Theodoric of Freiberg and Kamal Al-Din Al-Farisi Independently Formulate the Correct Qualitative Description of the Rainbow
Overview
The fourteenth century witnessed many important contributions to physics, including the mean speed theorem, the graphical representation of functions, and a reformulation of impetus theory that prepared the way for the concept of inertia. As significant as these were, they were primarily the result of metaphysical speculations by scholastic philosophers. As such, they did little to advance experimental methodology. However, the fourteenth century also produced what many consider the greatest successes of experimental science during the Middle Ages—a correct qualitative description of the rainbow. Surprisingly, this was discovered almost simultaneously by Theodoric of Freiberg (c. 1250-c. 1310) in Europe and Kamal al-Din al-Farisi (c. 1260-c. 1320) in Persia.
Background
The only significant extant ancient theory of the rainbow available during the Middle Ages was that propounded by Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). According to Aristotle, the rainbow resulted from sunlight reflected from the surface of a cloud to the eye of an observer. Unlike reflection from smooth mirrors that produce images, he argued that the uneven surface of clouds could only reflect colors. Furthermore, the specific colors of the rainbow were produced by a mixture of light and darkness while their order in the bow depended on the ratio of the Sun-to-cloud to cloud-to-eye distances.
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