Quṭb al-Dīn Shīrāzī and the Configuration of the Heavens: A Comparison of Texts and Models

199 Pages·2014·1.92 MB·English

by  Kaveh Niazi

Archimedes 35 New Studies in the History and Philosophy
of Science and Technology
Kaveh Niazi
Qutb al-Dīn Shīrāzī
..
and the
Configuration
of the Heavens
A Comparison of Texts and Models
N N N
Qutb al-Dın Shıra¯zı and the Configuration
.
of the Heavens
Archimedes
NEWSTUDIESINTHEHISTORYANDPHILOSOPHY OF
SCIENCEANDTECHNOLOGY
VOLUME35
EDITOR
JEDZ.BUCHWALD,DreyfussProfessorofHistory,CaliforniaInstitute
ofTechnology,Pasadena,CA,USA.
ASSOCIATEEDITORSFORMATHEMATICSANDPHYSICALSCIENCES
JEREMYGRAY,TheFacultyofMathematicsandComputing,
TheOpenUniversity,Buckinghamshire,UK.
TILMANSAUER,CaliforniaInstituteofTechnology
ASSOCIATEEDITORSFORBIOLOGICALSCIENCES
SHARONKINGSLAND,DepartmentofHistoryofScienceandTechnology,
JohnsHopkinsUniversity,Baltimore,MD,USA.
MANFREDLAUBICHLER,ArizonaStateUniversity
ADVISORYBOARDFORMATHEMATICS,PHYSICALSCIENCESANDTECHNOLOGY
HENKBOS,UniversityofUtrecht
MORDECHAIFEINGOLD,CaliforniaInstituteofTechnology
ALLAND.FRANKLIN,UniversityofColoradoatBoulder
KOSTASGAVROGLU,NationalTechnicalUniversityofAthens
PAULHOYNINGEN-HUENE,LeibnizUniversityinHannover
TREVORLEVERE,UniversityofToronto
JESPERLU¨TZEN,CopenhagenUniversity
WILLIAMNEWMAN,IndianaUniversity,Bloomington
LAWRENCEPRINCIPE,TheJohnsHopkinsUniversity
JU¨RGENRENN,Max-Planck-Institutfu¨rWissenschaftsgeschichte
ALEXROLAND,DukeUniversity
ALANSHAPIRO,UniversityofMinnesota
NOELSWERDLOW,CaliforniaInstituteofTechnology,USA
ADVISORYBOARDFORBIOLOGY
MICHAELDIETRICH,DartmouthCollege,USA
MICHELMORANGE,CentreCavaille`s,EcoleNormaleSupe´rieure,Paris
HANS-JO¨RGRHEINBERGER,MaxPlanckInstitutefortheHistoryofScience,Berlin
NANCYSIRAISI,HunterCollegeoftheCityUniversityofNewYork
Archimedeshasthreefundamentalgoals;tofurthertheintegrationofthehistoriesofscienceandtechnology
withoneanother:toinvestigatethetechnical,socialandpracticalhistoriesofspecificdevelopmentsinscience
andtechnology;andfinally,wherepossibleanddesirable,tobringthehistoriesofscienceandtechnologyinto
closercontactwiththephilosophyofscience.Totheseends,eachvolumewillhaveitsownthemeandtitleand
willbeplannedbyoneormoremembersoftheAdvisoryBoardinconsultationwiththeeditor.Althoughthe
volumeshavespecificthemes,theseriesitselfwillnotbelimitedtooneoreventoafewparticularareas.Its
subjectsincludeanyofthesciences,rangingfrombiologythroughphysics,allaspectsoftechnology,broadly
construed,aswellashistorically-engagedphilosophyofscienceortechnology.Takenasawhole,Archimedes
willbeofinteresttohistorians,philosophers,andscientists,aswellastothoseinbusinessandindustrywhoseek
tounderstandhowscienceandindustryhavecometobesostronglylinked.
Forfurthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/5644
Kaveh Niazi
N N N
Qutb al-Dın Shıra¯zı and the
.
Configuration of the Heavens
A Comparison of Texts and Models
123
KavehNiazi
Berkeley
CA,USA
ISSN1385-0180
ISBN978-94-007-6998-4 ISBN978-94-007-6999-1(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-94-007-6999-1
SpringerDordrechtHeidelbergNewYorkLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2013948472
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Dedicatedtomy parents,
Mansourand FereshtehNiazi,
fortheirlovingsupport,
forinstillingin us
athirstforknowledge,
andforbestowingan abidingloveforthe
cultureand historyof Iran.

Note on Transliteration
The historical sources used in writing this book were primarily in Arabic and
Persian. Thoughit has notalways beenpossible to be consistentwith the translit-
eration scheme used in rendering these languages into English, I have generally
tried to follow the scheme used by the Encylopaedia of Islam (using q for the
letter , however). With few exceptions proper names have been rendered with
their full battery of diacritics as these appear in the Persian and Arabic sources;
so Khura¯sa¯n, rather than Khurasan or Khorasan. The idea has been to provide an
easy to read text easy to read for readers that may not be familiar with Arabic or
Persian. Proper names for which modern equivalents exist and that would have
been changed beyond recognition (e.g., Konya and Aleppo) are left in their most
recognizableform.As far as the astronomicalnomenclatureI have followedProf.
Ragep’seditionofT.u¯sNı’sal-Tadhkira.
vii

Acknowledgement
Thiswork,whichisbasedlargelyonmydoctoraldissertation,couldnothavebeen
completedwithoutthehelpofmanyfriendsandmentors.Firstandforemostamong
these is my academic adviser George Saliba, to whom I must acknowledge an
immense debt of gratitude. This work could not have been accomplished without
his constant, kind, and generous support. I would also like to thank the other
membersofmythesiscommittee:HamidDabashi,MatthewJones,JoelKaye,and
NaderSohrabifortheirunstintingencouragement,generosity,andsupportwhile I
completedthiswork.JohnWalbridgeprovidedinvaluableguidanceonbiographical
material related to ShNıra¯zNı, for which I am immensely grateful. I owe as well a
considerable debt of gratitude to F. Jamil Ragep for his research and especially
forhiseditionofT.u¯sNı’sal-Tadhkira.RobertandBarbaraHanning,JamesHarney,
Hasan Javadi,Hossein Kamaly,AbigailSchade eachreadpartsofthis manuscript
andofferedcountlesscorrectionsandmanyhelpfulsuggestions.Icannotadequately
express my gratitude to them. Though the support of each of the listed persons
was invaluable in the completion of this work, the responsibility for the many
shortcomingsanderrorsthatremainintheworkisexclusivelymine.
When my research was just beginning, I was provided– through the generous
support of then IRI ambassador to the United Nations, His Excellency J. Zarif –
severalkeymanuscriptsthatgreatlyfacilitatedmyresearch,forwhichIwouldlike
tousethisopportunitytoagainoffermymostsincereandheartfeltthanks.Thanks
alsotoMr.AsgariyazdiandMr.AbhariandtheircolleaguesattheMajlisLibraryin
Tehran,whoexpertlyaidedmewiththisproject.
TomyfamilyIcanonlyoffermyhumblegratitudeforthelove,joyandsupport
thattheyhaveprovidedmethroughoutthevariousstagesofpreparingthisbook.
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