The Arabic and Persian Traditions of Alexandrian Mechanics

拟议的项目是对《赫伦力学》和《亚历山德里亚的帕普斯力学》（分别为公元1世纪和4世纪）的阿拉伯语和波斯语传统进行广泛和原始的研究，并为《帕普斯力学》的阿拉伯语翻译准备一个批判版、英语翻译和历史评论。力学？这些传统中最重要的文本（由斯普林格出版社承包出版）：这篇文本不仅比现存的希腊版本要长得多；它保留了大量丢失的原始希腊语的苍鹭？《力学》本身就是阿基米德著作的重要片段，现在只存在于阿拉伯语中。建立文本，作者和日期的单一已知的阿拉伯语翻译的丰富文本帕普斯？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。除了课文？这是极其重要的阿拉伯语翻译，而Heron？在《亚历山大力学》一书中，赫伦和帕普斯的著作形成了阿拉伯和波斯的亚历山大力学传统（见文本传统），其对欧洲的影响要晚得多。拟议的研究和出版项目的设想与揭示核心文本和背景的平行目标到目前为止，前现代力学曲折的历史，重点是(a)建立关键文本：版本，翻译，仪器和数字的阿拉伯文本，“帕普斯介绍力学科学，”历史介绍和评论，词汇和索引；(b)重建依赖于赫伦力学和亚历山德里亚的帕普斯力学的科学传统的历史背景，这一任务在未被触及的波斯传统的情况下特别有价值。该项目是对从科学技术史到古典和中世纪研究等学科领域的直接贡献：在研究中，它揭示了日益感兴趣的时期和地区的重要和未被充分研究的科学传统；在教学中，它促进了对前现代和非西方知识和文化历史的理解，并为更广泛的受众提供了重要的来源和方法；在更广泛的研究和教学范围内，它为将不断发展的技术应用于人文学科的各个领域和其中的具体问题提供了一个合适的工作模型。我作为科学史家的专业训练，结合了相关语言的知识，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，使我在处理涉及的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，以及对最关键和最难以接近的手稿的初步鉴定和收集，为有效和及时地协调多项任务提供了额外的优势。

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.