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2014 Selig Brodetsky Memorial Lecture: Professor Charles Burnett

Category
Selig Brodetsky Memorial Lecture
Date
Date
Tuesday 10 June 2014
Time
17:30
Location
Nathan Bodington Council Chamber, Parkinson building, University of Leeds

Muslims, Jews, Christians, and the Astrolabe; The Establishment of a New Science in the 12th Century

Within the ten-year period from 1140 to 1150, the first texts on the astrolabe were written in Hebrew, and several translations and original works were written in Latin. The texts were either translations of, or closely dependent on Arabic originals, and there is evidence for collaboration between Jewish and Christian scholars, and access to Arabic libraries, if not to Arabic practitioners themselves. Particularly significant is the situation in Barcelona and in Béziers.

The establishment of the 'new science' of the astrolabe will be investigated in the intellectual context of the mathematical disciplines in general, and in the historical context of faith communities in Barcelona and in Béziers.

Professor Charles Burnett (Warburg Institute, University of London)

Professor Burnett has been leading a cross-cultural project on the astrolabe as a scientific instrument that emerged between Muslim, Jewish and Christian scholars in the 12th century. Come and hear about the results of this just completed collaborative project.

Download poster for this event (pdf), File Download