Texts and Contexts in Ancient and Medieval Science

Edith Sylla

ISBN 10: 9004108238 / ISBN 13: 9789004108233

Published by Koninklijke Brill BV Jun 1997, 1997

About this Item

Neuware - These studies respond to the challenge posed twenty years ago by John E. Murdoch, in whose honor they have been assembled: to interpret ancient and medieval mathematical and scientific texts not just as isolated intellectual productions but as responses to particular settings or contexts.Two broad settings are explored here: that of the wider intellectual culture, where relations among mathematics, astronomy, natural philosophy - and also theology, logic and astrology - are shown to have shaped individual texts; and the context of lay society, where institutional structures, patronage, even personal relationships impinged upon scientific writing.The volume reinforces the growing recognition that ancient and medieval scientific texts 'made a difference' to their authors and audiences and must be understood in relation to topics like disciplinary identity, career advancement, lay interest, and practical applicability.Publications by John E. Murdoch: Edited by Christoph Lüthy, John E. Murdoch and William R. Newman, Late Medieval and Early Modern Corpuscular Matter Theories, ISBN: 978 90 04 11516 3.

Seller Inventory # 9789004108233

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Texts and Contexts in Ancient and Medieval Science
• Publisher: Koninklijke Brill BV Jun 1997
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9004108238
• ISBN 13: 9789004108233
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 235W x 155H x 21D millimeters 235 millimeters width by 155 millimeters height by 21 millimeters depth
• Weight: 690 grams

About this title

Synopsis

These studies respond to the challenge posed twenty years ago by John E. Murdoch, in whose honor they have been assembled: to interpret ancient and medieval mathematical and scientific texts not just as isolated intellectual productions but as responses to particular settings or contexts.
Two broad settings are explored here: that of the wider intellectual culture, where relations among mathematics, astronomy, natural philosophy - and also theology, logic and astrology - are shown to have shaped individual texts; and the context of lay society, where institutional structures, patronage, even personal relationships impinged upon scientific writing.
The volume reinforces the growing recognition that ancient and medieval scientific texts "made a difference" to their authors and audiences and must be understood in relation to topics like disciplinary identity, career advancement, lay interest, and practical applicability.

Publications by John E. Murdoch:

Edited by Christoph Lüthy, John E. Murdoch and William R. Newman, Late Medieval and Early Modern Corpuscular Matter Theories, ISBN: 978 90 04 11516 3

About the Author

Edith Sylla is Professor of History at North Carolina State University. She is currently working on Jacob Bernoulli's Ars Coniectandi and on alternative perspectives on the Scientific Revolution, particularly that of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.

Michael R. McVaugh, Ph.D. (1965) in History (Princeton University) is Wiliam Smith Wells Professor of History at the University of North Carolina. He has published extensively on late medieval medicine, including Medicine Before the Plague (Cambridge, 1993).