Heliodorus of Larissa (fl. 3rd century?) was a
Greek mathematician, and the author of a short treatise on
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...
which is still extant.
Biography
Nothing is known about the life of Heliodorus.
[John Aikin, William Enfield, et al., (1804), ''General biography: or, Lives, critical and historical, of the most ...'', Volume 5, page 102] He was a native of
Larissa
Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...
,
[''The prosopography of the later Roman Empire: A.D. 260-395: Volume 1'', (1987), page 531] and he must have lived after the time of
Claudius Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and ...
, whom he quotes. His short treatise on optics is little more than a commentary on
Euclid
Euclid (; ; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of geometry that largely domina ...
.
[David Eugene Smith, (1958), ''History of mathematics'', page 340] It was edited by one Damianus, who was either his son or his pupil.
The first printed edition, in Greek and Latin, was published in Paris in 1657 with illustrative notes by
Erasmus Bartholinus.
Works
*
See also
*
Domninus of Larissa
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heliodorus Of Larissa
3rd-century Greek writers
Ancient Greek mathematicians
Ancient Larissaeans
3rd-century mathematicians