Ordering the Heavens: Astronomy & Cosmology in the Carolingian Renaissance

秩序天：天文学

• 批准号: 0004224
• 负责人: Bruce Eastwood
• 金额: $ 9万
• 依托单位: University of Kentucky Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-05-01 至 2004-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0004224&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Ordering; Heavens; Astronomy; & Cosmology

In the Carolingian Renaissance (ninth-tenth centuries) was there any place for natural science, especially astronomy and cosmology, and did any notable innovation occur? Answering "yes" to this question, the project expands the cultural and institutional motivations of that renaissance and accords importance to the study of the natural world order. The revival and use of a set of four texts on astronomy and cosmology from the Roman Empire by Carolingian scholars, teachers, and students initiated a new stage in scientific awareness, advancing well beyond the focus of the previous three centuries upon time-keeping and the construction of calendars. New concepts of celestial order were more elaborated when using numbers and were distinctly novel and inventive in their attention to space. Routine studies of the heavens came to include diagrams, both for clarity and for instruction in new themes, during the ninth century. Both commentary and diagrams added to the four Roman texts provided not only explanations but also questions and alternatives to their contents. Diagrams especially were used to clarify, question, and redirect doctrines in these texts. Diagrams were a tool for the creation of hypotheses and models in Carolingian astronomy.Teaching and research on astronomy and cosmology was enabled by the lending, copying, excerpting, and glossing of the ancient texts. Many Carolingian institutions participated, making the activity an essential part of the renaissance. Each of the texts stimulated a somewhat different set of interests and questions. Study of the many Latin manuscripts from the period shows attention to the following few among a large group of topics: planetary order, circumsolar planets, the different lengths of the four seasons, retrograde motion of planets, eccentric and epicyclic models of planetary motion, and the force of the sun as a planetary influence. These topics received discussion and diagrams by Carolingian scholars. Over the course of the ninth and early tenth centuries a tremendous body of new knowledge was created, a body of knowledge characterized primarily by qualitative models and complemented by subordinate quantitative data. The Carolingian Renaissance created anew an awareness of forms of planetary order and motion that had disappeared in late Antiquity. This understanding was an essential basis for further inquiry and development in the eleventh and twelfth centuries as Greco-Arabic astronomy was encountered and then actively sought.The project is a library research topic, designed to study of medieval Latin manuscripts. Among the many copies of each text the variations in text, scholarly comments in margins, and varying diagrams added as explanations or questions reveal the different understandings of these texts by different Carolingian scholars at different times. As a result, the project will significantly advance knowledge in the history of science, the philosophy of science, the study of knowledge-transfer across cultures, and the historical study of the Carolingian Renaissance.

在文艺复兴时期（9 - 10世纪），自然科学，特别是天文学和宇宙学，是否有一席之地？是否出现了任何显著的创新？该项目对这一问题的回答是肯定的，它扩展了这一复兴的文化和体制动机，并重视对自然世界秩序的研究。罗马帝国的学者、教师和学生复兴和使用了一套四本关于天文学和宇宙学的文本，这开启了科学意识的一个新阶段，远远超出了前三个世纪对计时和历法建设的关注。天体秩序的新概念在使用数字时更加详细，并且在他们对空间的关注中具有明显的新颖性和创造性。在世纪，对天空的常规研究开始包括图表，这既是为了清晰，也是为了指导新的主题。添加到四个罗马文本中的评论和图表不仅提供了解释，而且还对其内容提出了问题和替代方案。在这些文本中，图表尤其被用来澄清、质疑和重定向教义。图表是创造天文学假说和模型的工具，天文学和宇宙学的教学和研究通过出借、复制、摘录和注释古代文献得以实现。许多匈牙利的机构参与其中，使这项活动成为文艺复兴的重要组成部分。每一个文本都激发了一系列不同的兴趣和问题。对这一时期的许多拉丁文手稿的研究表明，在一大组主题中，以下几个主题受到了关注：行星序，绕日行星，四季的不同长度，行星的逆行运动，行星运动的偏心和周转模型，以及太阳作为行星影响力的力量。这些主题得到了爱丁堡学者的讨论和图表。在9世纪和10世纪初，大量的新知识被创造出来，这些知识主要以定性模型为特征，辅之以次要的定量数据。古罗马的文艺复兴使人们重新认识到在古代晚期已经消失的行星秩序和运动的形式。这一认识是在11世纪和12世纪希腊-阿拉伯天文学遇到并积极寻求进一步研究和发展的重要基础。该项目是图书馆研究课题，旨在研究中世纪拉丁文手稿。在每个文本的许多副本中，文本的变化，空白处的学术评论，以及作为解释或问题添加的不同图表，揭示了不同时期不同的爱丁堡学者对这些文本的不同理解。 因此，该项目将显着推进科学史，科学哲学，跨文化知识转移的研究，以及文艺复兴时期的历史研究的知识。