Beschreibung:

KEPLER, Johannes (1579-1630). Ad vitellionem paralipomena, quibus astronomiae pars optica traditur... de modo visionis, & humorum oculi usu, contra opticos & anatomicos . Frankfurt: C. Marnius & Heirs of J. Aubrius, 1604. 4 o (207 x 162 mm). Woodcut device on title, one engraved plate showing various anatomical sections of the eye, numerous woodcut diagrams in the text, & two folding printed tables. (Some occasional pale spotting.) Contemporary vellum over boards; slipcase. Provenance : indistinct signature on title dated 1664. FIRST EDITION of Kepler's first important optical work and a highly significant book in the history of ophthalmology. The first part deals with human vision and the functions of the eye, the crucial role played by the retina, the process of refraction and the first scientifically correct explanation of myopia. The second part is divided into six sections, which "include not only a discussion of parallax, astronomical refraction, and his eclipse instruments but also the annual variation in the apparent size of the sun. Since the changing size of the solar image is inversely proportional to the sun's distance, this key problem was closely related to his planetary theory; unfortunately, his observational results were not decisive" (DSB). "The physical theory of vision, whichmight be styled the ground-bass [sic] of ophthalmology, owes its development mainly to the work of great astronomers and physicists. The Ad Vitellionem paralipomena, of the astronomer Kepler (Frankfort, 1604), contains a treatise on vision and the human eye in which is shown for the first time how the retina is essential to sight, the part the lens plays in refraction, and that the convergence of luminous rays before reaching the retina is the cause of myopia" (Garrison, p. 260). Kepler was responsible for introducing the terms "prism," "lens," "meniscus," and many others into the field of optics. Caspar 18; Cinti 13; Garrison p. 260; Hirschberg 308; Krivatsy 6343; Zinner 3993.