Studies on Binocular Vision

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This book clarifies the interrelationship between optics, vision, and perspective before the Classical Age, focusing on binocularity. The author illustrates how binocular vision served as a crucial junction among these concepts, emphasizing the importance of understanding historical scholarly approaches. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the term Perspectiva, meaning optics, encompassed various interconnected areas of inquiry that later became separated. Optics evolved into a branch of physics (physical and geometrical optics), vision was seen as a combination of psycho-physiological mechanisms (physiological optics and psychology of vision), and ‘perspective’ became associated solely with the mathematical representation of the external world (linear perspective). The author argues that this division, emerging with the spread of sciences in classical Europe, is an anachronism when viewed through the lens of earlier periods. It is crucial to consider how medieval scholars framed the problem, encompassing all aspects of the term perspectiva, to gain insights into this historical context. This work will attract a diverse readership, including philosophers, historians of science, and professionals in geometry, optics, ophthalmology, and architecture.