Optics and the nature of light illustrated in the rare book collection of the Astronomy Library in Vienna

The Astronomy Library in Vienna has a significant collection of rare books, consisting of more than 500 titles dating from the end of the 15th to the 18th century. Since the collection was to be the basis of research and of teaching, the books represent a variety of scientific topics that have been of interest at that time. Thus the rare book collection of the Astronomy Library in Vienna also offers the opportunity for scientific historical research. In the following, certain aspects on the development of the telescope and of optics in general will be illustrated (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)