The Ordered Universe: Interdisciplinary Readings of Medieval Science

有序宇宙研究项目建议对罗伯特·格罗塞塔斯特(C.1170-1253)关于自然现象的13篇科学论文进行全新的、跨学科的审查。作为著名的改革家，格罗塞塔斯特是林肯主教、政治顾问、诗人、神学家、哲学家、翻译家和科学家，他的思想标志着西方中世纪思想史上的一个重大转折点。他能够以一种非凡的方式将古代对自然世界的理解，主要是亚里士多德的理解，与基督教知识和圣经启示融合在一起。格罗塞塔斯特的科学工作是这项事业的核心。这不仅是他第一次接触亚里士多德的自然哲学，而且是他早期伊斯兰和希伯来语作家对亚里士多德的评论，都是新翻译成拉丁语的。在科学论文中，格罗塞塔斯特发展了他对这些权威的批判性回应，特别是运用了原始的数学论点和他自己对自然现象的观察的证据。然而，要详细评估格罗塞塔斯特的科学思想，有两个重要的障碍。首先是当前的关键版本(1912年)的不足。它的编辑，路德维希·鲍尔，知道现在编目的手稿的不到三分之一(对彩虹论文的手稿传统的研究发现了对文本的大量补充，鲍尔不知道)。此外，鲍尔使用了后来的手稿，这些手稿保留了累积的抄写错误，其中许多足以模糊格罗塞塔斯特的意思。深入理解格罗塞塔斯特科学著作的第二个障碍是他的概念数学框架过于复杂。他们的阐释对于翻译和解释他的作品来说都是至关重要的，需要的不仅仅是文本分析。他的科学文本的复杂性、严谨的语言表达和计算技巧带来了智力挑战，只有通过跨学科的方法才能解决这些挑战。有序宇宙项目将恰恰做到这一点，来自科学和人文的专家。核心研究团队由中世纪历史学家、语言学家、古文字学家、神学家和哲学家以及物理学家、宇宙学家、视觉科学家、数学家、工程师、计算机科学家和气象学家组成。通过一系列的协作研究座谈会，经典人文研究文本的确立、其翻译和解读，都得到了丰富的科学视角和分析。这些集体翻译和文本阐明的过程导致了真正的跨学科输出。格罗塞斯特在这里没有任何不合时宜的解释，特别是科学方面的解释；相反，人文科学和科学学科的解释工具一起使用，使文本在所有方面都变得生动起来。拟议的项目建立在一项试点研究和AHRC网络赠款的基础上。与历史文本合作也产生了新的科学，发表在领先的科学期刊上。这些论文是与人文学者共同撰写的，吸引了更广泛的科学界的注意，并在《自然》杂志的两篇评论中进行了介绍。类似的成果也计划在这里发表，以及三篇独立的、以人文学科为主导的关于格罗塞塔斯特科学工作意义的文章。学术受益者的广泛范围反映在公众对话和影响的潜力上。有序宇宙将与一个屡获殊荣的大学入学扩大参与计划合作，用项目研究中的材料创建一个关于格罗塞塔斯特科学世界的模块。在英国、欧洲和北美举行的一系列16个公开研讨会，通过视频记录和活跃的网站，将通过展示他这一代人中最令人眼花缭乱的思想之一，强调中世纪科学的文化遗产及其当代共鸣。

The Ordered Universe Research Project proposes a fresh, interdisciplinary examination of the 13 scientific treatises on natural phenomena by Robert Grosseteste (c.1170-1253). A noted reformer as bishop of Lincoln, political advisor, poet, theologian, philosopher, translator, and 'scientist', Grosseteste's thought marks a major turning point in western medieval intellectual history. He was able to fuse, in a remarkable way, ancient understanding of the natural world, principally that of Aristotle, with Christian learning and biblical revelation. Grosseteste's scientific works are central to this enterprise. They are his first encounter not only with Aristotle's natural philosophy, but also earlier commentaries on Aristotle from Islamic and Hebrew writers, all newly translated into Latin. In the scientific treatises Grosseteste developed his critical response to these authorities, deploying, in particular, original mathematical arguments and the evidence of his own observations of natural phenomena.There are, however, two significant impediments to a detailed assessment of Grosseteste's scientific thought. The first is the inadequacy of the current critical edition (1912). Its editor, Ludwig Baur, knew fewer than a third of the manuscripts now catalogued (research into the manuscript tradition of the treatise On the Rainbow identified substantial additions to the text, unknown to Baur). Moreover, Baur used later manuscripts, which preserve accumulated scribal errors, many of which are sufficient to obscure Grosseteste's meaning. The second impediment to a deeper understanding of Grosseteste's scientific works is the sophistication of his conceptual mathematical frameworks. Their elucidation, crucial for both the translation and the interpretation of his works, requires more than textual analysis alone. The complex nature of his scientific texts, their taut linguistic expression, and their computational virtuosity present intellectual challenges which can only be addressed with an interdisciplinary approach.The Ordered Universe project will do precisely this, with experts from both sciences and humanities. The core research team consists of medieval historians, linguists, palaeographers, theologians and philosophers, together with physicists, cosmologists, vision scientists, mathematicians, engineers, computer scientists and meteorologists. Through a series of collaborative research symposia, classic humanities research on the establishment of the text, its translation and interpretation, is enriched by scientific perspectives and analysis. These processes of collective translation and textual elucidation lead to genuinely interdisciplinary outputs. Grosseteste is not interpreted here with any anachronism, especially scientific; rather, the interpretative tools of humanities and scientific disciplines are used together to bring the text to life in all of its dimensions.The proposed project builds on a pilot study and an AHRC network grant. Working collaboratively with historic texts has also generated new science, published in leading scientific journals. Co-authored with humanities scholars, these papers drew the attention of the wider scientific community and were featured in two commentaries in Nature. Similar outputs are planned here, along with three stand-alone, humanities-led, articles on the significance of Grosseteste's scientific works. The wide range of academic beneficiaries is mirrored by the potential for public dialogue and impact. The Ordered Universe will collaborate with an award-winning widening participation scheme for university entrance, to create a module on Grosseteste's scientific world with material drawn from project research. A series of 16 public workshops in the UK, Europe and North America, with video record and an active website, will emphasise the cultural heritage of medieval science and its contemporary resonance, through presentation of one of the most dazzling minds of his generation.