Islamic Astronomical Tables

Mathematical Analysis and Historical Investigation

Benno van Dalen

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Hardback

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English

Routledge
08 January 2014

Middle Eastern history; Medieval history; History of science; Theoretical & mathematical astronomy

Series: Variorum Collected Studies

This volume comprises nine articles on Islamic astronomy published since 1989 by Benno van Dalen. Van Dalen was the first historian of Islamic astronomy who made full use of the new possibilities of computers in the early 1990s. He implemented various statistical and numerical methods that can be used to determine the mathematical properties of medieval astronomical tables, and utilized these to obtain entirely new, until then unattainable historical results concerning the interdependence of individual tables and hence of entire astronomical works. His programmes for analysing tables, making sexagesimal calculations and converting calendar dates continue to be widely used. The five articles in the first part of this collection explain the principles of a range of statistical methods for determining unknown parameter values underlying astronomical tables and present extensive step-by-step examples for their use. The four articles in the second part provide extensive studies of materials in unpublished primary sources on Islamic astronomy that heavily depend on these methods. The volume is completed with a detailed index.

By: Benno van Dalen
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New edition
Volume: 1040
Dimensions: Height: 224mm, Width: 149mm, Spine: 29mm
Weight: 725g
ISBN: 9781472422385
ISBN 10: 1472422384
Series: Variorum Collected Studies
Pages: 364
Publication Date: 08 January 2014
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Benno van Dalen was for long a researcher at the former Institute for the History of Science in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and is now one of the two research leaders of the 25-year project 'Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus' at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Munich, Germany.

Reviews for Islamic Astronomical Tables: Mathematical Analysis and Historical Investigation

"'... what readers have before them in this book is twenty years of insightful, pioneering work into the analysis of Islamic astronomical tables. The impact of van Dalen’s work cannot be overstated.' - Journal of the History of Astronomy 'This is an important collection of papers, published over the span of a quarter century, devoted entirely to one topic, the astronomical handbooks with tables and explanations for their use...' - Zentralblatt MATH ""For the last 25 years, Benno van Dalen has devoted his efforts indefatigably to the study and analysis of medieval astronimical tables, particularly Islamic tables, and his research has contributed substantially to the progress in this field...it is most welcome that nine of his most remarkable papers, dating from 1989 to 2008, are now published together in a single volume."" - José Chabás, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Aestimatio"