Blasius of Parma explained

Blasius of Parma (Biagio Pelacani da Parma) (c. 13501416) was an Italian philosopher, mathematician and astrologer.^[1] He popularised English and French philosophical work in Italy, where he associated both with scholastics and with early Renaissance humanists.^[2]

He was professor of mathematics at the University of Padua, where he taught from 1382 to 1388; he taught also at the University of Pavia (1374? to 1378, and again 1389 to 1407), and the University of Bologna (1389 to 1382).^{[3] [4]} His students included Vittorino da Feltre.^[5]

Works

Blasius around 1390 wrote a work on perspective; it drew on Alhacen, John Pecham, and Witelo.^[6] Filippo Brunelleschi may have known of the work of Blasius through Giovanni dell'Abbaco.^[7]

His Tractatus de Ponderibus was based on Oxford theories on laws of motion taken up from the statics of Jordanus Nemorarius, and introduced them into Italy.^[8] He disagreed with the views of Thomas Bradwardine on proportion, and gave a proof of the mean speed theorem. He also wrote on the natural philosophy of Aristotle.^[9]

Modern editions

• Blaise de Parme, Questiones super tractatus logice magistri Petri Hispani, Paris: Vrin, 2001.
• Blaise de Parme, Quaestiones circa tractatum proportionum magistri Thome Braduardini, Paris: Vrin, 2006.
• Blaise de Parme, Questiones super perspectiva communi, Paris: Vrin, 2009.

References

• Book: C. B. Schmitt. Quentin Skinner. Quentin Skinner. Eckhard Kessler. Jill Kraye. The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy. 1988. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-39748-3.

Notes and References

1. Schmidt–Skinner, p. 809.
2. Book: Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. registration. 3 August 2012. 2000. Routledge. 978-0-415-22364-5. 91.
3. Book: David C. Lindberg. Science in the Middle Ages. 1980. University of Chicago Press. 978-0-226-48233-0. 140.
4. Book: Christopher Kleinhenz. Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia. 2004. Routledge. 978-0-415-93930-0. 81.
5. Schmitt–Skinner p. 840; Google Books.
6. Book: David C. Lindberg. Roger Bacon and the Origins of Perspectiva in the Middle Ages: A Critical Edition and English Translation of Bacon's Perspectiva, with Introduction and Notes. 3 August 2012. 31 October 1996. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-823992-5. xcviii.
7. Book: Mario Lucertini. Ana Millàn Gasca. Fernando Nicolò. Technological Concepts and Mathematical Models in the Evolution of Modern Engineering Systems: Controlling, Managing, Organizing. 3 August 2012. 22 January 2004. Birkhäuser. 978-3-7643-6940-8. 6.
8. [A. C. Crombie]
9. Book: Brian Lawn. Rise and Decline of the Scholastic Quaestio Disputata: With Special Emphasis on Its Use in the Teaching of Medicine and Science. 1993. BRILL. 978-90-04-09740-7. 59.