The Lighthouse and the Observatory: Islam, Science, and Empire in Late Ottoman Egypt

ISBN-13: 9781107196339 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 330 str.

Daniel A. Stolz

Opis

An observatory and a lighthouse form the nexus of this major new investigation of science, religion, and the state in late Ottoman Egypt. Astronomy, imperial bureaucrats, traditionally educated Muslim scholars, and reformist Islamic publications, such as The Lighthouse, are linked to examine the making of knowledge, the performance of piety, and the operation of political power through scientific practice. Contrary to ideas of Islamic scientific decline, Muslim scholars in the nineteenth century used a dynamic tradition of knowledge to measure time, compute calendars, and predict planetary positions. The rise of a 'new astronomy' is revealed to owe much to projects of political and religious reform: from the strengthening of the multiple empires that exercised power over the Nile Valley; to the 'modernization' of Islamic centers of learning; to the dream of a global Islamic community that would rely on scientific institutions to coordinate the timing of major religious duties.

Recenzje

'The Lighthouse and the Observatory should be required reading for historians of science of the long nineteenth century as well as for scholars of modern Egypt … The Lighthouse and the Observatory is a clear-eyed demonstration of the fact that while scientific ideas, practices, and technologies might circulate throughout different regions of the globe, histories of science are made through their articulations in specific geographies, knowledge practices, politics, and broader cultural concerns.' Jennifer L. Derr, American Historical Review

Spis treści

List of figures and tables; Acknowledgements; Note on chronology and transliteration; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Geographies of Knowledge: 1. The deaf Shaykh: scholarly astronomy in late Ottoman-Egyptian society; 2. Astronomers and pashas: viceregal imperialism and the making of state astronomy; Part II. Objects of Translation: 3. Positioning the watch hand: ʿUlamaʾ and the making of mechanical timekeeping in Cairo; 4. Positioning the planets: translating French planetary tables as Ottoman-Islamic knowledge; Part III. Islam, Science, and Authority: 5. The orbits of print: astronomy and the ordering of science and religion in the Arabic press; 6. The measure of piety: making prayer times uniform; 7. Different standards: the Ramadan debates and the establishment of lunar crescent observation; Conclusion; Appendix. Introduction to Muhammad al-Khudari's Sharh al-Lumʿa fi Hall al-Kawakib al-Sabʿa; Bibliography.