Isaac Newton's Prism

Latin Learning Latin
1

Hello all,

Here is a sentence from Isaac Newton’s Lectiones Opticae that is giving me a little trouble. He is discussing sunlight through a prism.

Et quoniam experimentum quoddam prismatis valde obvium mihi primo dedit occasionem excogitandi reliqua, istud primum explicabo.

I could not figure out how to use obvium, but I found this in Lewis & Short:
“Se dare obvium, to occur to one’s mind or memory.” Does this seem to be the right meaning here?

Plus, I am not certain I have the entire sentence correct. Probably not the smoothest but here is what I have:

“And since a certain experiment of a prism first occurred strongly to me the occasion of conceiving the rest (of the experiments, I presume), I will explain that first.”

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

2

I think that Newton meant an obvious experiment:

And since a certain experiment of a prism very easy to me first gave the opportunity of conceiving the rest, I will explain that first.”


Newton’s Experimentum Crucis (Grusche 2015)
Sascha Grusche, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

3

Thanks bedwere.

I see that the meaning you gave is buried in Lewis&Short.

Thanks also for the image. Later in this selection Newton states that the projected light from the prism has a length that is four times the width, just as suggested in the image.