Mathematical geography in the western Islamic world: geographical coordinates of localities in the al-Maghreb and al-Andalus localities (9th-18th centuries)

• Autores: Eric Mercier
• Localización: Suhayl: journal for the history or the exact and natural sciences in Islamic Civilisation, ISSN 1576-9372, Nº. 18 (International Journal for the History of the Exact and Natural Sciences in Islamic Civilisation), 2020-2021, págs. 25-49
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The analysis of Maghrebi and Andalusi geographical coordinates extracted from the book by Kennedy & Kennedy’s «Geographical coordinates of localities from Islamic sources» (1987) allows a renewed vision of mathematical geography in these regions. We show the major role of al-Khwārizmī (9th century) in correcting Ptolemy’s erroneous data and in creating the Arab system. In particular, we show that it was this scholar who introduced what would later be called the «meridian of water». The subsequent authors (37 sources examined) made global and local improvements that were very generally unsuccessful over time.