Vitello

For other uses, seeVitello (disambiguation).

Cover ofVitellonis Thuringopoloni opticae libri decem(Ten Books of Optics by the Thuringo-Pole Witelo)

Vitello(Polish:Witelon;German:Witelo;c. 1230– 1280/1314) was a Polishfriar,theologian,natural philosopherand an important figure in thehistory of philosophy in Poland.

Name

Vitello's name varies with some sources. In earlier publications he was quoted as Erazmus Ciolek Witelo, Erazm Ciołek, Vitellio and Vitulon. Today, he is usually referred to by his Latin nameVitello Thuringopolonis,often shortened to Vitello.

Life

Vitello's exact birth-name and birthplace are uncertain. He was most likely born around 1230 inSilesia,in the vicinity ofLegnica.His mother came from a Polish knightly house, while his father was aGermansettler fromThuringia.He called himself, inLatin,"Thuringorum et Polonorum filius"—" a son ofThuringiansandPoles."He studied atPadua Universityabout 1260, then went on toViterbo.He became friends withWilliam of Moerbeke,the translator ofAristotlefrom Greek language into Latin. Vitello's major surviving work onoptics,Perspectiva,completed in about 1270–78,was dedicated to William. In 1284 he described thereflectionandrefractionof light.

Perspectiva

Page from a manuscript ofDe Perspectiva,with miniature of its author Vitello.

Vitello'sPerspectivawas largely based on the work of thepolymathAlhazen(Ibn al-Haytham;d. ca. 1041) andRobert Grosseteste,and he in turn influenced later scientists, in particularJohannes Kepler.Vitello's treatise in optics was closely linked to the Latin version of Ibn al-Haytham's Arabic opus:Kitab al-Manazir(The Book of Optics;De aspectibusorPerspectivae), and both were printed in theFriedrich RisnereditionOpticae thesaurus(Basel, 1572).

Vitello'sPerspectiva,which rested on Ibn al-Haytham's research in optics, influenced also the Renaissance theories of perspective.Lorenzo Ghiberti'sCommentario terzo(Third Commentary) was based on an Italian translation of Vitello's LatinPerspectiva.

Vitello's treatise also contains much material inpsychology,outlining views that are close to modern notions on theassociationof ideas and on thesubconscious.

Perspectivaalso includesPlatonicmetaphysicaldiscussions. Vitello argues that there are intellectual and corporeal bodies, connected by causality (corresponding to theIdealistdoctrine of the universal and the actual), emanating fromGodin the form of Divine Light.Lightitself is, for Vitello, the first of all sensible entities, and his views on light are similar to those held byRoger Bacon,though he is closer in this toAlhazen's legacy.

Other works

InPerspectiva,Vitello refers to other works that he had written. Most of these do not survive, butDe natura daemonumandDe primaria causa paenitentiaehave been recovered.

Legacy

Thelunar craterVitellois named after him.

See also

• History of philosophy in Poland
• List of Poles
• List of Catholic clergy scientists

References

Vitello and his thoughts

• Witelonis Perspectivae Liber Primus: Book I of Vitello's Perspectiva,edition and English translation bySabetai Unguru,with introduction and commentary, Warsaw, The Polish Academy of Science Press, Studia Copernicana, vol. XV, 1977.
• Witelonis Perspectivae Libri Duo - Liber Secundus et Liber Tertius: Books II and III of Vitello's Perspectiva,edition and English translation bySabetai Unguru,with introduction and commentary, Warsaw, The Polish Academy of Science Press, Studia Copernicana, vol. XXVII, 1991.
• Witelonis Perspectivae Liber Quartus: Book IV of Vitello's Perspectiva,A Critical Edition and English Translation with Introduction, Notes and Commentary by Carl J. Kelso, University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003.
• Witelonis Perspectivae Liber Quintus: Books V of Vitello's Perspectiva,edition and English translation by Mark A. Smith of the First Catoptrical Book of Witelo's Perspectiva, with introduction and commentary, Warsaw, The Polish Academy of Science Press, 1983.

Studies

• Clemens Baeumker,"Witelo: Ein Philosoph und Naturforscher des dreizehnten Jahrhunderts,"Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie des Mittelalters,part 3, no. 2, Münster, Aschendorff, 1908.
• Władysław Tatarkiewicz,Historia filozofii(History of Philosophy), 3 vols., Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1978.
• Jerzy Burchardt, "The Discovery of the Rainbow in Crystal by Witelo"

External links

• Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma LibrariesHigh resolution images of works by and/or portraits of Witelo in.jpg and.tiff format.
• Erasmus Ciołek Witelo monument in the Żórawina village, Wrocław County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, SW Poland.[1]