Dioptrica Nova, A treatise of dioptricks in two parts

Historical Significance: William Molyneux FRS (1656 -1698) was an Irish natural philosopher and writer on politics. This is his best known scientific work published first in 1690. The first part of the book examines the geometrical optics of lenses, the eye, telescopes, and microscopes. The second part consists of commentaries on various topics, including spectacles, telescopes, and physiological diplopia. It is a very early theortical discourse on optics including material on the optics of the eye and spectacles (Part 2 Chap II p 207) and lens grinding (Part 2 Chap IV p 214) . It predates Newton's Optiks (1704) and Smith's System of Optics (1738) although not Barrow's Lectures on Optics (1669). He also raised the issue of prior experience in visual perception in what is known as Molyneux's problem. Molyneux's problem is a thought experiment in philosophy concerning immediate recovery from blindness. It is notably referenced in John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. The problem can be stated in brief, "if a man born blind can feel the differences between shapes such as spheres and cubes, could he similarly distinguish those objects by sight if given the ability to see? For more information from the perspective of optometry see Goss DA. William Molyneux and the optometry content of his 1692 book Dioptrica Nova. Hindsight. 2008 Apr;39(2):67-71 and Hofstetter HWOptometry of Daza de Valdes (1591-ca. 1636) Am J Optom Physiol Opt. 1988 May; 65(5):354-7.