Antiquity. Erazm Vitelo

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To number of the most interesting, surrounded with a legend, scientists of an epoch of the Middle Ages Erazm Vitelo (1225-1290 belongs?). He/she is the first mathematician and in general the first scientist who was born on the Polish earth. Exact date of its birth and death are not known. During stay in Rome Vitelo has written in Latin two books from which the first ' Conclusions from Nachal Evklida ', containing all geometrical theorems opened after Evklida, unfortunately, is lost.

The Second product of Vitelo is a treatise about optics in ten books which full name it is possible to translate so: ' Scientific mathematician Vitelo of a reasoning on optics, that is about a being, the reason and falling of beams of sight, light, paints and the forms, ordinary named prospect, ten books '. The treatise is published in 1272 in Basel.

The First book contains theorems and their mathematical proofs, including the original theorems of Vitelo which have found then application in its treatise about optics. In the history of a science the treatise of Vitelo has played a large role; from it many times removed copies, copied and republished, it is frequent under the short title ' Optics ' or ' Prospect '. That though the treatise and did not contain any new ideas, it nevertheless became the basic work on optics - the manual which many outstanding scientists, such, for example, as Kopernik, Kepler, Regiomontan used Is noteworthy.

In four hundred years after issue ' Optics ' Vitelo, Kepler modestly named one of the treatises ' Ad Vitellonem Paralipomena ' (' Additions to Vitelo '). Merits of Vitelo in the field of optics so obshchepriznanny that one of lunar craters is named by his name.

In spite of the fact that achievements of Vitelo in the mathematician not so are great, as in optics, all of them are worthy. Vitelo belonged to that small circle of scientists which during its time were engaged in lines of the second and higher order. For their drawing of Vitelo has invented even the corresponding device. He perfectly knew trigonometry and applied it in the researches on optics. It is necessary to pay attention that activity of Vitelo is necessary for second half XIII century when at the Polish schools training to the mathematician was reduced only to understanding of a calendar and the basic heavenly phenomena. And only at universities students learnt by heart, without any proofs, the theorem from evklidovyh ' the Beginnings '.