Cross-Cultural Scientific Exchanges in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1560-1660
Avner Ben-Zaken reconsiders the fundamental question of how early modern scientific thought traveled between Western and Eastern cultures in the age of the so-called Scientific Revolution.
Through five meticulously researched case studies—in which he explores how a single obscure object or text moved in the Eastern world—Ben-Zaken reveals the intricate ways that scientific knowledge moved across cultures. His diligent exploration traces the eastward flow of post-Copernican cosmologies and scientific discoveries, showing how these ideas were disseminated, modified, and applied to local cultures.
Never before has a student of scientific traffic in the Mediterranean taken such pains to see precisely which instruments, books, and ideas first appeared where, in whose hands, by what means, and with what implications. In doing so, Ben-Zaken challenges accepted views of Western primacy in this fruitful exchange. He shows not only how Islamic cultures benefited from European scientific knowledge but also how Eastern understanding of classical Greek texts informed developments in the West.
Ben-Zaken’s mastery of different cultures and languages uniquely positions him to tell this intriguing story. His findings reshape our understanding of scientific discourse in this critical period and contribute to the growing field of cross-cultural Christian-Muslim studies.
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Cross-Cultural Scientific Exchanges in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1560-1660
Avner Ben-Zaken reconsiders the fundamental question of how early modern scientific thought traveled between Western and Eastern cultures in the age of the so-called Scientific Revolution.
Through five meticulously researched case studies—in which he explores how a single obscure object or text moved in the Eastern world—Ben-Zaken reveals the intricate ways that scientific knowledge moved across cultures. His diligent exploration traces the eastward flow of post-Copernican cosmologies and scientific discoveries, showing how these ideas were disseminated, modified, and applied to local cultures.
Never before has a student of scientific traffic in the Mediterranean taken such pains to see precisely which instruments, books, and ideas first appeared where, in whose hands, by what means, and with what implications. In doing so, Ben-Zaken challenges accepted views of Western primacy in this fruitful exchange. He shows not only how Islamic cultures benefited from European scientific knowledge but also how Eastern understanding of classical Greek texts informed developments in the West.
Ben-Zaken’s mastery of different cultures and languages uniquely positions him to tell this intriguing story. His findings reshape our understanding of scientific discourse in this critical period and contribute to the growing field of cross-cultural Christian-Muslim studies.
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Cross-Cultural Scientific Exchanges in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1560-1660
Avner Ben-Zaken reconsiders the fundamental question of how early modern scientific thought traveled between Western and Eastern cultures in the age of the so-called Scientific Revolution.
Through five meticulously researched case studies—in which he explores how a single obscure object or text moved in the Eastern world—Ben-Zaken reveals the intricate ways that scientific knowledge moved across cultures. His diligent exploration traces the eastward flow of post-Copernican cosmologies and scientific discoveries, showing how these ideas were disseminated, modified, and applied to local cultures.
Never before has a student of scientific traffic in the Mediterranean taken such pains to see precisely which instruments, books, and ideas first appeared where, in whose hands, by what means, and with what implications. In doing so, Ben-Zaken challenges accepted views of Western primacy in this fruitful exchange. He shows not only how Islamic cultures benefited from European scientific knowledge but also how Eastern understanding of classical Greek texts informed developments in the West.
Ben-Zaken’s mastery of different cultures and languages uniquely positions him to tell this intriguing story. His findings reshape our understanding of scientific discourse in this critical period and contribute to the growing field of cross-cultural Christian-Muslim studies.
Avner Ben-Zaken is the chair of the humanities program at Ono College, Israel. He specializes in the cross-cultural history of science and is the author of Cross-Cultural Scientific Exchanges in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1560–1660, also published by Johns Hopkins.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Incommensurable Cultures?1. Trading Clocks, Globes, and Captives in the End Time2. Exchanging Heliocentrism for Ur-Text3. Transcending Time in the Scribal East4. Converting Measurements and Invoking the "Linguistic Leviathan"5. Exchanging Heavens and HeartsConclusion: From "Incommensurablility of Cultures" to Mutually Embraced ZonesAcknowledgmentsNotesSelected BibliographyIndex
What People are Saying About This
Owen Gingerich
Ben-Zaken's book is a wide-ranging examination of the interface between the new astronomy in Europe and the Middle East. It is an unusual and eclectic approach, in places as fascinating as a detective story.
From the Publisher
This book expands the entire field of intellectual history, the history of the book, cultural history, and the history of science.—Pamela Long, author of Openness, Secrecy, Authorship: Technical Arts and the Culture of Knowledge from Antiquity to the Renaissance
Ben-Zaken's book is a wide-ranging examination of the interface between the new astronomy in Europe and the Middle East. It is an unusual and eclectic approach, in places as fascinating as a detective story.—Owen Gingerich, Harvard University
This book is a bag of gems, some of them rarely seen before. It is both a history of science as well as a detective-like pursuit of ideas, persons, instruments, and texts as they travel and get translated, transformed, adopted, and exchanged across the various European and Eastern Mediterranean communities.—George Saliba, Columbia University
George Saliba
This book is a bag of gems, some of them rarely seen before. It is both a history of science as well as a detective-like pursuit of ideas, persons, instruments, and texts as they travel and get translated, transformed, adopted, and exchanged across the various European and Eastern Mediterranean communities.
Pamela Long
This book expands the entire field of intellectual history, the history of the book, cultural history, and the history of science.
