The 'Arabick' Interest of the Natural Philosophers in Seventeenth-Century England


Book Description

"The 'Arabick' Interest of the Natural Philosophers in Seventeenth-Century England" deals with the remarkably widespread interest in Arabic in seventeenth-century England among Biblical scholars and theologians, natural philosophers and Fellows of the Royal Society, and others. It led to the institutionalisation of Arabic studies at Oxford and Cambridge Universities where Arabic chairs were set up, and immense manuscript collections were established and utilised. Fourteen historians examine the extent and sources of this Arabic interest in areas ranging from religion, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, philology, and alchemy to botany. Arabic is shown to have been a significant component of the rise of Protestant intellectual tradition and the evolution of secular scholarship at universities.




Ancient Astronomical Observations and the Study of the Moon’s Motion (1691-1757)


Book Description

The discovery of a gradual acceleration in the moon’s mean motion by Edmond Halley in the last decade of the seventeenth century led to a revival of interest in reports of astronomical observations from antiquity. These observations provided the only means to study the moon’s ‘secular acceleration’, as this newly-discovered acceleration became known. This book contains the first detailed study of the use of ancient and medieval astronomical observations in order to investigate the moon’s secular acceleration from its discovery by Halley to the establishment of the magnitude of the acceleration by Richard Dunthorne, Tobias Mayer and Jérôme Lalande in the 1740s and 1750s. Making extensive use of previously unstudied manuscripts, this work shows how different astronomers used the same small body of preserved ancient observations in different ways in their work on the secular acceleration. In addition, this work looks at the wider context of the study of the moon’s secular acceleration, including its use in debates of biblical chronology, whether the heavens were made up of æther, and the use of astronomy in determining geographical longitude. It also discusses wider issues of the perceptions and knowledge of ancient and medieval astronomy in the early-modern period. This book will be of interest to historians of astronomy, astronomers and historians of the ancient world.




Oxford's Savilian Professors of Geometry


Book Description

To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the geometry chair, a meeting was held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, and the talks presented at this meeting have formed the basis for this fully edited and lavishly illustrated book, which outlines the first 400 years of Oxford's Savilian Professors of Geometry.




Early Biographies of Isaac Newton, 1660-1885 vol 1


Book Description

A collection of the many biographies of scientist Isaac Newton, demonstrating the ways in which his reputation continued to develop in the centuries after his death. It includes private letters, poetry and memoranda, and explores the debate over Newton's reputation, work and personal life.




Literature 1983, Part 1


Book Description

Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts aims to present a comprehensive documen tation of the literature concerning all aspects of astronomy, astrophysics, and their border fields. It is devoted to the recording, summarizing, and indexing of the relevant publications throughout the world. Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts is prepared by a special department of the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union. Volume 33 records literature published in 1983 and received before August 1, 1983. Some older documents which we received late and which are not surveyed in earlier volumes are included too. We acknowledge with thanks contributions of our colleagues all over the world. We also express our gratitude to all organizations, observatories, and publishers which provide us with complimentary copies of their publications. Starting with Volume 33, all the recording, correction, and data processing work was done by means of computers. The recording was done by our technical staff members Ms. Helga Ballmann, Ms. Mona El-Choura, Ms. Monika Kohl, and Ms. Sylvia Matyssek. Mr. Martin Schlotelburg and Mr. Ulrich Uberall supported our task by careful proofreading. It is a pleasure to thank them all for their encouragement. Heidelberg, September 1983 The Editors Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Concordance Relation: ICSU-AB-AAA 3 Abbreviations 10 Periodicals, Proceedings, Books, Activities 001 Periodicals . . . . . . . . . . . 15 002 Bibliographical Publications, Documentation, Catalogues, Atlases 47 003 Books ...... . 51 004 History of Astronomy 58 005 Biography . . 64 006 Personal Notes 65 007 Obituaries . . .




The History of Cartography, Volume 4


Book Description

Since its launch in 1987, the History of Cartography series has garnered critical acclaim and sparked a new generation of interdisciplinary scholarship. Cartography in the European Enlightenment, the highly anticipated fourth volume, offers a comprehensive overview of the cartographic practices of Europeans, Russians, and the Ottomans, both at home and in overseas territories, from 1650 to 1800. The social and intellectual changes that swept Enlightenment Europe also transformed many of its mapmaking practices. A new emphasis on geometric principles gave rise to improved tools for measuring and mapping the world, even as large-scale cartographic projects became possible under the aegis of powerful states. Yet older mapping practices persisted: Enlightenment cartography encompassed a wide variety of processes for making, circulating, and using maps of different types. The volume’s more than four hundred encyclopedic articles explore the era’s mapping, covering topics both detailed—such as geodetic surveying, thematic mapping, and map collecting—and broad, such as women and cartography, cartography and the economy, and the art and design of maps. Copious bibliographical references and nearly one thousand full-color illustrations complement the detailed entries.