The Arabic and Persian Traditions of Alexandrian Mechanics

亚历山大力学的阿拉伯和波斯传统

• 批准号: 0751288
• 负责人: Elaheh Kheirandish
• 金额: $ 8.64万
• 依托单位: Kheirandish Elaheh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-03-01 至 2009-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0751288&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Arabic; Persian; Traditions; Alexandrian; Mechanics

The proposed project is to conduct extensive and original research on the Arabic and Persian traditions of the Mechanics of Heron and Pappus of Alexandria (1st and 4th century AD respectively), and to prepare a critical edition, English translation and historical commentary for the Arabic translation of Pappus?s Mechanics ? the most significant text within those traditions (contracted for publication by Springer-Verlag): this is a text that is not only considerably longer than its surviving Greek version; it preserves a substantial portion of the lost original Greek of Heron?s Mechanics, itself a key text with fragments from Archimedes and now extant only in Arabic.Establishing the text, author and date of the single known Arabic translation of the rich text of Pappus?s Mechanics would benefit historical studies beyond Greek, Arabic and Persian mechanical traditions. Besides the text?s critically important Arabic translation, and that of Heron?s Mechanics, there are works dependent on both Heron and Pappus that form the Arabic and Persian traditions of Alexandrian Mechanics (see Textual Traditions) predating the much later impacts in Europe. The proposed research and publication project is conceived with the parallel aim of exposing the core texts and contexts of the so far checkered history of pre-modern mechanics, with a focus on (a) Establishing the critical text: edition, translation, apparatus and figures of the Arabic text, "Introduction of Pappus to the Science of Mechanics," with historical introduction and commentary, lexicon, and indices; and (b) Reconstructing the historical context of the scientific traditions dependent on the Mechanics of Heron and Pappus of Alexandria, a task particularly valuable in the case of the untouched Persian tradition.The project is a direct contribution to disciplinary areas ranging from history of science and technology to classical and medieval studies: in research, it exposes important and understudied scientific traditions in periods and regions of growing interest; in teaching, it promotes understanding of both pre-modern and non-western intellectual and cultural histories, and accessibility of critical sources and methods to a much broader audience; and in the wider spectrum of research and teaching, it provides a suitable working model for the promising application of the evolving technologies to various fields in the humanities and specific problems within them. My specialized training as a historian of science with a combined knowledge of the relevant languages, especially both Arabic and Persian, and directly related experiences, including previous NSF projects, place me in a favorable position for handling the problems and priorities involved. My long involvement with the linguistic treatments of classical texts, and initial identification and collection of the most critical and inaccessible manuscripts, provide added advantages for effective and timely coordination of multiple tasks.

拟议的项目是进行广泛的和原始的研究，对阿拉伯和波斯传统的力学苍鹭和帕普斯亚历山大（公元1日和4日世纪分别），并准备一个关键的版本，英文翻译和历史评论的阿拉伯语翻译帕普斯？机械师？这些传统中最重要的文本（由Springer-Verlag承包出版）：这是一个文本，不仅比其幸存的希腊版本长得多;它保留了很大一部分丢失的原始希腊苍鹭？的力学，本身是一个关键的文本与片段，从阿基米德和现在仅存的阿拉伯文。建立文本，作者和日期的单一已知的阿拉伯语翻译丰富的文本帕普斯？的力学将有利于超越希腊，阿拉伯和波斯机械传统的历史研究。除了文字？的至关重要的阿拉伯语翻译，和苍鹭？的力学，有工程依赖于这两个苍鹭和帕普斯，形成阿拉伯和波斯传统的亚历山大力学（见文本解释）早于后来的影响在欧洲。拟议的研究和出版项目的构思同时旨在揭示迄今为止前现代力学曲折历史的核心文本和背景，重点是（a）建立批判文本：阿拉伯文本的版本、翻译、装置和数字，“帕普斯力学科学导论”，带有历史介绍和评论、词典和索引;和（B）重建依赖于Heron和Pappus of Alexandria的力学的科学传统的历史背景，这是一项对未受影响的波斯传统特别有价值的任务。该项目是对从科学和技术史到古典和中世纪研究的学科领域的直接贡献：在研究方面，它揭示了在人们日益感兴趣的时期和地区中重要的和未得到充分研究的科学传统;在教学中，它促进对前现代和非西方思想和文化历史的理解，在更广泛的研究和教学领域，它提供了一个合适的工作模式，使不断发展的技术有希望应用于人文学科的各个领域和其中的具体问题。作为一名科学历史学家，我受过专业训练，掌握了相关语言的综合知识，特别是阿拉伯语和波斯语，以及直接相关的经验，包括以前的NSF项目，使我在处理相关问题和优先事项方面处于有利地位。我长期参与古典文本的语言学处理，以及最关键和最难以接近的手稿的初步识别和收集，为有效和及时地协调多项任务提供了额外的优势。