Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, Vol. 1

Book Cover......Page 1
Half-Title......Page 2
Title......Page 3
Copyright......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
Preface......Page 8
1 General survey of Arabic astronomy......Page 14
Greek sources......Page 16
Indian and Persian sources......Page 20
OBSERVATIONS AND OBSERVATORIES......Page 21
PROBLEMS OF PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY......Page 28
GREAT PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF ARABIC ASTRONOMY......Page 30
NOTES......Page 31
2 Eastern Arabic astronomy between the eighth and the eleventh centuries......Page 34
ARABIC ASTRONOMY IN THE EAST DURING THE NINTH CENTURY......Page 37
The dissemination of Ptolemy’s astronomy......Page 38
The ‘Verified table’......Page 39
The ‘Book on the solar year’20......Page 40
The work of Habash al-Hasib......Page 45
The mathematization of astronomical reasoning......Page 48
Theoretical study of the motion of a heavenly body on an eccentric30......Page 49
The choice of time intervals for determining the motions of the moon32......Page 51
The visibility of the crescent......Page 55
First stage: relation between α1 and α2......Page 57
Third stage: intervention of the distance earth-moon (as a function of a)......Page 58
Al-Battani......Page 60
Abu Ja‛far al-Khazin, ‛Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi and Ibn Yunus......Page 63
Al-Biruni......Page 65
General principles......Page 67
Conclusion......Page 68
NOTES......Page 69
3 Arabic planetary theories after the eleventh century AD......Page 72
THE CONTROVERSIAL PROBLEMS......Page 73
The motion of the sun......Page 75
The motion of the moon......Page 76
The motion of the upper planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars) and Venus......Page 78
The motion of Mercury......Page 79
The latitude of the moon......Page 81
Latitude of the upper planets......Page 82
Latitude of the lower planets......Page 84
Apparent size of the sun......Page 88
The inclination of the ecliptic......Page 89
The prosneusis point......Page 90
The equant problem......Page 91
Conclusion......Page 93
Doubts concerning the Planetary Hypotheses......Page 94
Contents of al-Istidrak ‛ala Batlamyus......Page 97
The Andalusian school......Page 98
The Eastern School......Page 100
Ibn al-Shatir’s solar model......Page 102
‛Urdi’s lunar model......Page 105
Tusi’s lunar model......Page 107
The lunar model of Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi (d. 1311)......Page 110
The lunar model of Ibn al-Shatir24......Page 114
Abu ‛Ubayd al-Juzjani (d. c. 1070)......Page 117
Mu’ayyad al-Din al-‛Urdi30......Page 119
Ibn al-Shatir’s planetary model......Page 122
Ibn al-Shatir and Copernicus......Page 126
The planetary model of Tusi......Page 128
The Mercury model of ‛Urdi......Page 129
The Mercury model of Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi......Page 132
Ibn al-Shatir’s model for Mercury......Page 134
The Mercury model of Sadr al-Shari‛a......Page 136
‛Ala’ al-Din al-Qushji (d. 1474)......Page 137
CONCLUSION......Page 139
NOTES......Page 140
INTRODUCTION......Page 142
THE ORIENTATION OF THE KA‛BA......Page 143
THE ORIENTATION OF THE FIRST MOSQUES......Page 144
FINDING THE QIBLA BY NON-MATHEMATICAL METHODS......Page 146
THE SACRED GEOGRAPHY OF ISLAM......Page 149
FINDING THE QIBLA BY MATHEMATICAL METHODS......Page 155
FINDING THE QIBLA FROM MECCA-CENTRED WORLD-MAPS......Page 163
ON THE ORIENTATION OF ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE......Page 166
FURTHER READING......Page 169
EARLY TEXTS ON GNOMONICS......Page 170
LATE TEXTS ON GNOMONICS......Page 174
SUNDIALS......Page 175
HORIZONTAL SUNDIALS......Page 176
VERTICAL SUNDIALS......Page 179
ASTRONOMICAL COMPENDIA......Page 180
THE TIMES OF THE PRAYERS IN ISLAM......Page 182
SIMPLE ARITHMETICAL SHADOW SCHEMES FOR TIMEKEEPING......Page 183
THE EARLIEST TABLE FOR TIMEKEEPING......Page 185
THE INSTITUTION OF THE MUWAQQIT......Page 188
TIMEKEEPING IN MAMLUK EGYPT......Page 189
TIMEKEEPING IN FOURTEENTH-CENTURY SYRIA......Page 191
TIMEKEEPING IN OTTOMAN TURKEY......Page 193
FURTHER READING......Page 195
INTRODUCTION......Page 198
Determination of latitudes......Page 199
The size of the Earth......Page 200
Base meridians......Page 201
Longitude determinations......Page 203
The Hellenistic heritage......Page 204
Al-Ma’mun’s map......Page 206
Al-Biruni’s contributions......Page 207
The equatorial stereographic projection......Page 211
Al-Idrisi’s map......Page 212
Iranian rectangular co-ordinate maps......Page 213
NOTE......Page 214
The geographical and historical setting......Page 216
The routes and the vessels......Page 218
Nautical terminology......Page 219
Some basic facts of modern astronomical navigation......Page 221
Navigation out of sight of land......Page 222
SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF ARABIC NAUTICAL KNOWLEDGE......Page 223
Other collections of Arabic knowledge......Page 224
Discussion of the sources......Page 225
THE MEANS OF ARABIC NAVIGATION......Page 226
Fingers and the dubban......Page 227
Zams......Page 230
Tirfas (and deviations)......Page 232
Charts......Page 234
The compass (and declination)......Page 237
Declination......Page 238
The woods......Page 239
Other instruments......Page 242
The calendar......Page 243
THE TECHNIQUES OF PLOTTING A POSITION AT SEA USING DEAD RECKONING AND ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION......Page 245
The accuracy of the course......Page 246
Paired altitudes......Page 250
Co-ordination between the measurement of altitude and the reading of the chart......Page 254
CONCLUSION......Page 255
NOTES......Page 256
INTRODUCTION......Page 258
THE SURVIVAL OF THE ISIDORIAN CULTURE (711–850)......Page 259
THE DEVELOPMENT OF EASTERN CULTURE (850–1031)......Page 262
The Calendar of Córdoba......Page 265
The development of a native pharmacology......Page 266
The school of Maslama al-Majriti......Page 267
THE GREAT EXPANSION OF ANDALUSIAN SCIENCE (ELEVENTH CENTURY)25......Page 271
THE CENTURY OF PHILOSOPHERS......Page 278
THE DECLINE (THIRTEENTH TO FIFTEENTH CENTURIES)......Page 284
NOTES......Page 288
8 The heritage of Arabic science in Hebrew......Page 292
NOTES......Page 299
9 The influence of Arabic astronomy in the medieval West......Page 300
THE ASTROLABE AND THE ASTRONOMY OF THE PRIME MOVER......Page 301
THE TOLEDAN TABLES AND PLANETARY ASTRONOMY......Page 302
PLANETARY THEORIES AND THE GEOMETRICAL ANALYSIS OF APPEARANCES......Page 307
THE PROBLEM OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE HYPOTHESES......Page 309
THE PROBLEM OF PRECESSION AND THE ABANDONMENT OF THE TOLEDAN TABLES......Page 311
THE COPERNICAN REVOLUTION AND ARABIC ASTRONOMY......Page 314
NOTES......Page 319
Bibliography......Page 322