On Both Sides of the Strait of Gibraltar

Julio Samsó, Ph.D. (1966), University of Barcelona, is Emeritus Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at that university. He has published books and many articles on the history of medieval astronomy in al-Andalus and the Maghrib, including Las ciencias de los antiguos en al-Andalus (2nd edition, Fundación Ibn Tufayl, 2011), Islamic Astronomy and Medieval Spain (Variorum. Aldershot, 1994), Astronomy and Astrology in al-Andalus and the Maghrib (Ashgate Variorum. Aldershot, 2007).

“This massive volume is a remarkable achievement […] this book is an astounding synthesis comprising pretty much everything there is to know about the subject […] this book will be the first stop for many research projects in the field for the foreseeable future.” Robert G. Morrison, in the Journal for the History of Astronomy 52/4 (2021)“This most impressive volume can be considered the summit of the extensive research undertaken by the author since 1960 on the development of astronomy in the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghrib during the Middle Ages […] The book is mainly addressed to historians of astronomy but it is written in such a clear and ordered way that all kind of historians, philologists, astronomers, mathematicians, scholars interested in scientific instruments and readers curious about the development of science in the Middle Ages, far from prejudices related to it being just "ten dark centuries", will enjoy the reading.” Azucena Hernández Pérez, in Sehepunkte (2021)

• PrefaceList of Figures1 Historical OutlineA Brief Chronological Survey1.0 Foreword1.1 Al-Andalus (711–1085)1.2 The Maghrib (700–1050)1.3 Almoravids (ca. 1050–ca. 1147) and Almohads (ca. 1147–1276)1.4 Al-Maghrib and al-Andalus between the Thirteenth and the Fifteenth Centuries1.5 Astronomy in the Christian Kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula1.6 A Brief Conclusion2 Mīqāt: Timekeeping and Qibla2.0 Introduction2.1 Calendars and Years2.2 Eras2.3 The Beginning of the Lunar Month2.4 The Hour2.5 The qibla3 Astrology3.0 Introduction3.1 Patronage and the Practice of Astrology3.2 Thematic Surveys4 Astronomical Instruments4.0 Introduction4.1 Spherical Instruments4.2 The Astrolabe4.3 Universal Astrolabes4.4 Quadrants4.5 Equatoria4.6 Jābir ibn Aflaḥ’s Observational Instrument5 Hayʾa (Cosmology)5.1 Introduction: on the Meaning of Hayʾa in Western Islam5.2 The Treatises on hayʾa by Dūnash ibn Tamīm, Qāsim ibn Muṭarrif and an Anonymous Eleventh-Century Toledan Astronomer5.3 Jābir ibn Aflaḥ’s Mathematical Criticism of the Almagest5.4 The Twelfth-Century Andalusī Revolt against Ptolemy5.5 Hayʾa in Castile during the Reign of Alfonso X (1252–1284)5.6 Other hayʾa Sources between the Twelfth and the Fifteenth Centuries5.7 Conclusions6 Astronomical Theory6.1 Introduction6.2 The Motion of Accession and Recession of the Equinoctial Points (al-iqbāl wa l-idbār, Trepidation Theory)6.3 Ibn al-Zarqālluh’s Solar Model6.4 The Lunar Model6.5 Conclusions7 Astronomical Tables (zījes)7.1 Introduction: the Eastern Input in al-Andalus7.2 A General Survey of Andalusī and Maghribī zījes7.3 Maghribī zījes: the School of Ibn Isḥāq7.4 Other Maghribī zījes7.5 The Introduction of Eastern zījes in the Maghrib7.6 Zījes in the Christian Kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula7.7 Almanacs and Ephemerides7.8 ConclusionsBibliographyIndex of Parameters and Numerical ValuesIndex of Names and Subjects