Descartes and the Radius of the Rainbow
@article{Boyer1952DescartesAT, title={Descartes and the Radius of the Rainbow}, author={Carl B. Boyer}, journal={Isis}, year={1952}, volume={43}, pages={95 - 98} }
EW scientists have been subjected to charges of plagiarism more frequently than Descartes (I596-I650). In particular, each of the appendices to the Discours de la methode has been questioned. La dioptrique long was believed to have been derived from work of Snell;' Les meteores once was regarded as inspired by the ideas of Kepler and De Dominis ;2 and in La geometrie some critics thought they saw unacknowledged indebtedness to Harriot and Oresme.3 None of these charges has been substantiated…