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...