Astronomy in the Iberian Peninsula: Abraham Zacut and the Transition from Manuscript to Print

Chabás, José; Goldstein, Bernard R.

doi:10.2307/1586015

Cited by 22 publications

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“…The astronomical knowledge of the epoch is not clearly reflected and no astronomical comments are provided. For example, the most outstanding astronomer of the epoch, Abraham Zacut (1452-1515) (Chabás, Goldstein 2000) is not mentioned at all, nor any of his predecessors. We are aware (see, for example, the work of Millas, (1931)) that there was a serious concern about Astronomy in Catalonia in the centuries XIV-XV 9 , but the popular wisdom mixed Astronomy and Astrology and related any unusual fact Generalitat de Catalunya i els seus Presidents.…”

Section: Description Of the Source Documentmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Astronomical References in Two Catalonian Late Medieval Documents

Martı́nez

Marco

2014

Early Sci Med

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In 2008, after 13 years of preparation, the Generalitat of Catalunya finished the publication of the 10 volumes of the Dietaris de la Generalitat de Catalunya. The Dietaris, as well as a closely related source, the llibre de Jornades 1411/1484 de Jaume Safont, cover the period of 1411 to 1539. In this article, we examine astronomical references contained in these two sources, and place them in their historical context. Our main focus lies on astronomical phenomena that have not previously been published in the astronomical literature. In fact, relatively few astronomical records are accessible in Spanish medieval and early modern history, and our paper intends to fill this gap partially.

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Section: Description Of the Source Documentmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Astronomical References in Two Catalonian Late Medieval Documents

Martı́nez

Marco

2014

Early Sci Med

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“…202-203, El Escorial, MS Ar. 966, f. 192v; on Galiano, see Chabás and Goldstein (2000), p. 163, Samsó 2002-2003, p. 68, and Morrison 2011. The tables examined by King contain so many corrupt entries that he was led to conclude: "This table takes the prize as the most corrupt table in the known medieval sources" (p. 207).…”

Section: Lunar Crescent Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 97%

“…So in the fifteenth century did Abraham Zacut, who compiled in Salamanca a lengthy zij (ha-H . ibbur haGadol), with epoch 1473 (Chabás and Goldstein 2000). Another element in the Indian tradition which is found in western astronomy is the parameter associated with the lunar anomaly, namely a maximum equation of 4;56 • .…”

Section: Et Perfecta Fuit Translatio Et Interpretatio Istarum Portarumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ibbur has a list of 61 stars, whose longitudes differ by 6;38 • from those stars listed in Ptolemy's Almagest, and is thus intended for the Hijra, as is also the case for Ibn al-Kammād's star list. For an excerpt of Zacut's list, see Chabás and Goldstein (2000), p. 71. The Almanach Perpetuum based on Zacut's tables has a list of coordinates of 56 stars, very similar to that in the H .…”

Section: Fixed Starsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ibn al-Kammād’s Muqtabis zij and the astronomical tradition of Indian origin in the Iberian Peninsula

Chabás¹,

Goldstein

2015

Arch. Hist. Exact Sci.

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In this paper, we analyze the astronomical tables in al-Zīj al-Muqtabis by Ibn al-Kammād (early twelfth century, Córdoba), based on the Latin and Hebrew versions of the lost Arabic original, each of which is extant in a unique manuscript. We present excerpts of many tables and pay careful attention to their structure and underlying parameters. The main focus, however, is on the impact al-Muqtabis had on the astronomy that developed in the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghrib and, more generally, on the transmission and diffusion of Indian astronomy in the West after the arrival of al-Khwārizmī's astronomical tables in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) in the tenth century. This tradition of Indian origin competed with the Greek tradition represented by al-Battānī's astronomical tables and was much more alive in the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghrib than previously thought. From Spain, the Indian tradition entered mainstream European astronomy, where we find echoes of it in all versions of the Alfonsine Tables, both in manuscript and in the printed editions (beginning in 1483), as well as in Copernicus's De Revolutionibus, published in 1543.More than 20 years ago, we published in this journal a long paper on a set of astronomical tables in al-Zīj al-Muqtabis compiled by Ibn al-Kammād, an astronomer active in Córdoba at the very beginning of the twelfth century (Chabás and Goldstein 1994). In that paper, we focused on the tables in this zij and, by means of analyzing their structure and determining the underlying parameters, we identified some of Ibn alCommunicated by:

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“…They were also used to calculate solar and lunar eclipses. 19 Zacuto's main contribution to medieval science was his adaptation of astronomical theories and instruments to the necessities of navigation. As such, his input was crucial to the Spanish and Portuguese discoveries of the 16th century.…”

Section: The End Of the Jewish Transmission Of Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

The Contribution of the Jews of Spain to the Transmission of Science in the Middle Ages

Aranda

2008

European Review

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The Jews of Spain in the Middle Ages played an important role in the transmission of Graeco-Arabic learning by translating, or participating in translations, of scientific texts. They also composed original works on mathematics, astronomy, astrology and medicine in which they adapted the theories of the ancients for their own time. Science was used by the ruling powers as an element of prestige, and by the Jewish scientists as a way to obtain a high social status. The policy of cultural sponsorship of Muslim caliphs, as well as of Christian kings, was fundamental in the process of transmission of the Greek sciences to the Western world. The School of Translators of Toledo is an example of this process. The astronomical theories developed by Jewish scientists at the end of the 15th century played an important role in the Spanish and Portuguese discoveries of the 16th century. Their knowledge of astronomy, astrology, mathematics, and medicine was also used by the Jewish intellectuals to provide a rational and scientific support for the Jewish religion and tradition, as is reflected in the interpretations of the Bible by medieval Spanish Jewish authors.

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Astronomy in the Iberian Peninsula: Abraham Zacut and the Transition from Manuscript to Print

Cited by 22 publications

References 0 publications

New Astronomical References in Two Catalonian Late Medieval Documents

New Astronomical References in Two Catalonian Late Medieval Documents

Ibn al-Kammād’s Muqtabis zij and the astronomical tradition of Indian origin in the Iberian Peninsula

The Contribution of the Jews of Spain to the Transmission of Science in the Middle Ages

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