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A Tradição Hay'a E a Astronomia Europeia

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A Tradição Hay'a E a Astronomia Europeia UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS DEPARTAMENTO DE HISTÓRIA E FILOSOFIA DAS CIÊNCIAS A ciência árabe na Europa renascentista: a tradição hay’a e a astronomia europeia Inês Noronha Bénard da Costa Mestrado em História e Filosofia das Ciências Dissertação orientada por: Henrique José Sampaio Soares de Sousa Leitão 2019 Agradecimentos Tenho de agradecer, antes de mais, ao professor Henrique Leitão pela orientação. A disponibilidade, o apoio e a confiança foram fundamentais. A Jomana Alneaj foi uma grande ajuda na leitura dos textos em árabe e eu agradeço-lhe imenso por isso. À Maria Cintra agradeço a leitura, os comentários e a atenção aos detalhes de escrita que foram, sem dúvida, importantes. Devo um agradecimento ao departamento de História e Filosofia das Ciências. Sem iniciativas como o Seminário Permanente de Astronomia Antiga teria sido bastante mais complicado entender questões centrais ao tema da dissertação. Finalmente, agradeço também à família e aos amigos pela paciência, pelas conversas e pela motivação. i Resumo A descoberta de um conjunto de teorias astronómicas associadas à tradição hay’a tem provocado uma polémica em História das Ciências durante os últimos 60 anos. Tratando-se de uma forma de astronomia medieval árabe, semelhante à que Copérnico propôs cerca de 150 anos mais tarde, a sua descoberta implicou a revisão de algumas teorias geralmente aceites. Se, por um lado, se evidenciou uma tradição árabe cujos modelos e mecanismos se distinguiam dos ptolemaicos, por outro, iniciou-se uma discussão sobre a influência que esta tradição teria tido na astronomia europeia. Considerando a relevância atribuída ao astrónomo polaco em narrativas sobre o início da ciência moderna, a polémica tem sido abordada por historiadores de ciências matemáticas, árabes e ocidentais. Partindo das interpretações propostas por alguns destes, assim como de determinadas fontes associadas ao problema, o principal objectivo desta dissertação é desenvolver uma visão crítica acerca da polémica historiográfica. Propõem-se, nesse sentido, dois capítulos: um primeiro, relacionado com a revisão de conceitos centrais, assim como da hipótese de circulação de conhecimento na Europa renascentista; e um segundo, relacionado com uma análise da própria polémica, ou seja, com a procura de entender o que foi a tradição hay’a, de que forma esta se assemelha à astronomia coperniciana e quais as possibilidades de transmissão ou descoberta independente. Investigando também narrativas sobre o início da ciência moderna, contrastaram-se três abordagens diferentes: uma fundamentalmente matemática, preocupada com a comparação técnica das teorias astronómicas; outra que, baseada na comparação das próprias tradições de astronomia, propõe uma reflexão sobre a possibilidade de transmissão; e uma última que, na ausência de uma prova de transmissão, tem dispensado uma consideração aprofundada sobre a polémica. Concluiu-se, finalmente, que existe uma falta de diálogo principalmente entre a segunda e a terceira abordagem, na medida em que, em algumas das narrativas recentes sobre Copérnico, a “revolução científica”, ou o início da ciência moderna, parecem conhecer a tradição hay’a apenas parcialmente. Palavras-Chave: Hay’a, Copérnico, Astronomia medieval, Astronomia árabe, Circulação de conhecimento. ii Abstract The discovery of several astronomical theories related to the hay’a tradition has been motive for a controversy in History of Science for the last 60 years. Being an Arabic medieval astronomy form, similar to the one Copernicus proposed about 150 years later, its discovery implied the revision of some generally accepted theories. If, on the one hand, it was clear that there was an Arabic tradition that proposed models and mechanisms different from the Ptolemaic ones, on the other hand, it launched a discussion concerning the influence this tradition might have had in European astronomy. Considering the importance given to Copernicus by narratives relating to the beginning of modern science, the controversy has been approached by historians of mathematics, Arabic and Occidental science. Taking into account the interpretations proposed by some of those historians, as well as some of the texts related to the historiographical problem, the main purpose of this dissertation is to develop a critical view concerning the controversy. In order to achieve this, two chapters were proposed: a first chapter, related to the revision of the central concepts, as well as the idea of knowledge in circulation in Renaissance Europe; and a second, about the controversy itself – that is, the understanding of hay’a tradition, the ways in which it resembles Copernican astronomy; and the possibilities of both knowledge transmission and independent discovery. By also looking into interpretations in narratives concerning the beginning of modern science, it was possible to distinguish three different approaches: one essentially mathematical, mainly focused on the technical comparison of the astronomical models; another which, based on the comparison of the astronomical traditions in question, proposes a reflection about the possibility of knowledge transmission; and a third that, supported by the absence of a definitive proof, dismisses a significant consideration about the controversy. It was concluded that there was a lack of dialogue, especially between the two latter approaches, in the sense that some of the narratives concerning Copernicus, the scientific revolution or the beginning of modern science seem to take hay’a tradition in consideration only partially. Keywords: Hay’a, Copernicus, Medieval astronomy, Arabic astronomy, Knowledge circulation. iii Índice Introdução .......................................................................................................................... 1 Capítulo 1: Ciência árabe na Europa renascentista: conceitos centrais e um problema historiográfico...................................................................................................................... 5 Capítulo 2: A tradição hay’a e a astronomia coperniciana ..................................................... 21 Conclusão .......................................................................................................................... 73 Bibliografia........................................................................................................................ 79 Glossário ........................................................................................................................... 86 Sobre as Traduções............................................................................................................. 92 Anexos .................................................................................................................................. O par-de-Tūṣi ......................................................................................................... 93 O modelo Planetario de Mu’ayyad al-Dīn al-Urḍī ................................................... 101 O modelo da Lua de Ibn al-Shāṭir .......................................................................... 109 O modelo de Mercúrio de Ibn al-Shāṭir .................................................................. 119 iv Introdução Durante a segunda metade do século XX, um conjunto de descobertas associadas àquela que mais tarde se veio a propor como uma nova tradição de astronomia árabe deu origem a uma polémica em história das ciências. Edward Kennedy, Victor Roberts e Otto Neugebauer encontraram, num um modelo para o ,(1360-1300) ,ابن الشاطر ,tratado do astrónomo damasceno Ibn al-Shāṭir movimento da Lua bastante semelhante ao que Copérnico propôs em 1543. Depois de publicada a descoberta em 1956, seguiu-se uma investigação, na qual vários historiadores procuraram aprofundar, primeiro, o contexto científico e cultural em que Ibn al-Shāṭir se inseria; depois, o grau de proximidade entre os seus modelos e os de Copérnico; e, finalmente, a possibilidade destes terem chegado à Europa e, consequentemente, influenciado o astrónomo polaco. A última questão ainda está por responder. No entanto a investigação permitiu concluir que, além de Ibn al-Shāṭir, existiam dois outros astrónomos árabes cujo trabalho também se assemelhava ao encontrado no De revolutionibus. No final do século XX sabia-se que os modelos para os movimentos dos planetas em longitude apresentados no livro de Copérnico, assim como dois dos mecanismos aplicados, eram equivalentes a outros árabes, produzidos durante o período medieval tardio. Aprofundando a questão um pouco mais, foi possível perceber que os novos modelos não estavam limitados ao trabalho de três astrónomos, mas que se inseriam no contexto de uma nova uma tradição de astronomia, até aí desconhecida aos – (هيئة) disciplina chamada hay’a historiadores, que parece ter começado durante o século XI. Além das questões que evidentemente coloca aos especialistas de ciência árabe, a descoberta da disciplina levanta um problema aos historiadores de ciência ocidental. Aceitando a possibilidade de transmissão textual, levanta-se uma questão relativamente ao modo como Copérnico terá sido influenciado pela astronomia árabe. Copérnico não só foi o primeiro astrónomo a formular uma teoria completa sobre o heliocentrismo e o movimento da Terra, mas tem sido descrito como o primeiro a elaborar teorias matemáticas realistas, que não se limitassem a descrever, mas explicassem também os fenómenos naturais através de determinados teoremas e modelos geométricos.
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