- 5. Giambattista Della Porta’s theory of vision in De refractione of 1593: Sources, problems, implications.- 6. Magi from the north: Instruments of fire and light in the early seventeenth century.- 7. Using invariances in geometrical diagrams: Della Porta, Kepler and Descartes on refraction.- 8. Francesco Maurolico, Giambattista Della Porta and their theories on refraction.-9. Conclusion: A reassessment