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The links in the text to "De Docta Ignorantia (Of Learned Ignorance)" and "De Visione Dei" as well as the link to "A biography of Nicholas of Cusado" in the "External Links" section do not appear to be working.
how does nicholas of cusa have anything to do with borda in the "borda count method"?
I do not think that Cusa proposed that the Earth revolves around the Sun. See page 34 at this website: http://cla.umn.edu/sites/jhopkins/DI-Intro12-2000.pdf.
"and that the orbits of the planets around the sun must be elliptical. He also predated Giordano Bruno in affirming the universe is infinite and Earth has no priviledged position in the universe." - I believe the text is incorrect or at the very least sloppily written. See Koyré, A., From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe; Chapter I. There is no mention of Nicholas ever stating planets go around either Earth or the Sun, much less claiming their orbits being elliptical.
As far as "priviledged position" is concerned: this is somewhat of a missunderstanding: the Middle Ages conception of Earth being "in the centre" meant humans were worse off. It was not understood at the time as a privileged position. Quite the contrary: it was a despicable position, related to a heavy, material nature - the Earth was at the lowest possible position - only hell was worse (being below ground). -- Lynxmb 20:50, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
I very nearly took out Predating Kepler, Cusanus said that no perfect circle can exist in the universe (opposing the Aristotelean model, and also Copernicus' later assumption of circular orbits), thus opening the possibility for Kepler's model featuring elliptical orbits of the planets around the Sun. and will soon if no-one defends it William M. Connolley ( talk) 20:40, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
@Daizus It seems to me you are only partially acquainted with what Nicholas actually stated in his books. One of the key premises (e.g. in rejecting perfect circle orbits and finity of the cosmos) is his specific form of skepticism, formulated as "docta ignorantia" or "learned ignorance". Its importance is illustrated by the fact that he intitled his book, dealing with the shape of our world, by that exact term.
Ad. "infinity of the Universe": His explicit words: "even though not infinite, we cannot imagine it as finite, since it has no confines..."
He never said the world was infinite. He reserved that predicate for God only. So he says that God is infinitus and that the world is interminatus, very clearly indicating there is a difference between them, that we ought to respect. (There is a very good reason, why I changed "affirming the universe is infinite" to "denying the universe being finite".)
This whole article is written ignoring these fine (yet crucial!) distinctions and is therefore of little use to anyone trying to inform her-/himself about Nicholas' work. I believe it should be thoroughly revised and written properly. I only tried to point out some factual inaccuracies, but even as we corrected them, the main problem is not resolved.
Some further examples:
Again, he never said anything like the Earth being "ellipse shape". I think this is the same jumping to conlusions as the case was with orbits. As for the other three, I would like to see the source of those statements. I believe they are false. -- Lynxmb 19:16, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
I've modified the text an removed the disputed-template. However, the problems I described remain. -- Lynxmb 18:01, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
Did Nicholas of Cusa invented concave lens to treat myopia?
Question:
On a TV programm I have heard Kusanus was the owner of a huge library. It was said Kusanus wanted to make a big library which would contained all the existing books at that time, a universal library. Is it true? does any one have information?
An anti-empiricist at heart. No wonder you never hear about this guy in school textbooks....
The article says
but also
Exactly which of his teachings was Copernicus aware of? AxelBoldt ( talk) 05:29, 25 October 2008 (UTC)
The article states: "He [Cusa] was the first to use concave lenses to correct myopia. His writings were essential for Leibniz's discovery of calculus (see Law of Continuity) as well as Cantor's later work on infinity."
The claim that Cusa was the first to use concave lenses to correct myopia rests on one very vague sentence from his book De beryllo :
"Beryllus lapis est lucidus, albus et transparent, cui datur forma concava pariter et convexa et per ipsum videns attingit prius invisibile intellectualibus occulis si intellectualis beryllus, qui formam habeat maximam pariter et minimam adaptatur per eius medium attingitur indivisibile omnium principium." (De beryllo, 1458, pages 4-5)
Translation: "The beryl is a clear, bright, transparent stone, to which is given a concave as well as a convex form, and by looking through it, one attains what was previously invisible. If the intellectual beryl, which possesses both the maximum and the minimum in the same way, is adapted to the intellectual eyes, the indivisible principle of all things is attained." (Vincent Ilardi, Renaissance Vision from Spectacles to Telescopes (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: American Philosophical Society, 2007), page 80.)
As Ilardi points out, some readers have interpreted "the maximum" as long-range vision, so that some interpret the sentence to mean that (concave) beryls (i.e., lenses) help correct myopic (near-sighted) eyes, allowing such eyes to see objects at a distance. However, the quoted passage is far from stating something like: "I have found that concave beryls [i.e., lenses] correct myopia." Cusa's book was really about the ability of the mind to perceive and comprehend (hence the "intellectual" beryl (lens)); it was not a book about optics.
I think that the claim that Nicholas of Cusa found concave lenses correct myopia should be qualified; e.g., "Some authors claim that Nicholas of Cusa found concave lenses correct myopia."
Regarding the claim that "His [Cusa's] writings were essential for Leibniz's discovery of calculus (see Law of Continuity) as well as Cantor's later work on infinity," Carl Boyer says: "The cardinal … did not contribute any work of lasting importance in mathematics." (Carl B. Boyer, The History of the Calculus and its Conceptual Development (Mineola, N.Y.: Dover, 1959), pages 89 - 94, especially page 92.)
Cwkmail ( talk) 20:29, 29 June 2012 (UTC)
This page seemed to me far too enthusiastic (slight disclaimer: I came here via the risible http://www.schillerinstitute.org/fid_91-96/961_fascist_hobbes.html). I removed the "influence" header - I don't see why his philosophy should be discussed under that header, rather than just being about itself. I also took out the science header, and much of the section: it was largely unref'd and (as several comments above say) probably incorrect or too hypothetical. Here it is:
William M. Connolley ( talk) 17:35, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
References
Shouldn't this article mention that Nicolas de Cusa is noted for his views on what we now call extra terrestrials?
“Life, as it exists on Earth in the form of men, animals and plants, is to be found, let us suppose in a high form in the solar and stellar regions. Rather than think that so many stars and parts of the heavens are uninhabited and that this earth of ours alone is peopled – and that with beings perhaps of an inferior type – we will suppose that in every region there are inhabitants, differing in nature by rank and all owing their origin to God, who is the center and circumference of all stellar regions.”
Those are just a few pages I found just now, but it's widely mentioned in discussions on extra terrestrials and theology. I thought I'd come to the wikipedia article to find out more about the background to this but there seems to be nothing which is why I'm suggesting it. Robert Walker ( talk) 18:05, 29 May 2015 (UTC)
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The links in the text to "De Docta Ignorantia (Of Learned Ignorance)" and "De Visione Dei" as well as the link to "A biography of Nicholas of Cusado" in the "External Links" section do not appear to be working.
how does nicholas of cusa have anything to do with borda in the "borda count method"?
I do not think that Cusa proposed that the Earth revolves around the Sun. See page 34 at this website: http://cla.umn.edu/sites/jhopkins/DI-Intro12-2000.pdf.
"and that the orbits of the planets around the sun must be elliptical. He also predated Giordano Bruno in affirming the universe is infinite and Earth has no priviledged position in the universe." - I believe the text is incorrect or at the very least sloppily written. See Koyré, A., From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe; Chapter I. There is no mention of Nicholas ever stating planets go around either Earth or the Sun, much less claiming their orbits being elliptical.
As far as "priviledged position" is concerned: this is somewhat of a missunderstanding: the Middle Ages conception of Earth being "in the centre" meant humans were worse off. It was not understood at the time as a privileged position. Quite the contrary: it was a despicable position, related to a heavy, material nature - the Earth was at the lowest possible position - only hell was worse (being below ground). -- Lynxmb 20:50, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
I very nearly took out Predating Kepler, Cusanus said that no perfect circle can exist in the universe (opposing the Aristotelean model, and also Copernicus' later assumption of circular orbits), thus opening the possibility for Kepler's model featuring elliptical orbits of the planets around the Sun. and will soon if no-one defends it William M. Connolley ( talk) 20:40, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
@Daizus It seems to me you are only partially acquainted with what Nicholas actually stated in his books. One of the key premises (e.g. in rejecting perfect circle orbits and finity of the cosmos) is his specific form of skepticism, formulated as "docta ignorantia" or "learned ignorance". Its importance is illustrated by the fact that he intitled his book, dealing with the shape of our world, by that exact term.
Ad. "infinity of the Universe": His explicit words: "even though not infinite, we cannot imagine it as finite, since it has no confines..."
He never said the world was infinite. He reserved that predicate for God only. So he says that God is infinitus and that the world is interminatus, very clearly indicating there is a difference between them, that we ought to respect. (There is a very good reason, why I changed "affirming the universe is infinite" to "denying the universe being finite".)
This whole article is written ignoring these fine (yet crucial!) distinctions and is therefore of little use to anyone trying to inform her-/himself about Nicholas' work. I believe it should be thoroughly revised and written properly. I only tried to point out some factual inaccuracies, but even as we corrected them, the main problem is not resolved.
Some further examples:
Again, he never said anything like the Earth being "ellipse shape". I think this is the same jumping to conlusions as the case was with orbits. As for the other three, I would like to see the source of those statements. I believe they are false. -- Lynxmb 19:16, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
I've modified the text an removed the disputed-template. However, the problems I described remain. -- Lynxmb 18:01, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
Did Nicholas of Cusa invented concave lens to treat myopia?
Question:
On a TV programm I have heard Kusanus was the owner of a huge library. It was said Kusanus wanted to make a big library which would contained all the existing books at that time, a universal library. Is it true? does any one have information?
An anti-empiricist at heart. No wonder you never hear about this guy in school textbooks....
The article says
but also
Exactly which of his teachings was Copernicus aware of? AxelBoldt ( talk) 05:29, 25 October 2008 (UTC)
The article states: "He [Cusa] was the first to use concave lenses to correct myopia. His writings were essential for Leibniz's discovery of calculus (see Law of Continuity) as well as Cantor's later work on infinity."
The claim that Cusa was the first to use concave lenses to correct myopia rests on one very vague sentence from his book De beryllo :
"Beryllus lapis est lucidus, albus et transparent, cui datur forma concava pariter et convexa et per ipsum videns attingit prius invisibile intellectualibus occulis si intellectualis beryllus, qui formam habeat maximam pariter et minimam adaptatur per eius medium attingitur indivisibile omnium principium." (De beryllo, 1458, pages 4-5)
Translation: "The beryl is a clear, bright, transparent stone, to which is given a concave as well as a convex form, and by looking through it, one attains what was previously invisible. If the intellectual beryl, which possesses both the maximum and the minimum in the same way, is adapted to the intellectual eyes, the indivisible principle of all things is attained." (Vincent Ilardi, Renaissance Vision from Spectacles to Telescopes (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: American Philosophical Society, 2007), page 80.)
As Ilardi points out, some readers have interpreted "the maximum" as long-range vision, so that some interpret the sentence to mean that (concave) beryls (i.e., lenses) help correct myopic (near-sighted) eyes, allowing such eyes to see objects at a distance. However, the quoted passage is far from stating something like: "I have found that concave beryls [i.e., lenses] correct myopia." Cusa's book was really about the ability of the mind to perceive and comprehend (hence the "intellectual" beryl (lens)); it was not a book about optics.
I think that the claim that Nicholas of Cusa found concave lenses correct myopia should be qualified; e.g., "Some authors claim that Nicholas of Cusa found concave lenses correct myopia."
Regarding the claim that "His [Cusa's] writings were essential for Leibniz's discovery of calculus (see Law of Continuity) as well as Cantor's later work on infinity," Carl Boyer says: "The cardinal … did not contribute any work of lasting importance in mathematics." (Carl B. Boyer, The History of the Calculus and its Conceptual Development (Mineola, N.Y.: Dover, 1959), pages 89 - 94, especially page 92.)
Cwkmail ( talk) 20:29, 29 June 2012 (UTC)
This page seemed to me far too enthusiastic (slight disclaimer: I came here via the risible http://www.schillerinstitute.org/fid_91-96/961_fascist_hobbes.html). I removed the "influence" header - I don't see why his philosophy should be discussed under that header, rather than just being about itself. I also took out the science header, and much of the section: it was largely unref'd and (as several comments above say) probably incorrect or too hypothetical. Here it is:
William M. Connolley ( talk) 17:35, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
References
Shouldn't this article mention that Nicolas de Cusa is noted for his views on what we now call extra terrestrials?
“Life, as it exists on Earth in the form of men, animals and plants, is to be found, let us suppose in a high form in the solar and stellar regions. Rather than think that so many stars and parts of the heavens are uninhabited and that this earth of ours alone is peopled – and that with beings perhaps of an inferior type – we will suppose that in every region there are inhabitants, differing in nature by rank and all owing their origin to God, who is the center and circumference of all stellar regions.”
Those are just a few pages I found just now, but it's widely mentioned in discussions on extra terrestrials and theology. I thought I'd come to the wikipedia article to find out more about the background to this but there seems to be nothing which is why I'm suggesting it. Robert Walker ( talk) 18:05, 29 May 2015 (UTC)
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Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 10:42, 9 December 2017 (UTC)
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