Astrolabes in Medieval Cultures

Astrolabes in Medieval Cultures
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 516
Release: 2019-01-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004387862

First published as a special issue of the journal Medieval Encounters (vol. 23, 2017), this volume, edited by Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas, Charles Burnett, Silke Ackermann, and Ryan Szpiech, brings together fifteen studies on various aspects of the astrolabe in medieval cultures. The astrolabe, developed in antiquity and elaborated throughout the Middle Ages, was used for calculation, teaching, and observation, and also served astrological and medical purposes. It was the most popular and prestigious of the mathematical instruments, and was found equally among practitioners of various sciences and arts as among princes in royal courts. By considering sources and instruments from Muslim, Christian, and Jewish contexts, this volume provides state-of-the-art research on the history and use of the astrolabe throughout the Middle Ages. Contributors are Silke Ackermann, Emilia Calvo, John Davis, Laura Fernández Fernández, Miquel Forcada, Azucena Hernández, David A. King, Taro Mimura, Günther Oestmann, Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas, Sreeramula Rajeswara Sarma, Petra G. Schmidl, Giorgio Strano, Flora Vafea, and Johannes Thomann.

Learning, Language, and Invention

Learning, Language, and Invention
Author: Francis Maddison
Publisher: Variorum Publishing
Total Pages: 358
Release: 1994
Genre: Education
ISBN:

This is a collection of 19 papers by well-known academics in their field, on numerous scientific instruments, from all parts of the world and through many historical periods. They are presented in honour of Francis Maddison, Curator of the Museum of History of Science, Oxford.

Islamic Astronomy and Medieval Spain

Islamic Astronomy and Medieval Spain
Author: Julio Samsó
Publisher: Variorum Publishing
Total Pages: 364
Release: 1994
Genre: Science
ISBN:

This volume focuses on the development of astronomy in al-Andalus, Islamic Spain, relating it to the astronomical science of the Latin West. Both Islamic and European science survived the Latin astronomical tradition after the Arab conquest of 711 and then the influence of Arabic science in Christian Spain.

Islamicate Celestial Globes, Their History, Construction, and Use

Islamicate Celestial Globes, Their History, Construction, and Use
Author: Emilie Savage-Smith
Publisher:
Total Pages: 368
Release: 1985
Genre: Science
ISBN:

Photographs of selected Islamicate globes from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries, as well as line drawings based on written descriptions, accompany the historical an analytical discussion. The fourth chapter on iconography analyses the constellation figures on the Smithsosonian globe from the perspective of an art historian. This chapter was contributed by Andrea P.A. Belloli. The second major part of the study presents a discussion of the star names engraved on the Mughal globe, tracing the origins of the term sin Greek mythology or early Bedouin constellation outlines. The discussion of each constellation is accompanied by a photograph of the constellation as depicted on the Smithsonian globe. An account of lunar mansions is included as background to early Bedouin asterisms, which greatly affected later Islamicate star names and eventually "modern" western star names.