Ristoro d'Arezzo

Ristoro d'Arezzo was a 13th century Italian monk and scholar.

Life

In 1282 he wrote Composizione del mondo , a comprehensive natural history work and the first known book in Italian prose at all. Ristoro mainly deals with geographical and astronomical topics. a. for the first time the hot springs of Larderello in Tuscany , finds of admirably perfect Roman pottery in Arezzo , the erosion of the mountains and the filling of the valleys by the action of the water, finds of fossil marine animals and round pebbles on high mountains, the presence of which he associated with the Flood declared. Human curiosity justifies Ristoro as a God- given quality that should serve to recognize God's works.

The solar eclipse visible in almost all of southern Europe on June 3, 1239 was observed in Coimbra , Toledo , Montpellier , Marola , Florence , Siena , Arezzo , Cesena and Split , with indicated lengths of different hours. According to Ristoro d'Arezzo's eyewitness account, the covering lasted as long as it takes a man to walk 250 paces, which is consistent with the assumed 5 minutes and 45 seconds and is considered the first useful measurement of the length of such an appearance.

literature

Michele Piciocco: RISTORO d'Arezzo. In: Raffaele Romanelli (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 87: Renzi – Robortello. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2016.

Web links

Peter Kuon, varieties of 'curiosity' in the Italian Middle Ages . With a quote about curiosity from Composizione del mondo . (PDF; 252 kB)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b F. R. Stephenson : Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation . Cambridge University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-521-46194-4 .
^ John FA Sawyer, "Joshua 10: 12-14 and the solar eclipse of September 30, 1131 BC," Palestine Exploration Quarterly 1972
^ Ristoro d'Arezzo, Delle composizione del mondo (1282) Book 1, Chapter 16, after Stephenson, FR (1997), Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation , (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997), p. 398
^ See also John FA Sawyer, "Joshua 10: 12-14 and the solar eclipse of September 30, 1131 BC", Palestine Exploration Quarterly 1972, p. 145. on the calculated duration

personal data
SURNAME	Ristoro d'Arezzo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Italian monk and scholar
DATE OF BIRTH	13th Century
DATE OF DEATH	13th century or 14th century

[frs-1] F. R. Stephenson : Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation . Cambridge University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-521-46194-4 .

[sawyer-2] John FA Sawyer, "Joshua 10: 12-14 and the solar eclipse of September 30, 1131 BC," Palestine Exploration Quarterly 1972

[3] Ristoro d'Arezzo, Delle composizione del mondo (1282) Book 1, Chapter 16, after Stephenson, FR (1997), Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation , (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997), p. 398

[4] See also John FA Sawyer, "Joshua 10: 12-14 and the solar eclipse of September 30, 1131 BC", Palestine Exploration Quarterly 1972, p. 145. on the calculated duration