Treccani History of Science
Science in Islamic civilization
C2 – Astronomy
Edited by Roshdi Rashed, Régis Morelon
The origins of Arab Islamic astronomy
• 1. The influence of Hellenistic, Persian and Indian mathematical astronomy
• 2. Folk astronomy
• 3. The role and tools of astronomical observations
The early period of Islamic astronomy
• 1. The sources of Arabic astronomy
• 2. The astronomy of the ninth century
• 3. Arab astronomy during the tenth and eleventh centuries
Criticism of Ptolemy
• 1. Criticism of observations
• 2. Mathematical reconstruction of the Almagest
• 3. Critiques relating to natural philosophy
• 4. Theoretical objections
Alternatives to Ptolemaic astronomy
• 1. Longitudinal motion models
• 2. Motion in latitude
• 3. Non-Ptolemaic models
• 4. Conclusions
Mathematical geography and cartography
• 1. Geodesy
• 2. Cartography
Nautical science
• 1. Historical context
• 2. Routes and boats
• 3. Sources of nautical knowledge
• 4. Navigation methods
• 5. Astronomical estimation techniques
Mīqāt, qibla, gnomonics
• 1. Timekeeping science
• 2. Times of prayer
• 3. Tables and instruments
• 4. Qibla determination by trigonometry
• 5. Sundials
Astronomy in Western Islam
• 1. Al-Andalus and the Maghrib
• 2. Maslama al-Majrīṭī and others
Arabic astronomy in the medieval Latin tradition
• 1. Astrolabe, First Mobile
• 2. Planetary models
• 3. Hypothesis status
• 4. Copernican sources
Hebrew transmission
• 1. Almagest and hayʾa works
• 2. Instruments, tables
• 3. Lunar visibility
Byzantine transmission
• 1. Reception of tables
• 2. Gregory Chioniades
Astronomy in Ottoman science
• 1. Ottoman intellectual context
• 2. Scientific vitality
• 3. Classical tradition