Treatise On The Astrolabe

A Treatise on the Astrolabe is a medieval instruction manual on the astrolabe by Geoffrey Chaucer. It is notable for being written in prose, in English and for describing a scientific instrument. The Treatise is considered the ”oldest work in English written upon an elaborate scientific instrument”. It is admired for its clarity in explaining difficult concepts—although modern readers lacking an actual astrolabe may find the details of the astrolabe difficult to understand. Robinson believes that it indicates that had Chaucer written more freely composed prose it would have been superior to his translations of Boece and Melibee.