(ca. 1320/25–1382). A writer known mainly for his mathematical, scientific, and economic treatises and for his vernacular translations of Aristotle. Educated in arts and theology at the Collège de Navarre in Paris, Oresme was in 1356 appointed its grand master. During this period, his long association with the royal family began; he may have been tutor of John II’s son, the future Charles V.Partly because of his royal connections, Oresme obtained church offices, becoming canon at Rouen (1362), canon at the Sainte-Chapelle (1363), dean of the cathedral of Rouen (1364), and bishop of Lisieux (1377).
Oresme’s writings demonstrate his wide learning. His mathematical and scientific works, such as De proportionibus proportionum, De configurationibus qualitatum et motuum, and De commensurabilitate vel incommensurabilitate motuum celi, are important for their treatment of fractional exponents, their graphic representation of mathematical functions, and their sophisticated discussions of mechanics and astronomy. Oresme also used his learning, in such treatises as Contra judiciarios astronomos, Livre de divinacions, and De causis mirabilium, to attack the “misuse” of science, especially by the astrologers.
Certain of Oresme’s works were written explicitly for the royal family. His economic treatise, De mutationibus monetarum, was composed during the 1350s for John II. In the late 1360s, Charles V asked Oresme to translate the Latin versions of four Aristotelian texts, the Ethics, the Politics, the pseudo-Aristotelian Economics, and De caelo et mundo. Oresme’s vernacular translations helped to create a flexible French prose and to expand the French vocabulary, introducing as many as 1,000 new words.
Oresme has often been seen as anticipating modernity: in certain ways, his astronomy foreshadows Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler, and his mathematics Descartes; his economics may anticipate Gresham’s Law. But Oresme is perhaps most impressive in his ability to summarize and synthesize logically and intelligently, all the while advancing the important theories of his age.
Oresme, Nicole. De proportionibus proportionum and Ad pauca respicientes, ed. and trans. Edward Grant. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1966.
——. Le livre de politiques d’Aristote, ed. Albert Douglas Menut. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1970.
——. Nicole Oresme and the Medieval Geometry of Qualities and Motions: A Treatise on the Uniformity and Difformity of Intensities Known as Tractatus de configurationibus qualitatum et motuum, ed. and trans. Marshall Clagett. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1968.
Hansen, Bert, ed. and trans. Nicole Oresme and the Marvels of Nature: A Study of His De causis mirabilium with Critical Edition, Translation, and Commentary. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1985.
Menut, Albert Douglas. “A Provisional Bibliography of Oresme’s Writings.” Mediaeval Studies 28 (1966):279–99; supple mentary note, 31 (1969):346–47.
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