Astronomy and Astrology in the Islamic World / / Stephen Blake.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Edinburgh University Press Complete eBook-Package 2016
• VerfasserIn: Blake, Stephen,
• Place / Publishing House: Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , [2022]; ©2016
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys : NEIS
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (184 p.) :; 9 colour illustrations

Surveys the contributions of Islamic astronomers and mathematicians to the development of astronomy and astrologyIt was the astronomers and mathematicians of the Islamic world who provided the theories and concepts that paved the way from the geocentric theories of Claudius Ptolemy in the second century AD to the heliocentric breakthroughs of Nicholas Copernicus and Johannes Kepler in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Algebra, the Arabic numeral system, and trigonometry: all these and more originated in the Muslim East and undergirded an increasingly accurate and sophisticated understanding of the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets. This nontechnical overview of the Islamic advances in the heavenly sciences allows the general reader to appreciate (for the first time) the absolutely crucial role that Muslim scientists played in the overall development of astronomy and astrology in the Eurasian world.Key FeaturesThe first accessible, non-technical history of Islamic astronomy and astrologySurveys the major advances in the heavenly sciences from Isfahan, Maragha and Samarqand from the ninth to the sixteenth centuriesShows the impact of astronomy and astrology on individuals and institutionsLooks at the influence of almanacs and horoscopes in the Mughal, Ottoman and Safavid EmpiresConsiders the ways Islamic astronomy and astrology shaped beliefs and practices in the medieval and early modern Islamic and European worlds

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of colour plates -- Preface -- 1 From Egypt to Islam -- 2 From Muhammad to the Seljuqs -- 3 The observatory in Isfahan -- 4 Astronomy and astrology in al-Andalus -- 5 The observatory in Maragha -- 6 The observatory in Samarqand -- 7 The observatory in Istanbul -- 8 The observatory in Shahjahanabad -- 9 Medieval and early-modern Europe -- 10 Conclusion -- Glossary: astronomical instruments -- Select bibliography -- Index