Felice Casorati and the reception of Gaussian optics in Italy (Q2105842)

This work is centered on the influence of Casorati in spreading out the Gaussian optics in Italy. The first section (Introduction) is devoted to the life and work of Casorati, stressing his interest in applied mathematics and, in particular, in the study of optical instruments. Casorati was the first to introduce the use of determinants in the mathematical treatment of refractive optical systems, extending Gaussian theory to the case of optical systems which fail to be centered. In this context, he discovered a line which could play the role of the optical axis of a centered system: the so called \textit{cardinal line}. The second section of the text in issue explains briefly Gauss optics, while the third ponders on the reception of Gaussian optics in Europe. The core of the work under review is then the fourth section in which the introduction of determinants by Casorati to replace continue fractions in his treatment of optical instruments is evaluated and passed in review, leaving the following five section to analyse the extension of Gaussian optics to non-centered optical systems. A conclusion deals also with the inheritance of Casorati.