1. Ancient and medieval traditions
Optics (from the Greek optikós, “of/for sight”) was already developing into a sophisticated mathematical science in Hellenistic Greece, incorporating three branches of optics in the stricter sense: (1) the theory of sight, the eye, and light, including philosophical, physiological, and mathematical aspects (e.g. central perspective); (2) catoptrics (the theory of reflection on mirrored surfaces)…