The geodetic sciences in Byzantium Dimitrios A. Rossikopoulos Department of Geodesy and Surveying, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
[email protected] Abstract: Many historians of science consider that geodeasia, a term used by Aristotle meaning "surveying", was not particularly flourishing in Byzantium. However, like “lo- gistiki” (practical arithmetic), it has never ceased to be taught, not only at public universi- ties and ecclesiastical schools, as well as by private tutors. Besides that these two fields had to do with problems of daily life, Byzantines considered them necessary prerequisite for someone who wished to study philosophy. So, they did not only confine themselves to copying and saving the ancient texts, but they also wrote new ones, where they were ana- lyzing their empirical discoveries and their technological achievements. This is the subject of this paper, a retrospect of the numerous manuscripts of the Byzantine period that refer to the development of geodesy both in teaching and practices of surveying, as well as to mat- ters relating to the views about the shape of the earth, the cartography, the positioning in travels and generally the sciences of mapping. Keywords: Geodesy, geodesy in Byzantium, history of geodesy, history of surveying, history of mathematics. Περίληψη: Πολλοί ιστορικοί των επιστημών θεωρούν ότι η γεωδαισία, όρος που χρησι- μοποίησε ο Αριστοτέλης για να ορίσει την πρακτική γεωμετρία, την τοπογραφία, δεν είχε ιδιαίτερη άνθιση στο Βυζάντιο. Ωστόσο, όπως και η “λογιστική”, δεν έπαψε ποτέ να διδά- σκεται όχι μόνο στα κοσμικά πανεπιστήμια, αλλά και στις εκκλησιαστικές σχολές, καθώς επίσης και από ιδιώτες δασκάλους. Πέρα από το ότι οι δύο αυτοί κλάδοι είχαν να κάνουν με προβλήματα της καθημερινής ζωής των ανθρώπων, οι βυζαντινοί θεωρούσαν την διδα- σκαλία τους απαραίτητη προϋπόθεση ώστε να μπορεί κανείς να παρακολουθήσει μαθήμα- τα φιλοσοφίας.