Training the Intelligent Eye
Understanding Illustrations in Early Modern Astronomy Texts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3342830 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kathleen Crowther (0000-0003-1558-4814, University of Oklahoma), Kathleen M Crowther, Peter Barker (0000-0002-1443-4227, University of Oklahoma) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 104 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 429-470 |
| Publication date | 2013-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Isis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-1753 • E-ISSN: 1545-6994 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/673269 |
| PMID | 24341260 |
| OpenAlex | W2034040467 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 32 |
Throughout the early modern period, the most widely read astronomical textbooks were Johannes de Sacrobosco's De sphaera and the Theorica planetarum, ultimately in the new form introduced by Georg Peurbach. This essay argues that the images in these texts were intended to develop an "intelligent eye." Students were trained to transform representations of specific heavenly phenomena into moving mental images of the structure of the cosmos. Only by learning the techniques of mental visualization and manipulation could the student "see" in the mind's eye the structure and motions of the cosmos. While anyone could look up at the heavens, only those who had acquired the intelligent eye could comprehend the divinely created order of the universe. Further, the essay demonstrates that the visual program of the Sphaera and Theorica texts played a significant and hitherto unrecognized role in later scientific work. Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler all utilized the same types of images in their own texts to explicate their ideas about the cosmos
Art · Art history · Astronomy · Copernicus · Cosmos (plant · Epistemology · Galileo (satellite navigation · Geocentric model · Kepler · Order (exchange · Physics · Planet · Scientific reasoning · Visualization · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Diverse Historical and Scientific Studies · Historical Philosophy and Science · History of Science and Medicine · Philosophy
Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance
Stoic contributions to early modern science
The Transformation of Natural Philosophy
Words, Lines, Diagrams, Images
The Use of Visual Media in Renaissance Cosmography
Peurbach's Theoricae Novae Planetarum
Celestial Spheres and Circles
Vision
Mathematics and Its Applications to Science and Natural Philosophy in the Middle Ages
Stoic alternatives to Aristotelian cosmology
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,44 |
| Citation span | 2017 - 2024 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |