more information - www.cambridge.org/9780521594486 THECAMBRIDGEHISTORYOFSCIENCE volume 2 MedievalScience This volume in the highly respected Cambridge History of Science series is devoted to the history of science in the Middle Ages from the North AtlantictotheIndusValley.Medievalsciencewasonceuniversallydismissed as nonexistent – and sometimes it still is. This volume reveals the diversity of goals, contexts, and accomplishments in the study of nature during the Middle Ages. Organized by topic and culture, its essays by distinguished scholars offer the most comprehensive and up-to-date history of medieval science currently available. Intended to provide a balanced and inclusive treatment of the medieval world, contributors consider scientific learning and advancement in the cultures associated with the Arabic, Greek, Latin, andHebrewlanguages.Scientists,historians,andothercuriousreaderswill allgainanewappreciationforthestudyofnatureduringanerathatisoften misunderstood. David C. Lindberg is Hilldale Professor Emeritus of the History of Sci- ence and past director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has written or edited a dozen booksontopicsinthehistoryofmedievalandearly-modernscience,includ- ing The Beginnings of Western Science (1992). He and Ronald L. Numbers havepreviouslycoeditedGodandNature:HistoricalEssaysontheEncounter between Christianity and Science (1986) and When Science and Christianity Meet (2003). A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he has been a recipient of the Sarton Medal of the History of Science Society, ofwhichheisalsopastpresident(1994–5). MichaelH.ShankisProfessoroftheHistoryofScienceattheUniversityof Wisconsin–Madison.Heistheauthorof“UnlessYouBelieve,YouShallNot Understand”:Logic,University,andSocietyinLateMedievalVienna(1988);the editorofTheScientificEnterpriseinAntiquityandtheMiddleAges:Readings fromIsis(2000);thecoeditor,withPeterHarrisonandRonaldL.Numbers, of Wrestling with Nature: From Omens to Science (2011); and the author of numerousarticlesineditedcollectionsandscholarlyjournals. THECAMBRIDGEHISTORYOFSCIENCE Generaleditors DavidC.LindbergandRonaldL.Numbers volume1. AncientScience EditedbyAlexanderJonesandLibaChaiaTaub volume2. MedievalScience EditedbyDavidC.LindbergandMichaelH.Shank volume3. EarlyModernScience EditedbyKatharineParkandLorraineDaston volume4. Eighteenth-CenturyScience EditedbyRoyPorter volume5. TheModernPhysicalandMathematicalSciences EditedbyMaryJoNye volume6. TheModernBiologicalandEarthSciences EditedbyPeterJ.BowlerandJohnV.Pickstone volume7. TheModernSocialSciences EditedbyTheodoreM.PorterandDorothyRoss volume8. ModernScienceinNationalandInternationalContext EditedbyDavidN.LivingstoneandRonaldL.Numbers DavidC.LindbergisHilldaleProfessorEmeritusoftheHistoryofScienceand pastdirectoroftheInstituteforResearchintheHumanitiesattheUniversity ofWisconsin–Madison.Hehaswrittenoreditedadozenbooksontopicsin thehistoryofmedievalandearly-modernscience,includingTheBeginningsof WesternScience(1992).HeandRonaldL.Numbershavepreviouslycoedited God and Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science(1986)andWhenScienceandChristianityMeet(2003).AFellowofthe AmericanAcademyofArtsandSciences,hehasbeenarecipientoftheSarton Medal of the History of Science Society, of which he is also past president (1994–5). Ronald L. Numbers is Hilldale Professor of the History of Science and MedicineattheUniversityofWisconsin–Madison,wherehehastaughtsince 1974.AspecialistinthehistoryofscienceandmedicineintheUnitedStates, hehaswrittenoreditedmorethantwodozenbooks,includingTheCreation- ists (1992, 2006), Science and Christianity in Pulpit and Pew (2007), Galileo GoestoJail andOther Myths aboutScience andReligion (ed.)(2009), andthe forthcoming Science and the Americans. A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a former editor of Isis, the flagship journal of the history of science, he has served as the president of the American Society of Church History (1999–2000), the History of Science Society (2000–1), and the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science/Division of HistoryofScienceandTechnology(2005–9). THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF SCIENCE volume 2 Medieval Science Editedby DAVID C. LINDBERG MICHAEL H. SHANK 32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521594486 (cid:2)C CambridgeUniversityPress2013 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2013 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata (Revisedforvolume2) TheCambridgehistoryofscience p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindexes. Contents:–v.2.Medievalscience/editedbyDavidC.LindbergandMichaelH.Shank v.3.Earlymodernscience/editedbyKatharineParkandLorraineDaston v.4.Eighteenth-centuryscience/editedbyRoyPorter v.5.Themodernphysicalandmathematicalsciences/editedbyMaryJoNye v.6.Themodernbiologicalandearthsciences/editedbyPeterJ.Bowlerand JohnV.Pickstone v.7.Themodernsocialsciences/editedbyTheodoreH.PorterandDorothyRoss 1.Science–History. I.Lindberg,DavidC. II.Numbers,RonaldL. q125c32 2001 509–dc21 2001025311 isbn978-0-521-59448-6Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls forexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot guaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. CONTENTS ListofIllustrations pagexv NotesonContributors xvii GeneralEditors’Preface xxiii Introduction 1 michaelh.shankanddavidc.lindberg 1 IslamicCultureandtheNaturalSciences 27 f.jamilragep TheHistoricalandCulturalBackground 29 TheTranslationofGreekNaturalPhilosophyintoArabic: BackgroundandMotivations 34 TranslatorsandTheirPatrons 38 TheNaturalPhilosophyTraditioninIslam 40 DefendersandPractitionersofNaturalPhilosophy 45 TheTheological(kala¯m)ApproachtothePhenomenalWorld 53 TransformationsandInnovationsinIslamicNaturalPhilosophy 57 2 IslamicMathematics 62 j.l.berggren SourcesofIslamicMathematics 62 MathematicsandIslamicSociety 64 TheSocialSettingofMathematicsinMedievalIslam 67 Arithmetic 69 Algebra 71 IndeterminateEquations 74 NumberTheory 74 Combinatorics 77 TheTraditionofGeometry 77 FoundationsofGeometry 80 vii viii Contents Trigonometry 81 TheAstrolabe 82 Conclusion 83 3 TheMixedMathematicalSciences:OpticsandMechanics intheIslamicMiddleAges 84 elahehkheirandish Highlights 86 Heritage 90 Transmission 91 Developments:Context 94 Developments:Optics 97 Developments:Mechanics 103 Conclusion 107 4 IslamicAstronomy 109 robertg.morrison TheApplicationsofAstronomy:Time,Prayer,andAstrology 111 TheAstrolabe 114 TransmissionandTranslations 116 ObservationalAstronomy 118 Ptolemy’sModelsandEnsuingCriticismsofthePtolemaic EquantHypothesis 121 AstronomyandNaturalPhilosophy 124 PlanetaryTheoryintheIslamicWest 127 TheMara¯ghaObservatory:PlanetaryTheoryandObservational Astronomy 129 AstronomyinReligiousScholarship 135 DevelopmentsintheFifteenthCenturyandThereafter 137 5 MedicineinMedievalIslam 139 emiliesavage-smith Pre-IslamicMedicine 140 EarlyIslamicMedicine 141 TheLearnedMedicalTradition 145 Ophthalmology 151 Pharmacology 152 Anatomy 153 ThePracticeofMedicine 157 TheoryversusPractice 162 6 ScienceintheJewishCommunities 168 y.tzvilangermann TheEmergenceofaHebrewScientificLiterature 169 SurveybyCommunity 171 SurveybyDiscipline 174 TheImpactofScienceonJewishThought 184