This book presents an English-language translation of Risālā-yi Muʿīnīya, or the Muʿīnīya Epistle. Risālā-yi Muʿīnīya is one of the earliest known works of Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī (1201–1274), an intellectual luminary of the 13th century CE. The work is notable for the choice of Ṭūsī’s native Persian as the language of the text. In addition, Ṭūsī organized his volume into a four-part structure, which went on to become a popular template for the Islamic astronomers who succeeded him.
This book helped ensure the patronage of Ṭūsī's courtly patrons during his decades-long stay with the Ismaʿīlīs, as well as the continuation of his remarkable career under the first Ilkhanid rulers of Persia. This translation helps make this notable treatise accessible to English language readers. It is among a handful of English translations of major astronomical works dealing with hay’a/cosmography in the Islamic world.
Subsequently Ṭūsī was to pen his own commentary on the work (the Ḥall-i Mushkilāt-i Muʿīnīya, or A solution to the difficulties of the Muʿīnīya) and he used this occasion to discuss his celebrated mathematical formulation “the Ṭūsī Couple” (a concept that he merely hinted at in the Risālā-yi Muʿīnīya).
Author(s): Kaveh Niazi
Series: Archimedes: New Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, 58
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 523
City: Cham
Preface
Contents
Part I: Introduction
Ṭūsī’s Hayʾa
Ṭūsī as a Young Scholar
The Biographical Sources
Childhood and Youth
Ṭūsī’s Stay with the Ismāʿīlīs
On the Structure and Content of Risāla-yi Muʿīnīya
The Preface
Book One of Risāla-yi muʿīnīya
Book Two of the Risāla-yi muʿīnīya
Book Three of the Risāla-yi muʿīnīya
Book Four of Risāla-yi muʿīnīya
The Ḥall
Part II: Edition and Translation of Risāla-yi Muʿīnīya
Preface
Book One: On the Introduction to This Science
Chapter One: An Introduction to Geometry
Chapter Two: On Introductory Remarks Pertaining to the Natural Sciences
Book Two: On the Configuration of the Celestial Bodies
Chapter One: On Simple Bodies and Their Situation
Chapter Two: A Description of the Primary and Secondary Motions, and the Names of the Great Circles
Chapter Three: On the Eighth Orb and the Fixed Stars and Their Situation
Chapter Four: On the Orbs and Motions of the Sun
Chapter Five: On the Orbs and Motions of the Moon in Longitude
Chapter Six: On the Orbs and Motions of the Superior Planets and Venus in Longitude
Chapter Seven: On the Orbs and Motions of Mercury in Longitude
Chapter Eight: On the Latitude of the Six Planets
Chapter Nine: On Sectors
Chapter Ten: On Retrograde, Direct Motion, Heliacal Risings and Settings
Chapter Eleven: On the Parallax of the Inferior Planets
Chapter Twelve: On the Reasons for the Increase and Decrease in the Luminance of the Moon
Chapter Thirteen: On the Causes for Solar and Lunar Eclipses and the Time Period That Separates Consecutive Solar or Lunar Eclipses
Chapter Fourteen: On Conjunctions and the Visibility and Invisibility of Stars
Book Three: On the Configuration of Earth and the Difference in the State of Its Regions Due to the Difference in the State of the Celestial Bodies
Chapter One: On the Configuration of Earth and a Short Description of Its Situation
Chapter Two: On the Attributes of Locations Along the Equator
Chapter Three: On the Attributes of Locations That Have a Latitude That Is Smaller Than or Equal to the Obliquity
Chapter Four: On the Attributes of Locations That Have a Latitude That Is Greater Than the Obliquity, up to Where It Is Equal to the Complement of the Obliquity
Chapter Five: On the Attributes of Locations That Have a Latitude That Is Greater Than the Complement of the Obliquity up to the Limit of Latitude
Chapter Six: On the Co-Ascensions of the Ecliptic, and Those Are Parts of the Equinoctial That Rise with a Parts of the Ecliptic
Chapter Seven: On Knowledge of the Equation of Daylight and the Ortive Amplitude
Chapter Eight: On the Degrees of Transit and of Rising and Setting
Chapter Nine: On Day and Night and Morning and Dawn and Equal and Unequal Hours
Chapter Ten: On the Year, Month, and Leap Years
Chapter Eleven. On Knowledge of Shadows and Their Dependence on Altitude
Chapter Twelve: On the Meridian and the Bearing of Lands
Book Four. On Distances and Bodies
Chapter One: On the Extent of Earth and a Description of It
Chapter Two: On the Ratio of the Body of the Moon to That of Earth
Chapter Three: On the Distances of the Moon from Earth
Chapter Four: On the Body and Distances of the Sun
Chapter Five: On the Distances and Bodies of the Wandering Planets
Chapter Six: On the Distance and Bodies of the Fixed Stars
Part III: Ḥall-i Mushkilāt-i Muʿīnīya
Edition and Translation of Ṭūsī’s Appendix to Risāla-yi Muʿīnīya
(Preface)
Ḥall-i Mushkilāt-i Muʿīnīya (the Chapters)
On the Fact That If the Complement of the Latitude of a Fixed Star Is Larger Than the Local Latitude Minus the Obliquity, It Is Possible After It Has Been Permanently Invisible or Permanently Visible to Experience Visibility or Invisibility
On Why the Eccentric Orb Was Chosen Over the Epicycle for the Sun
On Resolving the Doubt Regarding the Motion of the Center of the Lunar Epicycle on the Perimeter of the Deferent, and the Uniformity of That Motion Relative to the Center of the World
On the Orbit of the Center of the Lunar Epicycle
On the Configuration of the Orbs of the Stars According to the Method of Abū ʿAlī Ibn al-Haytham
On Knowledge of the Locations for the Station of Planets on the Epicycle
On Explaining the Difference Between the Lunar and Solar Eclipse, Due to Differences in Latitude and Other Reasons
On Visualizing the Equation of Daylight
On the Figure of the Indian Circle and the Azimuth of Lands and Other Topics Related to the Meridian
Appendices
Appendix A: From Ṭūsī’s letter to Athīr al-Dīn Abharī (reproduced from Mudarris Razavi, Aḥwāl, 518)
Appendix B: Table of Contents for al-Tabṣira fī ʿilm al-hayʾa
Appendix C: From the introduction to al-Tabṣira fī ʿilm al-hayʾa (Book One)
Glossary
Bibliography
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