arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Amelia Carolina Sparavigna.
Here I am proposing a translation and discussion of the De Iride, one of the short scientific treatise written by Robert Grosseteste. In the first part of his Latin text we find reflection and refraction of light, described in a geometrical optics. In the second part, Grosseteste is discussing the rainbow and how the colors are created.
Here we discuss how some medieval scholars in the Western Europe viewed the form of the world and the problem of the Antipodes, starting from the Natural History written by Pliny and ending in the Hell of Dante Alighieri. From the center of the Earth, Dante and Virgil came to the Antipodes: eventually, their existence was accepted. Among the others, we will discuss the works of the Venerable Bede and Sylvester the Second.
The Chinese Pyramids are huge ancient burial mounds. In the satellite images we can see some complexes where the main buildings are the pyramidal mounds of an emperor and his empress. Here we discuss a possible sunrise/sunset orientation of these two pyramids on the solstices and equinoxes.
From 1960's to 1970's, the Chinese Army built some fortified artificial hills. Some of them are located in the Inner Mongolia, Western China. These large fortresses are surrounded by moats. For some of them it is still possible to see earthworks, trenches and ditches, the planning of which could have a symbolic meaning. We can argue this result form their digital outlining, obtained after an image processing of satellite images, based on edge detection.
A man-made texture on the desert soil of a county of the Western China is visible in satellite images, more than 8 kilometers long and 50 meters wide. This seems to be the result of a detailed geophysical survey of the region that led to the discovery of a large nickel ore. Therefore, the analysis of the satellite imagery, performed to find such textures created by the sampling of soils, can help anticipating information on the economical potentialities of a site.
Here a discussion on the Loulan Kingdom, an ancient kingdom along the Silk Road, and some observations based on satellite images.
Maria Reiche devoted her life to the study of the Nazca Lines, the most famous Peruvian geoglyphs. In fact, she was an archaeoastronomer that proposed for the Lines some interesting astronomical interpretations. We can appraise her approach using satellite imagery and a free planetarium software. A discussion of some geoglyphs is also proposed.
It seems that the Nazca Lines, ancient geoglyphs of a Peruvian dry pampa, had some astronomical orientations. Here we discuss a geoglyph representing a frigatebird and its orientation towards the setting of Fomalhaut, using freely available software.
Here the orientation of the Gothic cathedrals in France is discussed and investigated using the satellite maps. Except a few of them, these buildings have the apse facing the rising sun, according to a practice adopted during the middle age.
An ancient solar observatory is composed by thirteen towers lined on a hill of a coastal desert of Peru. This is the Chankillo observatory. Here we discuss it, showing some simulations of the local sun direction. An analysis of the behaviour of shadows is also proposed.
Recently some stone structures covering the harraat of the Syrian desert had been investigated using satellite imagery (arXiv:1106.4665). Dispersed in an arid landscape, they were probably made during the Neolithic period. Some of these structures are here discussed, which display a possible use as ancient sun observatories. For the analysis, a freely available software is used which can be quite suitable for evaluating the effect of solar radiation on physical features of natural structures too.
It seems that the ancient Roman towns were oriented with the sunrise. Here I propose a discussion on the orientation of Torino, the Julia Augusta Taurinorum, which has the ancient Roman structure perfectly preserved. According to this ancient ritual, we can use the sunrise amplitude to determine the Turin's birthday. The use of the hour angle is also proposed, in this case the day of the foundation of Turin could be the winter solstice.
An equation, fundamental for solar energy applications, can be used to determine the sunrise amplitude at given latitude. It is therefore suitable for being applied to archaeoastronomical calculations concerning the orientation of towns, worship places and buildings. Here we discuss the cases of the Karnak worship complex, at Luxor, Egypt, and of the Great Temple of Amarna, and their orientation toward the sunrise.
An equation, generally used for solar energy applications, can be applied to archaeoastronomical calculations to determine the day of foundation of ancient towns. The equation is that giving the sunrise amplitude, and, the direction of the sunrise on the day of foundation was sometimes used to determine the main street of the town. Here we discuss the case of Timgad, a town founded by the Roman emperor Trajan. Probably, Timgad was founded during the first decade of September.
A short history of prisms from Lucius Anneus Seneca to George Ravenscroft.
Here I suggest the use of a 3D scanning and rendering to create some virtual copies of ancient artifacts to study and compare them. In particular, this approach could be interesting for some roman marble busts, two of which are portraits of Julius Caesar, and the third is a realistic portrait of a man recently found at Arles, France. The comparison of some images indicates that a three-dimensional visualization is necessary.
Recently I have proposed the Roman Dodecahedra as ancient coincidence rangefinders. Here I discuss several data and references freely available on the Web. After analysis, the common features of these artifacts allow to tell that a Roman Dodecahedron was probably a dioptron. The equation of this optical instrument is given. The paper ends with a discussion on the role of the Web and free information for further studies of these objects.
In this paper I propose a possible use of Roman Dodecahedra, which are bronze artifacts of gallo-roman origin dating from the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD, for playing a bowling game. The presence of holes and knobs can be quite important during collisions. Moreover, in several of these objects, the holes have different sizes providing a biased rigid body.