Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī’s additions to Abharī’s “proof” of the parallel postulate

This article is devoted to Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī’s (d. 1319) additions to the well-known al-Abharī’s “proof” of the parallel postulate. These additions are found in only one codex, the manuscript Tunis 16167/7 also often referred to as one of the units of Tunis, al-Aḥmadiyya 5482 which is usually wrongly attributed to Qāḍī Zāde al-Rūmī

Al-Hawārī’s commentary on Ibn al-Bannā’’s Talkhīs: Contents and influences

In 1305 al-Hawārī completed his commentary on Ibn al-Bannā’’s famous arithmetic book Talkhī½ṣ aþmāl al-¬isāb . This is the only commentary, apart from Ibn al-Bannā’’s own, to have been written during the author’s lifetime. What distinguishes al-Hawārī’s book from the numerous later commentaries is its focus on numerical examples of the rules of calculation. We present here what we know about the author, his book, its salient features, and its influences

Mathématiques en Méditerranée : Réflexions autour de deux itinéraires

International audienceEnglish (French below) In this contribution, we propose two historical studies on mathematics in Mediterranean Countries. In the introduction, first of all, we intend to place our purpose at a right level precising our willingness to study those mathematics in clearly defined spaces and times, but not in their globality. After that, we focus on mathematics studied in Abbaco Schools in Mediaeval Italy and their relationship with works written by Fibonacci (d. after 1241) in the thirteenth century, one of the mathematicians who best represents mathematics in the Mediterranean Basin. Last but not least, we present transfers of both mathematics books and European Teachers to Southern Countries of the Mediterranean Sea that occurred during the Ottoman period of the eighteenth century. Less present in the historiography, we would like to show that they can't be omitted from the idea here illustrated of Mediterranean Mathematics. Français Dans cette contribution, nous proposons deux études à caractère historique sur les mathématiques en Méditerranée. Dans l'introduction, nous voulons tout d'abord placer notre propos à la bonne échelle en précisant notre volonté d'étudier lesdites mathématiques dans des espaces et des temps clairement définis, et non pas dans leur globalité. Nous nous intéressons ensuite aux mathématiques des écoles d'abaque dans l'Italie médiévale et leur relation avec les travaux de Fibonacci (mort ap. 1241), un des mathématiciens qui représentent le mieux le bassin Méditerranéen. Enfin, ce sont les transferts, durant la période ottomane du XVIIIe siècle, des ouvrages mathématiques et des enseignants européens vers les pays du Sud de la Méditerranée qui sont développés. Peu représentés dans l'historiographie, nous voulons montrer qu'ils ne peuvent pas être omis de l'idée ici illustrée de mathématiques en Méditerranée.</p

Émergence d’un savoir mathématique euro-islamique : L’Offrande du converti pour ranimer la flamme éteinte

Nous étudions un traité scientifique en langue arabe, achevé à Belgrade en 1779. Son titre est L’Offrande du converti pour ranimer la flamme éteinte. Il ne fut jamais imprimé, mais dix copies, d’aspect semblable à celui des manuscrits arabes traditionnels, attestent de sa circulation dans l’Empire ottoman. L’auteur, un converti à l’islam qu’on appelait Osman Efendi, y aborde la géométrie euclidienne, la géométrie d’arpentage, la dynamique galiléenne et leurs applications aux sciences militaires. Il affiche son ambition de « faire revivre et renouveler » la géométrie, « science oubliée et délaissée », et révèle in fine avoir pour cela traduit des livres allemands et français. Après un essai de reconstruction de la biographie d’Osman Efendi, nous montrerons que son ouvrage est en réalité une production élaborée, dépassant largement la simple démarche de traduction. Montage soigneux de différentes sources européennes que nous identifierons, il incorpore aussi un grand nombre d’éléments directement empruntés au savoir islamique de la tradition vivante. Il est ainsi le témoin remarquable d’une tentative de constitution d’un savoir hybride euro-islamique.We studied a scientific treatise in Arabic, completed in Belgrade in 1779. Its title is The Offering of the Convert to Rekindle the Extinguished Flame. It never appeared in print, but ten copies, similar in appearance to that of traditional Arabic manuscripts, give evidence that it circulated in the Ottoman Empire. The author, a convert to Islam called Osman Efendi, addresses Euclidean geometry, surveying geometry, Galilean dynamics and their applications in military science. He displays his ambition to “revive and renew” geometry, “a forgotten and neglected science”, and ultimately reveals that he translated some German and French books for this purpose. After a tentative reconstruction of Osman Efendi’s biography, we will show that his book is actually an elaborate work going far beyond simple translation process. Carefully putting together various European sources that we shall identify, it also incorporates a large number of elements directly borrowed from Islamic knowledge of the living tradition. It is thus a remarkable testimony to an attempt to create a Euro-Islamic form of hybrid knowledge

Eastern and Western Instruments in Osman Efendi’s Hadiyyat al-Muhtadī (The Gift of the Convert), 1779

International audienceThe aim of the present paper is to discuss the origin of the instruments described in Hadiyyat al-Muhtadī (The Gift of the Convert), an Arabic-language mathematical treatise completed in Belgrade on 28 January 1779. This treatise was never printed, but the eleven extant manuscript copies we could locate, very similar in appearance to traditional Arabic manuscripts, suggest a widespread circulation throughout the former Ottoman Empire. [...] we list all of these instruments, translate Osman’s descriptions of the lesser known ones, and discuss their origin: East or West

Eastern and Western Instruments in Osman Efendi’s Hadiyyat al-Muhtadī (The Gift of the Convert), 1779

International audienceThe aim of the present paper is to discuss the origin of the instruments described in Hadiyyat al-Muhtadī (The Gift of the Convert), an Arabic-language mathematical treatise completed in Belgrade on 28 January 1779. This treatise was never printed, but the eleven extant manuscript copies we could locate, very similar in appearance to traditional Arabic manuscripts, suggest a widespread circulation throughout the former Ottoman Empire. [...] we list all of these instruments, translate Osman’s descriptions of the lesser known ones, and discuss their origin: East or West

Eastern and Western Instruments in Osman Efendi’s Hadiyyat al-Muhtadī (The Gift of the Convert), 1779

International audienceThe aim of the present paper is to discuss the origin of the instruments described in Hadiyyat al-Muhtadī (The Gift of the Convert), an Arabic-language mathematical treatise completed in Belgrade on 28 January 1779. This treatise was never printed, but the eleven extant manuscript copies we could locate, very similar in appearance to traditional Arabic manuscripts, suggest a widespread circulation throughout the former Ottoman Empire. [...] we list all of these instruments, translate Osman’s descriptions of the lesser known ones, and discuss their origin: East or West

Sulaymân al-Harâ’irî (1824-1877): his attempts to reconcile the Islamic civilization with modern science and mathematics education

International audienceWho was Sulaymân al-Harâ’irî? Little is known about this enigmatic and controversial scholar. Born in Tunis in 1824, he settled in Paris in 1856 and died there in 1877. His unpublished manuscripts contain many translations into Arabic of French books, several of which are pertinent to mathematics. He translated arithmetic textbooks by Hippolyte Vernier, a surveying textbook by G. Frédéric Olivier and La Lande’s survey on uses of logarithms. He also drew up the plan for a comprehensive treatise on practical geometry, thus apparently laying the foundation for a Euro-Islamic hybrid mathematical knowledge. Keywords: Tunisia, Arabic language, translation, hybridization, arithmetic, logarithms, practical geometr

Émergence d'un savoir mathématique euro-islamique : L'Offrande du converti pour ranimer la flamme éteinte

International audienceWe studied a scientific treatise in Arabic, completed in Belgrade in 1779. Its title is The Offering of the Convert to Rekindle the Extinguished Flame. It never appeared in print, but ten copies, similar in appearance to that of traditional Arabic manuscripts, give evidence that it circulated in the Ottoman Empire. The author, a convert to Islam called Osman Efendi, addresses Euclidean geometry, surveying geometry, Galilean dynamics and their applications in military science. He displays his ambition to “revive and renew” geometry, “a forgotten and neglected science”, and ultimately reveals that he translated some German and French books for this purpose. After a tentative reconstruction of Osman Efendi’s biography, we will show that his book is actually an elaborate work going far beyond simple translation process. Carefully putting together various European sources that we shall identify, it also incorporates a large number of elements directly borrowed from Islamic knowledge of the living tradition. It is thus a remarkable testimony to an attempt to create a Euro-Islamic form of hybrid knowledge.Nous étudions un traité scientifique en langue arabe, achevé à Belgrade en 1779. Son titre est "L'Offrande du converti pour ranimer la flamme éteinte". Il ne fut jamais imprimé, mais dix copies, d'aspect semblable à celui des manuscrits arabes traditionnels, attestent de sa circulation dans l'Empire ottoman. L'auteur, un converti à l'islam qu'on appelait Osman Efendi, y aborde la géométrie euclidienne, la géométrie d'arpentage, la dynamique galiléenne et leurs applications aux sciences militaires. Il affiche son ambition de « faire revivre et renouveler » la géométrie, « science oubliée et délaissée », et révèle in fine avoir pour cela traduit des livres allemands et français. Après un essai de reconstruction de la biographie d'Osman Efendi, nous montrerons que son ouvrage est en réalité une production élaborée, dépassant largement la simple démarche de traduction. Montage soigneux de différentes sources européennes que nous identifierons, il incorpore aussi un grand nombre d'éléments directement empruntés au savoir islamique de la tradition vivante. Il est ainsi le témoin remarquable d'une tentative de constitution d'un savoir hybride euro-islamique. Abstract: We studied a scientific treatise in Arabic, completed in Belgrade in 1779. Its title is The Offering of the Convert to Rekindle the Extinguishe