Astrolabes in Medieval Cultures - Paperback

by Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas (Volume Editor), Charles Burnett (Volume Editor), Silke Ackermann (Volume Editor)

First published as a special issue of the journal Medieval Encounters (vol. 23, 2017), this volume, edited by Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas, Charles Burnett, Silke Ackermann, and Ryan Szpiech, brings together fifteen studies on various aspects of the astrolabe in medieval cultures. The astrolabe, developed in antiquity and elaborated throughout the Middle Ages, was used for calculation, teaching, and observation, and also served astrological and medical purposes. It was the most popular and prestigious of the mathematical instruments, and was found equally among practitioners of various sciences and arts as among princes in royal courts. By considering sources and instruments from Muslim, Christian, and Jewish contexts, this volume provides state-of-the-art research on the history and use of the astrolabe throughout the Middle Ages.

Contributors are Silke Ackermann, Emilia Calvo, John Davis, Laura Fernández Fernández, Miquel Forcada, Azucena Hernández, David A. King, Taro Mimura, Günther Oestmann, Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas, Sreeramula Rajeswara Sarma, Petra G. Schmidl, Giorgio Strano, Flora Vafea, and Johannes Thomann.

Author Biography

Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas, Ph.D. (2004, Universidad Complutense, Madrid) is a Researcher at the Institut für Judische Studien at the University of Münster.
Charles Burnett, Ph.D. (1976, University of Cambridge), is Professor of the History of Arabic/Islamic Influences in Europe at the Warburg Institute, University of London and a Fellow of the British Academy.
Silke Ackermann, Ph.D. (1996, Goethe University, Frankfurt), is Director of the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford.
Ryan Szpiech, Ph.D. (2006, Yale University) is Associate Professor in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the Department of Jewish Studies at the University of Michigan.