Ristoro or Restoro d'Arezzo was an Italian monk of the thirteenth century, author of the Composizione del Mondo of c. 1282.

This is the first astronomical work to be written in Italian (Tuscan). It contains also, as its title (The Composition of the World) suggests, geological theories: these covered the internal structure of a spherical shell Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

, fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s, and erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

, amongst others.

He observed a solar eclipse in 1239 and noted the exact time spend in totality.

It has been claimed that Dante

DANTE

Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...

 was familiar with Ristoro’s work.http://www.bookrags.com/research/dante-alighieri-scit-021234/. Dante in the Quaestio de Aqua et Terra dated to 1320 did consider related matters.

External links

PDF on the mineralogy of the Compositione with English summary here as HTML