Plato, Diuus Plato (Venice, 1491), ed. Marsilio Ficino (“The Divine Plato”).
In his dialogue entitled The Timaeus, Plato taught that the cosmos is constructed from regular geometrical figures known as the Pythagorean solids.
Whenever one finds an emphasis upon mathematical demonstrations in science, one may credit Plato and the Pythagoreans. Alfred North Whitehead wrote that the history of philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato. Some have said the same about the history of science.
This early edition of Plato’s works was edited by Marsilio Ficino, the leading scholar of the Italian Quattrocento (Renaissance). It includes Ficino’s own essays on theology and Platonic love. Under the patronage of Lorenzo de Medici, Ficino founded the Florentine Platonic Academy.
