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1a. Medicine.
1b. Classical Ethics: Al-Kindi and his circle.
2a. Physics.
2b. Classical Ethics: Ibn ‘Adi.
3a. Pharmacology.
3b. Classical Ethics: Al-Miskawayh.
4a. Optics.
4b. Classical Ethics: Ibn Zur’a.
5a. Mineralogy.
5b. Classical Ethics: Abu Bakr ar-Razi.
6a. Cartography.
6b. Classical Ethics: Ibn Sina.
7a. Chemistry.
7b. Classical Ethics: Al-Ghazali.
8a. Logic.
8b. Classical Ethics: Al-Majusi and medical ethics.
9a. Travel Writing.
9b. Classical Ethics: Ibn Hazm.
10a. Geoponics.
10b. Classical Ethics: Hadith ethics between reason and tradition.
11a. Astronomy and Astrology.
11b. Classical Ethics: al-Maqdisi.
12a. Physiology.
12b. Classical Ethics: Al-Biruni.
13a. Influence on the Latin West.
13b. Classical Ethics: Al-Jahiz.
14a. Engineering.
14b. Classical Ethics: Predestination and freewill.
Overview of the Course:
This course is both an introduction to “Science and Technology in the Muslim World” and a more in-depth account of the impact of one discipline, Greek ethics, upon Arabic thought (ethics because my study of Greek physics or medicine is insufficient at this stage). It will become clear that the Greeks had a pervasive influence on mainstream Muslim thinkers and theologians, just as later the Arabs were vital for the development of the sciences in the Latin West.
1a. Abstract: “Medicine.” This discipline took a leading role in the rise of the sciences in the Islamic world, with medical works among the earliest to be written in Arabic-Islamic science. The lecture draws on the introduction written by Pormann and Savage-Smith, with some references to primary sources such as the works of Ibn Abi U?aybi?a and Ibn Sina.
Bibliography:
Gutas, Dimitri, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture (London and NY, Routledge, 1998).
Ibn Abi U?aybi?a, ?Uyun al-anba’ fi ?abaqat al-a?ibba’, Nizar Ri?a’ (ed.) (Beirut, Maktabat al-?ayat, 1965).
Ibn Sina (Avicenna), The Canon of Medicine (al-Qanun fi'l-?ibb), vol. 1. Laleh Bakhtiar (ed.), Oskar Gruner (trans.), Mazhar H. Shah (trans.) (Great Books of the Islamic World, 1999).
Ibn Sina, al-Qanun (Rome, Medicia of Raimondi, 1593).
Pormann, P. and Savage-Smith E., Medieval Islamic Medicine (Edinburgh, EUP, 2007).
Rosenthal, Franz, The Classical Heritage in Islam (Eng. trans. NY, Routledge, 1975).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
1b. Abstract: “Classical Ethics: Al-Kindi.” Al-Kindi was a contemporary of Ishaq ibn Hunayn, the main translator of Aristotle’s ethics. Although not specifically about ethics, al-Kindi’s surviving work which most reflects his ethical ideas is Daf’ al-ahzan, a text later quoted by al-Miskawayh and others. Al-Kindi gives practical advice on avoiding sorrow, for example by remembering that others suffer also. The early sections are the most philosophical, and al-Kindi teaches the value of rejecting material goods. Rather, one should value the incorruptible riches that come by the intellect.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
Endress, Gerhard, “The Circle of al-Kindi: Early Arabic Translations from the Greek and the Rise of Islamic Philosophy,” Gerhard Endress and Remke Kruk (eds), The Ancient Tradition in Christian and Islamic Hellenism (Leiden, CNWS, 1997).
Kindî, al-, (çev.) Mustafa Çağrıcı, Risale fi’l-hile li-def’i’l-ahzan (Ankara, Diyanet, 2012).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
2a. Abstract: “Physics.” In the Greek sense, physics is about objects which change in space, and the rules of physics are thus fundamental to the sub-lunar world. The question of how bodies are formed leads Avicenna to expound his Aristotelian physics of form and substance, and to argue against Atomism. His disagreement with Kalam Atomism provides context. Avicenna offers some ‘solutions’ to widely-discussed problems with Aristotle’s explanation of motion.
Bibliography:
Lammer, A., “Defining Nature: From Aristotle to Philoponus to Avicenna,” A. Alwishah and J. Hayes (eds), Aristotle and the Arabic Tradition (Cambridge, CUP, 2015), p. 121-142.
McGinnis, Jon, The Physics of The Healing: A Parallel English-Arabic Text (Utah, Brigham Young University, 2010).
McGinnis, Jon, “A Small Discovery: Avicenna’s Theory of Minima Naturalia,” Journal of the History of Philosophy, 53.1 (2015), p. 1-24.
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2b. Abstract: “Classical Ethics: Ibn ‘Adi” is based on work by Samir Khalil and Sidney Griffith. Echoing Islamic concepts, Ibn ‘Adi advises his reader, primarily the Muslim ruler who is his sponsor, to aim at moral perfection. Later the work gives the philosophical basis for actions, namely the classical tripartite division of man’s motivations according to the faculties of the soul. The text is both Greek-influenced and responsive to its context, especially in its tendency to praise asceticism.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
Ibn ‘Adi, The Reformation of Morals, Samir Khalil (ed.), Sidney Griffith (trans.) (Provo, Brigham Young, 2003).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
3a. Abstract: “Pharmacology.” Dioscorides’ De materia medica describes about 600 simple remedies, mainly plants. It was translated into Arabic by an elsewhere unknown Istifan ibn Basil. Ibn Sina’s Qanun, Book Two, takes a systematic approach, including a four-degree scale for measuring the effectiveness of each simple remedy. Ibn al-Baytar’s Compendium (Jami) goes into more detail than the Qanun, and has the advantage that it cites its sources. This lecture is illustrated with sections from the Qanun and from Dioscorides.
Bibliography:
Dioscorides, Pedanii Dioscuridis Anazarbei, De materia medica libri quinque, Max Wellmann (ed.) (Berlin, Weidmann, 1907). (Online.)
Dioscorides, De materia medica, Lily Y. Beck (trans.) (Hildesheim, Olms, 2005). (Online.)
Ibn al-Baytar, al-Jami’ li-mufradat al-adwiya wa-al-aghdhiya (Cairo, Bulaq, 1875). (Online.)
Ibn Sina (Avicenna), The Canon of Medicine (al-Qanun fi'l-?ibb), vol. 1. Laleh Bakhtiar (ed.), Oskar Gruner (trans.), Mazhar H. Shah (trans.) (Great Books of the Islamic World, 1999).
Ibn Sina, al-Qanun (Rome, Medicia of Raimondi, 1593). (Online.)
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
3b. Abstract: The “Classical Ethics” review of Arabic sources continues with al-Miskawayh, whose book The Reformation of Morals was widely read and influential. As we will see, al-Ghazali quotes it extensively. The principles of ethics are similar to those in Ibn ‘Adi’s book of the same title.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
Miskawayh, Tahdhib al-akhlaq wa-tathir al-‘araq (Cairo, Maktabat Muhammad Ali Subayh, 1959).
İbn Miskeveyh, Tehzibu'l-Ahlâk, Abdulkadir Şener, İsmet Kayaoğlu, Cihat Tunç (çev.) (Istanbul, Büyüyenay, 2013).
Wakelnig, Elvira, A Philosophy Reader from the Circle of Miskawayh (Cambridge, CUP, 2014).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
4a. Abstract: The topic of “Optics” in Islam centres on Ibn al-Haytham, but there is also his commentator, al-Farisi. Ibn al-Haytham’s Book of Optics brought empiricism and precision to an area in which Plato, Ptolemy and Epicurus had differed widely.
Bibliography:
Ibn al-Haytham, Kitab al-Manazir I-V, Sabra, A. I. (ed.) (Kuwait, National Council for Culture, 1983-2002).
Ibn al-Haytham, The Optics of Ibn al-Haytham I-II-III, Sabra, A. I. (trans.) (London, Warburg, 1989).
Rashed, Roshdi, “Ibn al-Haytham's Geometrical Methods and the Philosophy of Mathematics,” A History of Arabic Sciences and Mathematics vol. 5, (New York, Routledge, 2017).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
4b. Abstract: Ibn Zur’a’s book on ethics is lost. Nonetheless, we find a presentation of human motivation and action in a couple of his short apologetical works. We find a strong similarity to Ibn ‘Adi. Given the pervasive influence among Aristotelians of the tripartite division of the soul, which is not in Aristotle, we can perhaps conclude that Galen’s ethics came first, and put down deeper roots, in the Arabic-speaking world.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
Haddad, Cyrille, “Isa ibn Zura, philosophe arabe et apologiste chrétien” (Beirut, Dar al-Kalima, 1971).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
5a. Abstract: The focus of the lecture on “Mineralogy” will be al-Biruni, as his little-known Kitab al-Jamahir is one of his most remarkable books. Some reference also will be made to Ibn Sina, and to Prof. Celal Şengör’s favourite passage in the Shifa. A general survey of relevant texts will be included.
Bibliography:
Biruni, al-, Kitab al-Jamahir fi Marifat al-Jawahir (Alam al-Kutub, 1984).
Biruni, al-, Kitab al-Jamahir fi Marifat al-Jawahir, trans. Hakim Muhammad Said, The Book Most Comprehensive in Knowledge on Precious Stones (Pakistan Hist. Soc.,1965).
Biruni, al-, Kıymetli Taşlar ve Metaller Kitabı, Emine Özcan (trans.) (Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 2017).
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5b. Abstract: “Classical Ethics: Abu Bakr ar-Razi.” This course aims to draw the connections between Aristotle and his Arabic-Islamic successors. One of the more unusual thinkers is Abu Bakr ar-Razi, whose thought has variously been compared to that of Manicheans, gnostics, or other groups. His ethical works are well known, especially at-Tibb ar-ruhani and as-Sira al-falsafiyya.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
ar-Razi, Abu Bakr, Al-?ibb al-ru?ani li-Abu Bakr al-Razi, Abd al-Latif Muhammad al-Abd (ed.) (Cairo, Maktabat al-Nah?a al-Mi?riyya, 1978). Also: P. Kraus, Resâ?il felsefiyye, Cairo, 1939.
ar-Razi, Abu Bakr, Ruh Sağlığı, Hüseyin Karaman (trans.) (Istanbul, İz Yayıncılık, 2004).
ar-Razi, Abu Bakr, The Spiritual Physick of Rhazes, Arberry, A.J. (trans.) (London, Murray, 1950).
ar-Razi, Abu Bakr, "The Book of the Philosophic Life,” Charles E. Butterworth (trans.), Interpretation 20 (1993).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
6a. Abstract: “Cartography” focuses on the works of al-Maqdisi and ash-Sharif al-Idrisi. The first worked at the height of the so-called Balkh School of geographers, where a particularly Islamic approach to geography was developed, the latter derives ideas from them and from his own context in 12th century Sicily. The lecture will try to assess the claims of André Miquel about al-Maqdisi. Attention will also be drawn to some details of the Idrisi map.
Bibliography:
Beeston, A.F.L., “Idrisi's Account of the British Isles", Bulletin of the SOAS 13 (1950), p. 265–280.
al-Idrisi, Opus geographicum, sive "Liber ad eorum delectationem qui terras peragrare studeant” (in Arabic), Bombaci, A. et al. (ed;) (Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1970-1984).
al-Muqaddasi, Ahsan al-taqasim fi ma’rifat al-aqalim = Descriptio Imperii Moslemici, Michaël Jan de Goeje (ed.) (Leiden, Brill, 1906).
al-Muqaddasi, Ahsan at-taqasim fi ma’rifat al-aqalim: La Meilleure Répartition pour la Connaissance des Provinces, Traduction française partielle, annotée par André Miquel (Damas, Institut Français de Damas, 1963).
al-Muqaddasi, The Best Divisions for the Knowledge of the Regions, Basil Anthony Collins (Reading, Garnet, 1994).
al-Muqaddasi, İslam Coğrafyası, Ahsen Batur (trans.) (Istanbul, Selenge, 2015).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
6b. Abstract: “Ibn Sina” did not include a section on ethics in the Shifa. Rather, we examine a treatise he wrote on Happiness and the Ten Proofs for the Human Soul’s Being a Substance.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
Ibn Sina, (çev.) Fatih Toktaş, Mutluluk ve İnsan Nefsinin Cevher Olduğuna İlişkin On Delil (Ankara, Diyanet, 2011).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
7a. Abstract: In the Middle Ages, the theories of “Chemistry” were closely aligned to alchemy. Although Ibn Sina rejects alchemy, some of his ideas found in the Shifa have their origins in alchemical thought. Some attempt will be made to assess the importance of alchemy in the rise of science in Islam.
Bibliography:
Anawati, Georges, "Arabic alchemy", in Roshdi Rashed, ed., Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, Vol. 3 (Routledge, London and New York, 1996), p. 853–885.
Apollonius, Pseudo-, see: Ursula Weisser (ed.).
Ateş, Ahmed (ed.), İbn Sînâ, “Risâlat al-iksîr veya Risala fi amr mastûr,” Türkiyat Mecmuasi (Istanbul) 10. 1951-53, (1953).
Gutas, Dimitri, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition (Leiden, Brill, 2014).
Ibn Abi U?aybi?a, ?Uyun al-anba’ fi ?abaqat al-a?ibba’, Nizar Ri?a’ (ed.) (Beirut, Maktabat al-?ayat, 1965).
Ibn Sina, Kitab aš-Šifa’, Ibrahim Madkur et al. (ed.), (Cairo, Dar al-Kitab al-?Arabi li-?-?iba?a wa-n-Našr, 1389/1969).
Käs. Fabian, Al-Maqrizis Traktat über die Mineralien: Kitab al-Maqa?id... (Leiden, Brill, 2015).
Kraus, Paul, Jabir ibn ?ayyan: contribution à l’histoire des idées scientifiques dans l’Islam: Jabir et la science grecque (Cairo, Institut Français, 1942; repr. Frankfurt, IHAIS, 2002; Paris, Belles Lettres, 1986).
Paul Kraus, ed., al-Biruni, Risala fi Fihrist kutub Mu?ammad ibn Zakariya’ ar-Razi (Paris, al-Qalam, 1936).
Kraus, Paul, “Studien zu Jabir ibn ?ayyan,” Isis, 1931, vol. 15.1.
Holmyard, Eric John, and Desmond Mandeville (eds), Avicennae De congelatione et conglutione lapidum, being sections of the Kitab aš-Šifa’ (Paris, Guethner, 1927).
Martin Plessner, Vorsokratische Philosophie und griechische Alchemie... Turba philosophorum (Wiesbaden, Steiner, 1975).
ar-Razi, Mu?ammad ibn Zakariya’, Kitab al-Asrar, see: Ruska (ed.).
Ruska, Julius, Al-Razi's Buch Geheimnis der Geheimnisse, in Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Medizin, vol. 6 (Berlin, Springer, 1937).
Ruska, Julius, “Die Alchemie des Avicenna,” Isis, no. 60, 1934.
Stapleton, Harry, et al. “Two Alchemical Treatises Attributed to Avicenna,” Ambix, vol. 10.2, 1962.
Shawkat Toorawa, “A Portrait of ?Abd al-La?if al-Baghdadi's Eduction and Instruction,” in Joseph Lowry et al. (eds), Law and Education in Medieval Islam (Cambridge, Gibb Memorial Trust, 2004).
Muhammad Tanji (ed.), “Beyrûnî'nin İbn-i Sînâ'ya yönelttiği bazı sorular, İbn-i Sînâ'nın cevapları ve bu cevaplara Beyrûnî'nin itirazları,” in Beyrûnî'ye armağan (Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1974, repr. 2011).
at-Taw?idi, al-Imta’ wa-l-mu’anasa, A?mad Amin and A?mad az-Zayn (eds) (Cairo, 1953).
Ullmann, Manfred, Die Natur- and Geheimwissenschaften im Islam (Leiden, Brill, 1972).
Weisser, Ursula (Arabic ed.), Buch über Geheimnis der Schöpfung und die Darstellung der Natur von Pseudo-Apollonios von Tyana (Aleppo, Institute for the History of Arabic Science, 1979).
Weisser, Ursula (summary and study), “Buch über Geheimnis der Schöpfung” von Pseudo-Apollonios von Tyana (De Gruyter, Berlin, 1980).
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7b. Abstract: “Al-Ghazali” was the founder of a kind of Sunnism which survives, although hard pressed, until today. In this lecture we will see that many of his ideas, notably in the area of ethics, derive from Greek thought.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
al-Ghazali, Maqâsid al-falâsifa, M.S. al-Kurdî (ed.) (Cairo, al-Matba’a al-Mahmûdiyya, 1936).
al-Ghazali, Ihyâ’ ‘ulûm al-dîn, 16 parts (Cairo, ath-Thaqâfa al-Islâmiyya, 1937-38). (Reprint Beirut, Dâr al-Kitâb al-‘Arabî, [c.1990]).
al-Ghazali, Mîzân al-‘amal, M.S. al-Kurdî (ed.) (Cairo, al-Matbaa al-Arabiyya, 1923).
al-Ghazali, Deliverance from Error, R. McCarthy (trans.) (Louisville, Fons Vitae, 1923).
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8a. Abstract: “Logic” occupied the leading role in philosophical studies in the Islamic world. In spite of the vicissitudes to which works on other areas of philosophy were subject, logic was and is taught in the madrasas. Its place as defended by, among others, al-Ghazali. This lecture considers the context in which Aristotelian logic came to play such a role. We will also look at aspects of the logic of Ibn Sina.
Bibliography:
al-Ghazali, The Incoherence of the Philosophers / Tahâfut al-falâsifa, a Parallel English-Arabic Text, M. E. Marmura (ed. and trans.), 2nd. ed. (Provo, Brigham Young, 2000).
Ibn Sina, Mantığa giriş Ömer Türker (ed. and trans.) (İbn Sina Felsefe Serisi) (Istanbul, Litera, 2006).
Ibn Sina, Kategoriler Ömer Türker (ed. and trans.) (İbn Sina Felsefe Serisi) (Istanbul, Litera, 2006).
Ibn Sina, Topikler Ömer Türker (ed. and trans.) (İbn Sina Felsefe Serisi) (Istanbul, Litera, 2006).
Ibn Sina, II. Analitikler Ömer Türker (ed. and trans.) (İbn Sina Felsefe Serisi) (Istanbul, Litera, 2006).
Ibn Sina, Sofistik deliller, Ömer Türker (ed. and trans.) (İbn Sina Felsefe Serisi) (Istanbul, Litera, 2006).
Ibn Sina, Yorum üzerine Ömer Türker (ed. and trans.) (İbn Sina Felsefe Serisi) (Istanbul, Litera, 2006).
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8b. Abstract: Beginning with a passage from al-Majusi, “Medical Ethics” is a brief look at the subject of medical ethics, both in their medieval and modern contexts.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
Larijani, B., Malekalafzali, H., Zahedi, F., Motevaseli, E., “Strengthening Medical Ethics by Strategic Plan in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Developing World Bioethics 6 (2006), p.106-110.
Levy M., Medical ethics of Medieval Islam with special Reference to Al Ruhawis Practical Ethics of the physician BMJ, vol. 57, part 3 (1967).
Pormann, P. and Savage-Smith E., Medieval Islamic Medicine (Edinburgh, EUP, 2007).
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9a. Abstract: In the area of “Travel Writing” the most famous writer is Ibn Battuta. However, Ibn Jubayr, Nasir Khusraw, Evliya Çelebi, and others, often provide facts and insights which would otherwise be lost. Evliya Çelebi is perhaps our most important source for life in Ottoman times.
Bibliography:
Evliya Çelebi, Seyahatname, 10 vols, Robert Dankoff, Seyit Ali Kahraman, Yücel Dağlı (eds) (Istanbul, Yapı Kredi, 1999-2007). Vol. 1 publ. in 1996, but then revised and republished in 2006.
Ibn Battuta, Rihla, 4 vols, C. Defrémery and B. Sanguinetti (eds) (Paris, Société Asiatic, 1853-1858).
Ibn Battuta, Travels, Hamilton Gibb (trans.), The Travels of Ibn Ba??u?a, A.D. 1325–1354 (5 vols) (London, Hakluyt Society, 1958-1994).
Ibn Jubayr, Rihla, William Wright (ed.), M. de Goeje (revised) (Leiden, Brill, 1907 revision of Wright, 1852).
Hunsberger, Alice, Nasir Khusraw, the Ruby of Badakhshan: A Portrait of the Persian Poet, Traveller and Philosopher (London, I. B. Tauris, 2003).
Mattock, J.N., “Ibn Ba??u?a's use of Ibn Jubayr's Ri?la,” Peters, R. (ed.), Proceedings of the Ninth Congress of the Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants, 1978 (Leiden, Brill, 1981), p. 209-218.
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9b. Abstract: “Ibn Hazm” (AD 994-1064) is both one of the most prolific and one of the significant writers of the medieval Islamic world. His work on ethics, which shows his reading of old authorities, also seeks to adapt these to a particular vision of Islam. This lecture, which will also refer to other works like al-Muhalla and Tawq al-hamama aims to cast light on the distinctive traditions of al-Andalus.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
Ibn Hazm, al-Akhlaq wa-s-siyar, Dar Ul Thaqafah (trans. as “Morals and Behaviours”).
Ibn Hazm, al-Akhlaq wa-s-siyar, Eva Riad (ed.) (Uppsala, Dar Ibn Hazm, 1980).
Ibn Hazm, The Ring of the Dove, A. J. Arberry (trans.) (London, Luzac, 1953). (Online)
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10a. Abstract: “Geoponica” is the name given to works on agronomy and animal husbandry for farmers. They were written in classical Roman times, but completed in the East Roman (Byzantine) period. Authors included Julius Africanus (3rd c.), Anatolius Vindonius (4th c.), and Ibn al-Awwam (13th c.). In this lecture we will look at sections on viticulture, bee-keeping, and horses. To provide another perspective, we will look at some of rural archaeology evident in Turkey.
Bibliography:
Scardino, Carlo, “Editing the Geoponica: The Arabic Evidence and its Importance,” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 58 (2018), p. 102-125.
Ibn al-Awwam, Terceme-i Kitabü’l-Filaha (Zootekni Kısmı), Muhammed ibn Mustafa ibn Lutfullah (trans.), Mükerrem Bedizel Zülfikar Aydın (ed.) (Istanbul, Kitabevi Yayınları, 2019).
Rodgers, Robert, “Kypopoika: Garden Making and Garden Culture in the Geoponika,” Byzantine Garden Culture, Antony Littlewood et al. (eds) (Washington DC, Dumbarton Oaks, 2002), p. 159-175.
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10b. Abstract: “Hadith ethics between reason and tradition” takes its title from a book by George Hourani. Ethics and law have always been in the forefront of Islamic thought. While the Mu’tazila developed a reasoned ethical approach, this was opposed as investing too much in human thought. The focus of this lecture is on al-Ghazali, for whom reason was above all an aid in understanding scripture.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
Hourani, George, Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics (Cambridge, CUP, 1985).
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Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
11a. Abstract: The study of “Astronomy and Astrology” was often combined, although the functions of each differed. Knowledge of astronomy offered the best ways to tell the time, and date, to navigate, to pray correctly, and to travel over deserts. Astrology entered into many aspects of national life, was primarily required by rulers. This lecture focuses on al-Biruni.
Bibliography:
Gutas, Dimitri, Yunanca Düşünce Arapça Kültür, 5. edition, (trans.) Lütfü Şimşek (Istanbul, Kitap Yayınevi, 2011). English orig.: Greek Thought, Arabic Culture: The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early ?Abbasid Society (2nd-4th/5th-10th c.) (New York/Abingdon, Routledge, 1998).
Kaçar, Mustafa and Atilla Bir, “Usturlap”, TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, vol. 42, Istanbul, 2012, p. 195-198.
Kâtip Çelebi, Keşf’üz-zunûn, Yaltkaya, Bilge (eds) (Istanbul, Maarif Vekaleti, 1941-1947).
Kennedy, Edward S., Colleagues and Former Students, “Al-Battânî’s Astrological History of the
Prophet and the Early Caliphate,” Suhayl, vol. 9 (2009-2010), p. 13-148.
Kırkoğlu, R. Hakan, Göklerin Bilgeliği, Doğan Kitap, 2005.
Özcan, Emine Sonnur, “Ebû’r-Reyhân Muhammed bin Ahmed el-Bîrûnî’nin Hayatı (973-1061),” Milel ve Nihal İnanç, kültür ve mitoloji araştırmaları dergisi, vol. 10, issue 3 Eylül – Aralık 2013.
Pingree, David, “Al-Biruni’s knowledge of Sanskrit astronomical texts,” in P. Chelkowski (ed.), The Scholar and the Saint, New York, NYUP, 1975.
Pingree, David, “Hellenophilia versus the History of Science,” Isis, vol. 83, no. 4, 1992, p. 554-563.
Pingree, David, “Historical Horoscopes,” Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1962, 82: 487-502.
Pingree, David, Biruni, Abu Rayhan, ii. Bibliography, in Encyclopedia Iranica, 2010, vol. IV, issue 3, p. 276-277.
Ptolemy, Claudius, Tetrabiblos, Four Books of the Influence of the Stars, trans. from the Greek Paraphrase of Proclus by J. M. Ashmand, London, Davis and Dickson, 1882.
Rosenfeld, Boris, and İhsanoğlu, Ekmeleddin, Mathematicians, Astronomers and Other Scholars of Islamic Civilisation and Their Works (7th-19th c.), Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), Istanbul, 2013.
Edward Sachau, Al-Biruni’s India, An Account of the Religion, Philosophy, Literature, Geography, Chronology, Astronomy, Customs, Laws and Astrology of India about A.D. 1030. An English edition with notes and indices, 1-2, Leipzig, 1888; re-ed. by Fuat Sezgin, Frankfurt, 1993.
Sachau, Edward, The Chronology of Ancient Nations, an English version of the Arabic text of al- A?ar al-baqiya, W. H. Allen, London, 1879.
Saliba, George, “Al-Biruni and the Science of His Time,” in M. J. L. Young, J. D. Latham and R. B. Serjeant, Religion, Learning and Science in the ‘Abbasid Period, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/New York, etc., 1990.
Saliba, George, İslam Bilimi ve Avrupa Rönesansı’nın Oluşumu, trans. of: Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007, Turkish trans. Günseli Aksoy, 1. ed., Istanbul, 2012.
Sarton, George, Introduction to the History of Science, vol. 1-3. Baltimore, 1927-1948.
Sayılı, Aydın, Mısırlılarda ve Mezopotamyalılar’da Matematik, Astronomi ve Tıp, Türk Tarih
Kurumu Basımevi, Ankara, 1991.
Sayılı, Aydın, The Observatory in Islam, Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1988.
Wiedemann, Eilhard, Aufsätze zur Arabischen Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Olms Verlag, Hildesheim, 1970, including reprints in vol. 1 of: XVII Beiträge zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, 1909, p. 519-543; XVIII Beiträge zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, p. 544-596; vol. 2: XLVIII Beiträge zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, 1916-1917, p. 216-229.
Wright, Ramsay, The Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology by Abu’l- Rayhân Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Bîrûnî, written in Gaznah, 1029 A.D., Luzac and Co., London, 1934.
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
11b. Abstract: “Al-Maqdisi” is famous for one book, The Best Divisions for the Knowledge of the Regions. This provides the clearest example of the approach of the Balkh-School. It is not just geography, but a certain world-view which developed as political unity collapsed and was replaced by cultural norms.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
al-Muqaddasi, Ahsan al-taqasim fi ma’rifat al-aqalim = Descriptio Imperii Moslemici, Michaël Jan de Goeje (ed.) (Leiden, Brill, 1906).
al-Muqaddasi, Ahsan at-taqasim fi ma’rifat al-aqalim: La Meilleure Répartition pour la Connaissance des Provinces, Traduction française partielle, annotée par André Miquel (Damas, Institut Français de Damas, 1963).
al-Muqaddasi, The Best Divisions for the Knowledge of the Regions, Basil Anthony Collins (Reading, Garnet, 1994).
al-Muqaddasi, İslam Coğrafyası, Ahsen Batur (trans.) (Istanbul, Selenge, 2015).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
12a. Abstract: “Nemesius”, as well as being a bishop, wrote an influential survey of the kind of Greek science widely taught in his day, focusing on the body and physiology. His account of Ventricle Localisation of Mental Functioning is a reconciliation of Platonic doctrines on the soul with the Judaeo-Christian tradition.
Bibliography:
Bergstraesser, Gotthelf, Hunain ibn Ishaq und seine Schule. Sprach- und literargeschichtliche Untersuchungen zu den arabischen Hippokrates- und Galen-Ubersetzungen (Leiden, Brill, 1913).
Biesterfeldt, Hans Hinrich (ed.), Galens Traktat ,Dass die Kräfte der Seele den Mischungen des Körpers folgen’ in arabischer Übersetzung (Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner, 1973).
Burnett, Charles, ‘Physics before the Physics: Early Translations from Arabic of Texts Concerning Nature in MSS British Library, Add. 22719 and Cotton Galba E IV,’ Medioevo 27 (2002) 53-109.
Kallis, Athanasios, Der Mensch im Kosmos: Das Weltbild Nemesios’ von Emesa (Münster, Aschendorff, 1978).
Matthaei, Christian Frederic (ed.), Nemesius Emesenus De natura hominis, graece et latine (Halle, Gebauer, 1802).
Morani, Moreno (ed.), Nemesii Emeseni De natura hominis (Leipzig, Teubner, 1987).
Nemesius of Emesa, On the Nature of Man, trans. Van der Eijk, P. and Robert Sharples based on Moreno Morani (ed.) (Liverpool, LUP, 2008).
Perler, Dominik, The Faculties: A History (Oxford, OUP, 2015).
Samir Khalil Samir, ‘Les versions arabes de Némésius de Homs,’ L’eredità classica nelle lingue
orientali (Rome, Enciclopedia Italiana, 1986), p. 99-151.
Thillet, Pierre, ‘La formation du vocabulaire philosophique arabe’, in Danielle JACQUART (ed.),
La formation du vocabulaire scientifique et intellectuel dans le monde arabe (Turnhout,
Brepols, 1994).
Ullmann, Manfred, Wörterbuch zu den griechisch-arabischen Übersetzungen des 9. Jahrhun-
derts: Supplement, Band II: ?-? (Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 2007).
Van der Eijk, P., Medicine and Philosophy in Classical Antiquity: Doctors and Philosophers on Nature, Soul, Health and Disease (Cambridge, CUP, 2005).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
12b. Abstract: “Al-Biruni” is an attempt to gather passages from al-Biruni which show his character. He took a middle course, avoiding the fierce theological debates of his day between Shiites and Sunnis. He knows that science is a matter of trial and error, and that there is no shame in correcting opinions if knowledge of the facts develops.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
Pingree, David, “Al-Biruni’s knowledge of Sanskrit astronomical texts,” in P. Chelkowski (ed.), The Scholar and the Saint, New York, NYUP, 1975.
Pingree, David, “Hellenophilia versus the History of Science,” Isis, vol. 83, no. 4, 1992, p. 554-563.
Pingree, David, Biruni, Abu Rayhan, ii. Bibliography, in Encyclopedia Iranica, 2010, vol. IV, issue 3, p. 276-277.
Edward Sachau, Al-Biruni’s India, An Account of the Religion, Philosophy, Literature, Geography, Chronology, Astronomy, Customs, Laws and Astrology of India about A.D. 1030. An English edition with notes and indices, 1-2, Leipzig, 1888; re-ed. by Fuat Sezgin, Frankfurt, 1993.
Sachau, Edward, The Chronology of Ancient Nations, an English version of the Arabic text of al- A?ar al-baqiya, W. H. Allen, London, 1879.
Saliba, George, “Al-Biruni and the Science of His Time,” in M. J. L. Young, J. D. Latham and R. B. Serjeant, Religion, Learning and Science in the ‘Abbasid Period, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/New York, etc., 1990.
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
13a. Abstract: “Influence on the Latin West” is a lecture on the Arabic-Latin translations and their context. It begins with the Salerno School of Medicine, and passes to Toledo and Sicily. Here the claim will be made that the vital importance of the Arab scientists is that they provided the living examples and teachers without whom knowledge would be a dead letter.
Bibliography:
Burnett, Charles, “The Coherence of the Arabic-Latin Translation Program in Toledo in the Twelfth Century,” Science in Context 14 (2001), p. 249–288.
Campbell, Donald, Arabian Medicine and Its Influence on the Middle Ages (New York, Routledge, 2001). (Reprint of London, 1926).
d'Alverny, Marie-Thérèse, “Translations and Translators,” Robert L. Benson and Giles Constable (eds), Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century (Cambridge MA, HUP, 1982), p. 421–462.
Haskins, Charles, “The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century” (Cambridge MA, HUP, 1927).
Haskins, Charles, Studies in the History of Mediaeval Science (New York, Frederick Ungar, 1967)
Laughlin, Burgess, The Aristotle Adventure; A Guide to the Greek, Arabic, and Latin Scholars Who Transmitted Aristotle's Logic to the Renaissance (Flagstaff, Albert Hale, 1995).
Lindberg, David C. (ed.), Science in the Middle Ages (Chicago, UCP, 1978).
Morelon, Régis, and Roshdi Rashed, Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science (New York, Routledge, 1996).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
13b. Abstract: “Al-Jahiz” is a lecture based on the works of Charles Pellat. It presents al-Jahiz, not primarily as a man of science, but as a literary genius and polymath whose interests included the sciences.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
Pellat, Charles, Life and Works of Jahiz, D.M. Hawkes (trans.) (Islamic World Series, 1969).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
14a. Abstract: “Engineering” is based largely on the book of Donald Hill, and looks particularly at buildings associated with the history of technology.
Bibliography:
Hill, Donald, Islamic Science and Engineering (Edinburgh, EUP, 1994).
Sayılı, Aydın, The Observatory in Islam, Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1988.
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
14b. Abstract: “Predestination and Freewill” are central topics in monotheist cultures. We will approach the topic from the point of view of Nemesius, and of later Muslim writers like ‘Abd al-Jabbar and al-Ghazali.
Bibliography:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics/Ethika Nikomacheia (many editions and commentaries, esp. (ed.) Bywater, I., trans. Ross, D. (revised by J. L. Ackrill and J. O. Urmson, OUP, 1925).
Hourani, George, Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics (Cambridge, CUP, 1985).
Morani, Moreno (ed.), Nemesii Emeseni De natura hominis (Leipzig, Teubner, 1987).
Nemesius of Emesa, On the Nature of Man, trans. Van der Eijk, P. and Robert Sharples based on Moreno Morani (ed.) (Liverpool, LUP, 2008). |
| 2 |
1. Abstract: “Technology and Manufacture in Ancient Babylon and Egypt” introduces the History of Science and Technology course. With reference to ancient recipes, it describes the chemical processes involved in the ancient manufacture of dyes, paints and ink, leather, glass, cement and bitumen, metals, soap, etc. This lecture includes a slide show with pictures of many archeological discoveries.
Bibliography:
Akman, M.S., Yapı Malzemeleri (Istanbul, İTÜ İnşaat Fakültesi Matbaası, 1990).
Anon., Leyden Papyrus X, c. 300 AD (trans. online http://www.elizabethancostume.net/dyes/).
Anon., Risâle-i Kalem ve Kağıd, İÜK el yazması, T. 9668.
Albarella, U., “Tawyers, Tanners, Horn Trade and the Mystery of the Missing Goat,” P. Murphy and P. Wiltshire (eds), The Environmental Archaeology of Industry, p. 71–86 (Oxford, Oxbow Books, 2003).
Ashurst, J., Mortars, Plasters and Renders in Conservation (Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association, London, 1984), and Ashurst, J. and Ashurst, N., 1990, “Mortars, Plaster and Renders, Practical Building Conservation”, English Heritage Technical Handbook, vol. 3, Gower Technical Press.
Borelli, E., “Binders, Conservation of Architectural Heritage, Historic Structures and Materials: porosity”, ARC Laboratory Handbook, vol. 4 (ICCROM S.p.A., Rome, 1999).
Craddock, P.T., Early Metal Mining and Production, Edinburgh, EUP, 1995).
Ersen, Ahmet et al., (Haz.), “Geleneksel Harçlar ve Koruma Harçları, Bağlayıcı Olarak Kullanılacak Kireç ve Hidrolik Kireçli, Puzzolanlı, Tuğla Tozlu ve Tuğla Kırıklı Harçlardaki Malzeme Oranlarının Belirlenmesi Çalışması Raporu,” KUDEB Restorasyon Konservasyon Çalışmaları Dergisi 16, p. 36-50 (KUDEB, 2013) (Online)
Gordon, R.B., American Iron 1607-1900 (Baltimore, JHUP, 1996).
Harte N.B. and K.G. Ponting, Hofenk-De Graaff, J., “The Chemistry of Red Dyestuffs in Medieval and Early Modern Europe,” Cloth and Clothing in Medieval Europe (London, 1983), p. 71-9.
Hassan, al-, Ahmed Y., History of Science and Technology in Islam website (history of soap).
Karadağ, Recep, Doğal Boyamacılık (Ankara, Kültür Bakanlığı Döner Sermaye, 2007). (Online)
Konkol, K. and Seth Rasmussen, “An Ancient Cleanser: Soap Production and Use in Antiquity,” Chemical Technology in Antiquity, (ed.) S. Rasmussen, Ch. 9 (Washington DC, American Chem. Soc., 2015). (Online)
Leed, Drea, Elizabethan Costume webpage, Dye Woorkes, http://www.elizabethancostume.net/dyes/
Metcalf, A.C. and R.B. Longmore, “Leather Artifacts from Vindolandia,” Transactions of the Museum Assistants' Group for 1973, no. 12.
Philip, W. (trans.), “Booke of Secrets,” 1596, in Manuscript Inks with notes by Jack Thompson (London, Caber Press, 1596).
Ponting, K.G., A Dictionary of Dyes and Dyeing (London, Mills and Boon, 1980).
Qalalusi, al-, Tuhaf al-khawass fi turaf al-khawass (Alexandria, Library of Alexandria, 2007). (Online)
Ramage, A. and Craddock, P.T. King Croesus’ Gold: excavations at Sardis [Salihli] and the history of gold refining (London, British Museum, 2000).
Rehren, Th., Kontext und Analyse der Aschkupellen von Oberstockstall, Sigrid von Osten, Das Alchemistenlaboratorium Oberstockstall: Ein Fundkomplex des 16. Jahrhunderts aus Niederösterreich, p. 333-348. Innsbruck, Wagner, 1998).
Russell, J., “English medieval leatherwork,” Archeology Journal 96 (1939), p. 132-41.
Sherwood Taylor, F., A History of Industrial Chemistry: Technology and Society (Abelard-Schuman, 1957).
Schonen, Armin, Tinten und Tuschen des arabisch-islamischen Mittelalters: Dokumentation, Analyse, Rekonstruktion (Göttingen, Vandenhoeck, 2006).
Uğur, Tülay, and Ahmet Güleç, “Harç, Sıva ve Diğer Kompozit Malzemelerde Kullanılan Bağlayıcılar ve Özellikleri,” Restorasyon ve Konservasyon Çalışmaları Dergisi 17, p. 77-91 (2016).
Vitruvius, Mimarlık Üzerine On Kitap, Çev. S. Güven (Istanbul, Şevki Vanlı Vakfı, 4. baskı, 2005).
Walsall Leather Museum bibliography http://www.archleathgrp.org.uk/biblio/algbibliog.htm
Walton, Penelope and George Taylor, “The Characterisation of Dyes in Textiles from Archaeological Excavations,” Chromatography and Analysis June 1991, p. 5-7.
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
2. Abstract: “Paper Manufacture in China and Central Asia.” This lecture owes a lot to the work of Esra Demiröz and to the book of Jonathan Bloom, Paper before Print (Yale, 2001). It will present a detailed description of paper samples, and describe the latest methods used in analysis. The background story of the invention of paper and its spread around the world will be given, with references to archaeological finds in Central Asia.
Bibliography:
Bloom, Jonathan, Paper Before Print The History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World (Yale, YUP, 2001).
Demiröz, Esra, “İslam Coğrafyasında Kağıt Üretimi: Bir Tipoloji Çalışması,” Master tezi (Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf Üniv. Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü, Bilim Tarihi, 2020).
Demiröz, Esra, “Paper of the Islamic World: A Typological Study of Specimens from the Süleymaniye Library,” Master thesis (Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf Üniv. Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü, Bilim Tarihi, 2020).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
3. Abstract: “Navigating by Nature” (in Plato’s phrase) has this title because I will argue that the separate study of natural phenomena, and the respect for nature, was the main contribution of Greek science. There will be an overview of Pre-Socratic philosophy, and a discussion of the inward turn which came with Socrates and Plato. Students will be reminded of the main scientific works in Greek, by Galen, Euclid, Archimedes and Ptolemy.
Bibliography:
Euclid, trans. Oliver Byrne, The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid (1847, but reprinted Taschen, 2010).
Evans, J., The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy (Oxford, OUP, 1998).
Galen, Claudius, works on Project Gutenberg and Internet Archive.
Heath, Thomas L., A Manual of Greek Mathematics, 2 vols (Oxford, OUP, 1921, but reprinted including by Homeros in Turkey).
Mattern, Susan, The Prince of Medicine: Galen In the Roman Empire (New York, Oxford UP, 2013).
Plato, The Republic (many editions and translations).
Nutton, Vivian, Ancient Medicine (London and NY, Routledge, 2004).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
4. Abstract: An important part of “Aristotle’s Theory of the Natural Sciences” is found above all in his book On the Soul (De anima). The soul involved life, movement and sensation, as well as the mind. It is this, then, which distinguishes living beings from inanimate objects. The aim of change is found in the soul from the beginning. The question is where it comes from, and whether it can be further divided. This lecture will show how On the Soul shaped Aristotle’s biological works, and how it presented issues which continued up to the modern age.
Bibliography:
Aristotle (Aristo), trans. Zeki Özcan, Ruh üzerine (Istanbul, Birleşik, 2011).
Aristotle, De anima, trans. and comm. C. Reeve (Indianapolis, Hackett, 2017).
Collingwood, R., The Idea of Nature (Oxford, OUP, 1945, revised 1946, and many editions).
Themistius, R. Todd (trans.), On Aristotle On the Soul (Bristol, Classical Press, 1996).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
5. Abstract: “Aristotelian Logic from Alexandria to Baghdad” takes us into the Muslim World, a focus of the course as a whole. Thanks to the book of Dimitri Gutas Greek Thought, Arabic Culture, we find that the route taken by the sciences from Alexandria to Baghdad goes through Iran. The recovery of logic, however, was an achievement of the Arabic-speaking philosophers of the late Baghdad School.
Bibliography:
Gutas, Dimitri, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture (London and NY, Routledge, 1998).
Peters, F.E., Aristotle and the Arabs: The Aristotelian Tradition in Islam (New York, UP, 1968).
Rosenthal, Franz, The Classical Heritage in Islam (Eng. trans. NY, Routledge, 1975).
Van Bladel, K., The Arabic Hermes (Oxford, OUP, 2009).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
6. Abstract: “Aristotle Transformed” is only partly true. Ibn Sina presented himself as an Eastern philosopher, but this may be deceptive. The example of the Poetics shows both how closely Ibn Sina followed his Greek forebear, but also how Arabic-Islamic culture brought inevitable changes in thought. This lecture will discuss issues in Ibn Sina’s physics and astronomy.
Bibliography:
Dahiyat, Ismail, Avicenna’s Commentary on the "Poetics" of Aristotle (Leiden, Brill, 1974).
Gutas, Dimitri, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition (Leiden, Brill, 1988).
McGinnis, Jon, The Physics of The Healing: A Parallel English-Arabic Text (Utah, Brigham Young University, 2010).
Tancî, M., “Beyrûnî’nin İbn-i Sinâ’ya Yönelttiği Bazı Sorular, İbn Sinâ’nın Cevapları ve Bu Cevaplara Beyrûnî’nin İtirazları,” Beyrunî’ye Armağan (Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1974, 2011).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
7. Abstract: The question “Was Ibn Sina an Alchemist?” leads to Ibn Sina’s theories regarding both geology and chemistry. Although Ibn Sina’s Kitab ash-Shifa’ (Book of the Healing) contains a clear refutation of alchemical transmutation, it presents some ideas which were beloved of alchemists. There is also one treatise, strongly influenced by Abu Bakr ar-Razi's alchemy, which is ascribed to Ibn Sina from an early date. Perhaps, at least during one period of the great philosopher's life, he believed in and studied alchemy? A good question, to which I give the good answer that we do not know, at least not with certainty. A reading of the treatise, called Fi al-Amr al-mastur, leads to the question of how much we believe ar-Razi could have been formative in the development of Ibn Sina's thought, and to the recognition that the treatise contrasts with known works of our author. On the other hand, open admiration for ar-Razi as theologian and alchemist was forbidden in polite society, so a hidden dimension of Ibn Sina's life is not impossible. In general I will argue that, illicit though it often was, alchemy was more widespread and influential than many people recognize.
Bibliography:
Agricola, Georg, De ortu et causis subterraneorum (Basel, Froben, 1546).
al-Biruni, see: Kraus, Fihrist; and Tanji, “Beyrûnî'nin İbn-i Sînâ'ya”.
Anawati, Georges, "Arabic alchemy", in Roshdi Rashed, ed., Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, Vol. 3 (Routledge, London and New York, 1996), p. 853–885.
Apollonius, Pseudo-, see: Ursula Weisser (ed.).
Ateş, Ahmed (ed.), İbn Sînâ, “Risâlat al-iksîr veya Risala fi amr mastûr,” Türkiyat Mecmuasi (Istanbul) 10. 1951-53, (1953).
Gutas, Dimitri, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition (Leiden, Brill, 2014).
Ibn Abi U?aybi?a, ?Uyun al-anba’ fi ?abaqat al-a?ibba’, Nizar Ri?a’ (ed.) (Beirut, Maktabat al-?ayat, 1965).
Ibn Sina, Kitab aš-Šifa’, Ibrahim Madkur et al. (ed.), (Cairo, Dar al-Kitab al-?Arabi li-?-?iba?a wa-n-Našr, 1389/1969).
Käs. Fabian, Al-Maqrizis Traktat über die Mineralien: Kitab al-Maqa?id... (Leiden, Brill, 2015).
Kraus, Paul, Jabir ibn ?ayyan: contribution à l’histoire des idées scientifiques dans l’Islam: Jabir et la science grecque (Cairo, Institut Français, 1942; repr. Frankfurt, IHAIS, 2002; Paris, Belles Lettres, 1986).
Paul Kraus, ed., al-Biruni, Risala fi Fihrist kutub Mu?ammad ibn Zakariya’ ar-Razi (Paris, al-Qalam, 1936).
Kraus, Paul, “Studien zu Jabir ibn ?ayyan,” Isis, 1931, vol. 15.1.
Holmyard, Eric John, and Desmond Mandeville (eds), Avicennae De congelatione et conglutione lapidum, being sections of the Kitab aš-Šifa’ (Paris, Guethner, 1927).
Martin Plessner, Vorsokratische Philosophie und griechische Alchemie... Turba philosophorum (Wiesbaden, Steiner, 1975).
ar-Razi, Mu?ammad ibn Zakariya’, Kitab al-Asrar, see: Ruska (ed.).
Ruska, Julius, Al-Razi's Buch Geheimnis der Geheimnisse, in Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Medizin, vol. 6 (Berlin, Springer, 1937).
Ruska, Julius, “Die Alchemie des Avicenna,” Isis, no. 60, 1934.
Stapleton, Harry, et al. “Two Alchemical Treatises Attributed to Avicenna,” Ambix, vol. 10.2, 1962.
Shawkat Toorawa, “A Portrait of ?Abd al-La?if al-Baghdadi's Eduction and Instruction,” in Joseph Lowry et al. (eds), Law and Education in Medieval Islam (Cambridge, Gibb Memorial Trust, 2004).
Muhammad Tanji (ed.), “Beyrûnî'nin İbn-i Sînâ'ya yönelttiği bazı sorular, İbn-i Sînâ'nın cevapları ve bu cevaplara Beyrûnî'nin itirazları,” in Beyrûnî'ye armağan (Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1974, repr. 2011).
at-Taw?idi, al-Imta’ wa-l-mu’anasa, A?mad Amin and A?mad az-Zayn (eds) (Cairo, 1953).
Ullmann, Manfred, Die Natur- and Geheimwissenschaften im Islam (Leiden, Brill, 1972).
Weisser, Ursula (Arabic ed.), Buch über Geheimnis der Schöpfung und die Darstellung der Natur von Pseudo-Apollonios von Tyana (Aleppo, Institute for the History of Arabic Science, 1979).
Weisser, Ursula (summary and study), “Buch über Geheimnis der Schöpfung” von Pseudo-Apollonios von Tyana (De Gruyter, Berlin, 1980).
Zosimos of Panopolis, Mus?af a?-?uwar, The Book of Pictures, Theodor Abt (ed.), Facsimile (Zurich, Living Human Heritage, 2007).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
8. Abstract: “The Inner Senses from Nemesius to the 1001 Nights” discusses in detail doctrines which are first found in Nemesius, a writer of the 4th century whose book was translated and popular in Arabic. The doctrine that the ventricles of the brain are the location for common sense, imagination, estimation, fantasy and memory is found in Ibn Sina, but Shahrzad Irannejad has shown that Ibn Sina is influenced by earlier Arabic authors here. The doctrine is even found in the 1001 Nights.
Bibliography:
Anon., Alf layla va layla (1001 Nights), we are interested in night no. 42 (many publications, but in Google Books see Macnaghten, vol. 2, p. 513, l. 7-8).
Kallis, Athanasios, Der Mensch im Kosmos: Das Weltbild Nemesios’ von Emesa (Münster, Aschendorff, 1978).
Nemesius of Emesa, On the Nature of Man, trans. Van der Eijk, P. and Robert Sharples based on Moreno Morani (ed.) (Liverpool, LUP, 2008).
Perler, Dominik, The Faculties: A History (Oxford, OUP, 2015).
Van der Eijk, P., Medicine and Philosophy in Classical Antiquity: Doctors and Philosophers on Nature, Soul, Health and Disease (Cambridge, CUP, 2005).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
9. Abstract: “Thomas Aquinas Quotes Ibn Sina” is the title of a lecture which discusses the Arabic influence on the Latin Middle Ages. The approach is both wide-ranging, covering chemistry, zoology, and maths, and precise, for we will look in particular at the Five Ways (Quinque Viae) of arguing for the existence of God.
Bibliography:
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
10. Abstract: “The Copernican Revolution, Success and Suppression” begins with the Revolutions of the Spheres. Copernicus and Kepler were two scientists who lived at opposite poles of the German-speaking world, but the significance of the change they brought to European thought is hard to underestimate. “Success and Suppression” is the phrase used by Dag Nikolaus Hasse. The Renaissance marked a turning point in Europe’s relationship to Arabic thought. On the one hand it was the period in which important Arabic traditions reached the peak of their influence in Europe. On the other hand, it is the time when the West began to forget, and even actively suppress, its debt to Arabic culture.
Bibliography:
Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) (Nuremberg, Petreium, 1543).
Hasse, Dag Nikolaus, Success and Suppression: Arabic Sciences and Philosophy in the Renaissance (Cambridge MA, Harvard UP, 2016).
Koestler, Alfred, The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe (also in Turkish) (London, Hutchinson, 1959, and many editions).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
11. Abstract: “From Theophrastus to Plate Tectonics (Geology and Mineralogy)” breaks from the normal pattern of these lectures. It is a broad sweep of the history of one area of science, beginning with Aristotle’s second most famous pupil, Theophrastus, continuing with Nicolas Steno and William Smith, and finishing with the modern age. Science moved on from discussion of the age of the earth, how seas covered the earth, how the mountains were formed, and how metals came to be, to stratification, precise measurement of the age of stones, and plate tectonics.
Bibliography:
Biruni, al-, Kitab al-Jamahir fi Marifat al-Jawahir, trans. Hakim Muhammad Said, The Book Most Comprehensive in Knowledge on Precious Stones (Pakistan Hist. Soc.,1965).
Steno, Nicolas, Solido intra solidum naturaliter contento dissertationis prodromus (Florence, Stella,1669).
Ibn Sina, ash-Shifa (Tabi’iyyat I.3).
Theophrastus, On Stones (many editions).
Weisser, Ursula (Arabic ed.), Buch über Geheimnis der Schöpfung und die Darstellung der Natur von Pseudo-Apollonios von Tyana (Aleppo, Institute for the History of Arabic Science, 1979).
Weisser, Ursula (summary and study), “Buch über Geheimnis der Schöpfung” von Pseudo-Apollonios von Tyana (De Gruyter, Berlin, 1980).
Winchester, Simon, The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology (NY, Harper Collins, 2001).
Winter, John G., The Prodromus of Nicolaus Steno's Dissertation Concerning a Solid Body Enclosed by Process of Nature within a Solid, Engl. trans. with introduction and notes (New York, Macmillan, 1916).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
12. Abstract: “The Circulation of the Blood” is about William Harvey, and the intellectual ferment of 17th-century England. Even King Charles was said to have attended experiments in Harvey’s London house. The monarchist doctor was a devoted Galenist, but he stood accused of undermining medical authority, and of failing to answer the question of the Final Cause. During the Commonwealth, there were scholars working at Oxford, and less so at Cambridge, who after the Restoration founded the Royal Society.
Bibliography:
Butterfield, Herbert, The Origins of Modern Science (NY, Free Press, 1957, revised ed.).
Harvey, William, Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus (Frankfurt, Fitzer, 1628).
Harvey, William, On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals (London, George Bell, 1889).
Rapson, Helen, The Circulation of the Blood (London, Muller, 1982).
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
13. Abstract: “Steam and the Industrial Revolution” takes us to Regency and Victorian Britain. While we begin with the well-known story of the early application of steam in industry, the lecture will include two civil engineers of French extraction, Joseph Bazalgette and Isambard Kingdom-Brunel. In particular, the history of Britain’s dominance and decline will be told from the perspective of the Swindon Railway Works, which is now a shopping centre.
Bibliography:
British Railways, Swindon Works, and its Place in British Railway History (London, Railway Exec, 1950).
Pugsley, Alfred (ed.), The Works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel: An Engineering Appreciation (Bristol, Inst. Civil Engineers, 1976).
Smith, D., “Sir Joseph William Bazalgette (1819-1891): Engineer to the Metropolitan Board of Works”, Transactions of the Newcomen Society Vol. 58 (1986-87).(Online.)
Handout:
Assignment in preparation for the next lecture:
14. Abstract: The final lecture, on the “Age of Electricity”, is divided into what have been called the Second and Third Industrial Revolutions. The first part looks at the achievements of Michael Faraday (1791–1867), including his experiment and resulting Law of Electromagnetic Induction, electrolysis and its laws, and the Faraday Cage. The second lecture describes how the initial intention of DARPA, which invented the Internet for military purposes, was to enhance security. In practice the ungovernable design of the internet now presents the cyber-security threats of Denial of Service attacks and hacking of vital resources, but also propaganda and mass manipulation. How did the social media fare during the testing period of the CoViD-19 crisis?
Bibliography:
Gooding, D. and J. Frank, Faraday rediscovered: essays on the life and work of Michael Faraday (Basingstoke, Hants, England, 1985).
Hamilton, James, Faraday: The Life (London, Harper Collins, 2002).
Waldrop, Mitch, “DARPA and the Internet Revolution” (online). |