The Persian-Toledan Astronomical Connection and the European Renaissance
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1 Timeline 2 Geocentric Model
Ancient Astronomy Many ancient cultures were interested in the night sky • Calenders • Prediction of seasons • Navigation 1 Timeline Astronomy timeline • ∼ 3000 B.C. Stonehenge • 2136 B.C. First record of solar eclipse by Chinese astronomers • 613 B.C. First record of Halley’s comet by Zuo Zhuan (China) • ∼ 270 B.C. Aristarchus proposes Earth goes around Sun (not a popular idea at the time) • ∼ 240 B.C. Eratosthenes estimates Earth’s circumference • ∼ 130 B.C. Hipparchus develops first accurate star map (one of the first to use R.A. and Dec) 2 Geocentric model The Geocentric Model • Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) • Uniform circular motion • Earth at center of Universe Retrograde Motion • General motion of planets east- ward • Short periods of westward motion of planets • Then continuation eastward How did the early Greek philosophers make retrograde motion consistent with uniform circular motion? 3 Ptolemy Ptolemy’s Geocentric Model • Planet moves around a small circle called an epicycle • Center of epicycle moves along a larger cir- cle called a deferent • Center of deferent is at center of Earth (sort of) Ptolemy’s Geocentric Model • Ptolemy invented the device called the eccentric • The eccentric is the center of the deferent • Sometimes the eccentric was slightly off center from the center of the Earth Ptolemy’s Geocentric Model • Uniform circular motion could not account for speed of the planets thus Ptolemy used a device called the equant • The equant was placed the same distance from the eccentric as the Earth, but on the -
Fixed Stars More Than the Wandering Planets Used by Modern Astrologers
Ancients used the fixed stars more than the wandering planets used by modern astrologers. With improved technical abilities due to software enhancements, the fixed stars are beginning to make a return in present day astrology. The information contained in these pages is just a sampling of the stars and their meanings. It is designed to encourage you to look at the subject in a deeper level. When you blend the meaning of the fixed stars with the natal planets in your chart, it adds a great deal of texture to the understanding of your planet/star combination. I normally use a three degree orb of influence between stars and planets, but the commonly accepted orb is only one degree. A research project I did several years ago indicated that people felt the effects of the stars from this wider distance (which can amount to millions of miles). For example, if the planet Mercury in your natal chart is at 17° Gemini, then you will find on page four that item T is the star Rigel in the Orion constellation. Stars that are in the feet of a constellation are considered to be teacher stars in that they bring higher information down to earth to be used. Mercury represents communications, education, writing, and short trips. Combined, this could be a teacher of higher information, possibly a person who travels or writes as part of the teaching process. Again, this is a partial list of stars. Listed below are some of the books and references I have used. REFERENCE: The interpretations come from Bernadette Brady’s “Book of Fixed Stars”, the Solar Maps software program http://www.bernadettebrady.com/; , Ebertin-Hoffman’s book Fixed Stars,” Vivian Robson’s “The Fixed Stars & Constellations in Astrology” and miscellaneous sources. -
The Dunhuang Chinese Sky: a Comprehensive Study of the Oldest Known Star Atlas
25/02/09JAHH/v4 1 THE DUNHUANG CHINESE SKY: A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE OLDEST KNOWN STAR ATLAS JEAN-MARC BONNET-BIDAUD Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique ,Centre de Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France E-mail: [email protected] FRANÇOISE PRADERIE Observatoire de Paris, 61 Avenue de l’Observatoire, F- 75014 Paris, France E-mail: [email protected] and SUSAN WHITFIELD The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB, UK E-mail: [email protected] Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of the star atlas included in the medieval Chinese manuscript (Or.8210/S.3326), discovered in 1907 by the archaeologist Aurel Stein at the Silk Road town of Dunhuang and now held in the British Library. Although partially studied by a few Chinese scholars, it has never been fully displayed and discussed in the Western world. This set of sky maps (12 hour angle maps in quasi-cylindrical projection and a circumpolar map in azimuthal projection), displaying the full sky visible from the Northern hemisphere, is up to now the oldest complete preserved star atlas from any civilisation. It is also the first known pictorial representation of the quasi-totality of the Chinese constellations. This paper describes the history of the physical object – a roll of thin paper drawn with ink. We analyse the stellar content of each map (1339 stars, 257 asterisms) and the texts associated with the maps. We establish the precision with which the maps are drawn (1.5 to 4° for the brightest stars) and examine the type of projections used. -
Dēnkard III Language Variation and the Defence of Socio-Religious Identity in the Context of Early-Islamic Iran
Open Linguistics 2017; 3: 396–418 Research Article Gianfilippo Terribili* Dēnkard III Language Variation and the Defence of Socio-Religious Identity in the Context of Early-Islamic Iran https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2017-0020 Received January 25, 2017; accepted August 10, 2017 Abstract: The aim of the present paper is to illustrate as a case study, the linguistic and stylistic peculiarities characterizing the third book of the Dēnkard, one of the most authoritative texts in Zoroastrian Pahlavi literature (9th-10 th CE). The analysis will consider these features as part of a coherent system, styled to serve the dialectic strategies pursued by the Zoroastrian high priests in response to the pressures their own community was facing in the early Islamic period. In order to provide a more comprehensive overview on DkIII language distinctiveness, the research will underline the outward/inward dynamics, addressing both the relation of this theological dialectic with the surrounding socio-cultural environment and the leading- role claims of a group within a politically subordinated community. Keywords: Middle Persian, Pahlavi Literature, Iranian Philology 1 Introduction In tune with the present volume, seeking to integrate linguistic data concerning a specific text within the socio-cultural dynamics of the period in which a specific textual production flourished, may yield extremely interesting elements for scholars aiming to survey the development of broader acculturation processes. Within Iranian history, the early Islamic period offers a very rich field of investigation for sociolinguistic studies; the abundance of sources in our possession is in fact due to the activity of the multifaceted constituents of that society, while the presence of various and interacting agents offers a remarkable opportunity to adopt multiple point of views. -
A Philosophical and Historical Analysis of Cosmology from Copernicus to Newton
University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2017 Scientific transformations: a philosophical and historical analysis of cosmology from Copernicus to Newton Manuel-Albert Castillo University of Central Florida Part of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Castillo, Manuel-Albert, "Scientific transformations: a philosophical and historical analysis of cosmology from Copernicus to Newton" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 5694. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/5694 SCIENTIFIC TRANSFORMATIONS: A PHILOSOPHICAL AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF COSMOLOGY FROM COPERNICUS TO NEWTON by MANUEL-ALBERT F. CASTILLO A.A., Valencia College, 2013 B.A., University of Central Florida, 2015 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the department of Interdisciplinary Studies in the College of Graduate Studies at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2017 Major Professor: Donald E. Jones ©2017 Manuel-Albert F. Castillo ii ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis is to show a transformation around the scientific revolution from the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries against a Whig approach in which it still lingers in the history of science. I find the transformations of modern science through the cosmological models of Nicholas Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton. -
Classical Persian Literature Bahman Solati (Ph.D), 2015 University of California, Berkeley [email protected]
Classical Persian Literature Bahman Solati (Ph.D), 2015 University of California, Berkeley [email protected] Introduction Studying the roots of a particular literary history enables us to better understand the allusions the literature transmits and why we appreciate them. It also allows us to foresee how the literature may progress.1 I will try to keep this attitude in the reader’s mind in offering this brief summary of medieval Persian literature, a formidable task considering the variety and wealth of the texts and documentation on the subject.2 In this study we will pay special attention to the development of the Persian literature over the last millennia, focusing in particular on the initial development and background of various literary genres in Persian. Although the concept of literary genres is rather subjective and unstable,3 reviewing them is nonetheless a useful approach for a synopsis, facilitating greater understanding, deeper argumentation, and further speculation than would a simple listing of dates, titles, and basic biographical facts of the giants of Persian literature. Also key to literary examination is diachronicity, or the outlining of literary development through successive generations and periods. Thriving Persian literature, undoubtedly shaped by historic events, lends itself to this approach: one can observe vast differences between the Persian literature of the tenth century and that of the eleventh or the twelfth, and so on.4 The fourteenth century stands as a bridge between the previous and the later periods, the Mongol and Timurid, followed by the Ṣafavids in Persia and the Mughals in India. Given the importance of local courts and their support of poets and writers, it is quite understandable that literature would be significantly influenced by schools of thought in different provinces of the Persian world.5 In this essay, I use the word literature to refer to the written word adeptly and artistically created. -
1 Science LR 2711
A Scientific Response to the Chester Beatty Library Collection Contents The Roots Of Modern Science A Scientific Response To The Chester Beatty Library Collection 1 Science And Technology 2 1 China 3 Science In Antiquity 4 Golden Age Of Islamic Science 5 Transmission Of Knowledge To Europe 6 A Scientific Response To The Chester Beatty Library Collections For Dublin City Of Science 2012 7 East Asian Collections The Great Encyclopaedia of the Yongle Reign (Yongle Dadian) 8 2 Phenomena of the Sky (Tianyuan yuli xiangyi tushuo) 9 Treatise on Astronomy and Chronology (Tianyuan lili daquan) 10 Illustrated Scrolls of Gold Mining on Sado Island (Sado kinzan zukan) 11 Islamic Collections Islamic Medicine 12 3 Medical Compendium, by al-Razi (Al-tibb al-mansuri) 13 Encyclopaedia of Medicine, by Ibn Sina (Al-qanun fi’l-tibb) 14 Treatise on Surgery, by al-Zahrawi (Al-tasrif li-man ‘ajiza ‘an al-ta’lif) 15 Treatise on Human Anatomy, by Mansur ibn Ilyas (Tashrih al-badan) 16 Barber –Surgeon toolkit from 1860 17 Islamic Astronomy and Mathematics 18 The Everlasting Cycles of Lights, by Muhyi al-Din al-Maghribi (Adwar al-anwar mada al-duhur wa-l-akwar) 19 Commentary on the Tadhkira of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi 20 Astrolabes 21 Islamic Technology 22 Abbasid Caliph, Ma’mum at the Hammam 23 European Collections European Science of the Middle Ages 24 4 European Technology: On Military Matters (De Re Militari) 25 European Technology: Concerning Military Matters (De Re Militari) 26 Mining Technology: On the Nature of Metals (De Re Metallica) 27 Fireworks: The triumphal -
BABYLONIAN ASTRONOMY* by W.M. O'neil Though the Modern Western
o BABYLONIAN ASTRONOMY* By W.M. O'Neil Though the modern western world had heard of the Chaldaeans in the Old Testament as soothsayers and astrologers and students of Hellenistic astronomy knew of references to Babylonian observations of eclipses and the like, it is only during the last three quarters of a century but especially during the last half century that modern scholars, following the decipherment of the cuneiform writing on clay tablets, have begun to reveal the richness of Babylonian astronomy. They have, however, a long way yet to go. First, only a fraction of the materials scattered throughout the western world have been studied and interpreted. Fragments of the one tablet are sometimes in different museums; this adds to the difficulty. Second, the materials are usually fragmentary: a few pages torn from a book as it were or even only a few parts of pages (See Plate 1). Otto Neugebauer, perhaps the greatest scholar recently working on Babylonian astronomy, says that it is impossible yet to write an adequate history of Babylonian astronomy and suggests that it may never be possible. How many of the needed basic texts have crumbled into dust after acquisition by small museums unable to give them the needed care? , how many are lying unstudied in the multitudinous collections in the Middle East, in Europe and in North America? or are still lying in the ground?, are questions to which the answers are unknown. Nevertheless, through the work of Neugebauer, his predecessors and younger scholars taking over from him, some outlines of the history and the methods of Babylonian astronomy are becoming clearer. -
Thinking Outside the Sphere Views of the Stars from Aristotle to Herschel Thinking Outside the Sphere
Thinking Outside the Sphere Views of the Stars from Aristotle to Herschel Thinking Outside the Sphere A Constellation of Rare Books from the History of Science Collection The exhibition was made possible by generous support from Mr. & Mrs. James B. Hebenstreit and Mrs. Lathrop M. Gates. CATALOG OF THE EXHIBITION Linda Hall Library Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology Cynthia J. Rogers, Curator 5109 Cherry Street Kansas City MO 64110 1 Thinking Outside the Sphere is held in copyright by the Linda Hall Library, 2010, and any reproduction of text or images requires permission. The Linda Hall Library is an independently funded library devoted to science, engineering and technology which is used extensively by The exhibition opened at the Linda Hall Library April 22 and closed companies, academic institutions and individuals throughout the world. September 18, 2010. The Library was established by the wills of Herbert and Linda Hall and opened in 1946. It is located on a 14 acre arboretum in Kansas City, Missouri, the site of the former home of Herbert and Linda Hall. Sources of images on preliminary pages: Page 1, cover left: Peter Apian. Cosmographia, 1550. We invite you to visit the Library or our website at www.lindahlll.org. Page 1, right: Camille Flammarion. L'atmosphère météorologie populaire, 1888. Page 3, Table of contents: Leonhard Euler. Theoria motuum planetarum et cometarum, 1744. 2 Table of Contents Introduction Section1 The Ancient Universe Section2 The Enduring Earth-Centered System Section3 The Sun Takes -
The Roots of Astronomy
The Roots of Astronomy • Already in the stone and bronze ages, human cultures realized the cyclic nature of motions in the sky. • Monuments dating back to ~ 3000 B.C. show alignments with astronomical significance. • Those monuments were probably used as calendars or even to predict eclipses. Stonehenge • Constructed: 3000 – 1800 B.C. Summer solstice Heelstone • Alignments with locations of sunset, sunrise, moonset and moonrise at summer and winter solstices • Probably used as calendar. Other Examples All Over the World Big Horn Medicine Wheel (Wyoming) Other Examples All Over the World (2) Caracol (Maya culture, approx. A.D. 1000) Ancient Greek Astronomers (1) • Unfortunately, there are no written documents about the significance of stone and bronze age monuments. • First preserved written documents about ancient astronomy are from ancient Greek philosophy. • Greeks tried to understand the motions of the sky and describe them in terms of mathematical (not physical!) models. Ancient Greek Astronomers (2) Models were generally wrong because they were based on wrong “first principles”, believed to be “obvious” and not questioned: 1. Geocentric Universe: Earth at the Center of the Universe. 2. “Perfect Heavens”: Motions of all celestial bodies described by motions involving objects of “perfect” shape, i.e., spheres or circles. Ancient Greek Astronomers (3) • Eudoxus (409 – 356 B.C.): Model of 27 nested spheres • Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.), major authority of philosophy until the late middle ages: Universe can be divided in 2 parts: 1. Imperfect, -
Ibrāhīm Ibn Sinān Ibn Thābit Ibn Qurra
From: Thomas Hockey et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, Springer Reference. New York: Springer, 2007, p. 574 Courtesy of http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_697 Ibrāhīm ibn Sinān ibn Thābit ibn Qurra Glen Van Brummelen Born Baghdad, (Iraq), 908/909 Died Baghdad, (Iraq), 946 Ibrāhīm ibn Sinān was a creative scientist who, despite his short life, made numerous important contributions to both mathematics and astronomy. He was born to an illustrious scientific family. As his name suggests his grandfather was the renowned Thābit ibn Qurra; his father Sinān ibn Thābit was also an important mathematician and physician. Ibn Sinān was productive from an early age; according to his autobiography, he began his research at 15 and had written his first work (on shadow instruments) by 16 or 17. We have his own word that he intended to return to Baghdad to make observations to test his astronomical theories. He did return, but it is unknown whether he made his observations. Ibn Sinān died suffering from a swollen liver. Ibn Sinān's mathematical works contain a number of powerful and novel investigations. These include a treatise on how to draw conic sections, useful for the construction of sundials; an elegant and original proof of the theorem that the area of a parabolic segment is 4/3 the inscribed triangle (Archimedes' work on the parabola was not available to the Arabs); a work on tangent circles; and one of the most important Islamic studies on the meaning and use of the ancient Greek technique of analysis and synthesis. -
Ramiz Daniz the Scientist Passed Ahead of Centuries – Nasiraddin Tusi
Ramiz Daniz Ramiz Daniz The scientist passed ahead of centuries – Nasiraddin Tusi Baku -2013 Scientific editor – the Associate Member of ANAS, Professor 1 Ramiz Daniz Eybali Mehraliyev Preface – the Associate Member of ANAS, Professor Ramiz Mammadov Scientific editor – the Associate Member of ANAS, Doctor of physics and mathematics, Academician Eyyub Guliyev Reviewers – the Associate Member of ANAS, Professor Rehim Husseinov, Associate Member of ANAS, Professor Rafig Aliyev, Professor Ajdar Agayev, senior lecturer Vidadi Bashirov Literary editor – the philologist Ganira Amirjanova Computer design – Sevinj Computer operator – Sinay Translator - Hokume Hebibova Ramiz Daniz “The scientist passed ahead of centuries – Nasiraddin Tusi”. “MM-S”, 2013, 297 p İSBN 978-9952-8230-3-5 Writing about the remarkable Azerbaijani scientist Nasiraddin Tusi, who has a great scientific heritage, is very responsible and honorable. Nasiraddin Tusi, who has a very significant place in the world encyclopedia together with well-known phenomenal scientists, is one of the most honorary personalities of our nation. It may be named precious stone of the Academy of Sciences in the East. Nasiraddin Tusi has masterpieces about mathematics, geometry, astronomy, geography and ethics and he is an inventor of a lot of unique inventions and discoveries. According to the scientist, America had been discovered hundreds of years ago. Unfortunately, most peoples don’t know this fact. I want to inform readers about Tusi’s achievements by means of this work. D 4702060103 © R.Daniz 2013 M 087-2013 2 Ramiz Daniz I’m grateful to leaders of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic for their material and moral supports for publication of the work The book has been published in accordance with the order of the “Partner” Science Development Support Social Union with the grant of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic Courageous step towards the great purpose 3 Ramiz Daniz I’m editing new work of the young writer.