Hellenistic Astronomy

The Science in Its Contexts
Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-90-04-24336-1
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, 752 Seiten, Format (B × H): 162 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 1264 g

Reihe: Brill's Companions to Classical Studies

In Hellenistic Astronomy: The Science in Its Contexts, new essays by renowned scholars address questions about what the ancient science of the heavens was in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean worlds, and the numerous contexts in which it was pursued. Together, these essays will enable readers not only to understand the technical accomplishments of this ancient science but also to appreciate their historical significance by locating the questions, challenges, and issues inspiring them in their political, medical, philosophical, literary, and religious contexts.

Winner of the 2020 Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bowen, Alan C

Rochberg, Francesca

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike Hellenismus

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations and Tables
List of Abbreviations

0 Prolegomena to the Study of Hellenistic Astronomy
Alan C. Bowen and Francesca Rochberg

Part A Technical Requirements

1 The Celestial Sphere
Clemency Montelle

2 Methods of Reckoning Time
Robert Hannah

Chapter 3 Quantitative Tools
3.1 Techniques of Measurement and Computation
Mathieu Ossendrijver

3.2 Planar and Spherical Trigonometry
Glen Van Brummelen

Chapter 4 Theory of the Sun, Moon, and Planets
4.1 Fundamentals of Planetary Theory
Nathan Sidoli

4.2 Hypothesis in Greco-Roman Astronomy
Alan C. Bowen

4.3 Some Early Hypotheses in Greco-Roman Astronomy
Alan C. Bowen

4.4 The Ptolemaic Planetary Hypotheses
James C. Evans

4.5 The Hellenistic Theory of Eclipses
Clemency Montelle

4.6 Hellenistic Babylonian Planetary Theory
Mathieu Ossendrijver

4.7 The Babylonian Contribution to Greco-Roman Astronomy
Francesca Rochberg

4.8 Hellenistic Egyptian Planetary Theory
Micah T. Ross

Part B Observations, Instruments, and Issues

Chapter 5 Observational Foundations
5.1 The Observational Foundations of Babylonian Astronomy
Lis Brack-Bernsen

5.2 Experience and Observation in Hellenistic Astronomy
Richard L. Kremer

Chapter 6 Astronomical Instruments
6.1 Hellenistic Surveying Instruments
Tracey E. Rihll

6.2 Hellenistic Maps and Lists of Places
Klaus Geus

6.3 Star-Lists from the Babylonians to Ptolemy
Gerd Graßhoff

6.4 Ptolemy’s Instruments
Dennis W. Duke

Chapter 7 Thematic Questions
7.1 Issues in Hellenistic Egyptian Astronomical Writings
Anthony Spalinger

7.2 The Texts and Aims of Babylonian Astronomy
Hermann Hunger

7.3 Issues in Greco-Roman Astronomy of the Hellenistic Period
Alan C. Bowen

Part C Contexts

8 The Professional ??t???????
Wolfgang Hübner

Chapter 9 Hellenistic Astronomy in Public Service
9.1 The Sundial and the Calendar
Robert Hannah

9.2 The Antikythera Mechanism
James C. Evans

9.3 Hellenistic Astronomy in Medicine
Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum

Chapter 10 Hellenistic Astronomy in Literature
10.1 Aratus and the Popularization of Hellenistic Astronomy
Stamatina Mastorakou

10.2 The Authority of the Roman Heavens
Alfred Schmid

Chapter 11 Hellenistic Astronomy in the Training and Work of Priests
11.1 Hellenistic Astronomy and the Egyptian Priest
Alexandra von Lieven

11.2 Hellenistic Astronomy and the Babylonian Scribal Families
Mathieu Ossendrijver

Chapter 12 Astral Divination and Natal Astrology
12.1 The Hellenistic Horoscope
Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum

12.2 Hellenistic Babylonian Astral Divination and Nativities
Francesca Rochberg

12.3 Hellenistic Horoscopes in Greek and Latin: Contexts and Uses
Stephan Heilen

12.4 Demotic Horoscopes
Micah T. Ross

Chapter 13 Theological Contexts
13.1 Hellenistic Astronomy in Early Judaic Writings
James C. VanderKam

13.2 Astral Divination in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Helen R. Jacobus

13.3 Hellenistic Astronomy in Early Christianities
Nicola Denzey Lewis

13.4 Cosmology in Mandaean Texts
Siam Bhayro

13.5 Astral Discourse in the Philosophical Hermetica (Corpus Hermeticum)
Christian Wildberg

Chapter 14 Hellenistic Astronomy in the Philosophical Schools
14.1 Astronomy and Divination in Stoic Philosophy
Giuseppe Cambiano

14.2 Plotinus on the Motion of the Stars
James Wilberding

Historical Glossary of Important Terms in Hellenistic Astronomy
Bibliography
Index of Passages
Index of Names
Index of Subjects

Über Autor(innen)

Alan C. Bowen, Ph.D. (1977: Philosophy, University of Toronto), is Director of the Institute for Research in Classical Philosophy and Science. He has published numerous books and articles in the history of ancient Greek and Roman science and philosophy.

Francesca Rochberg, Ph.D. (1980: Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago) is Catherine and William L. Magistretti
Distinguished Professor of Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She has published widely in the history of Babylonian celestial divination, astrology, and astronomy.

Contributors are:

Siam Bhayro, Alan C. Bowen, Lis Brack-Bernsen, Giuseppe Cambiano, Nicola F. Denzey-Lewis, Dennis W. Duke, James C. Evans, Klaus Geus, Gerd Grasshoff, Dorian G. Greenbaum, Robert Hannah, Stephan Heilen, Wolfgang Hübner, Hermann Hunger, Helen Jacobus, Richard L. Kremer, Alexandra von Lieven, Stamatina Mastorakou, Clemency Montelle, Mathieu Ossendrijver, Tracey E. Rhill, Francesca Rochberg, Micah T. Ross, Alfred Schmid, Nathan C. Sidoli, Anthony Spalinger, Glen Van Brumelen, James C. Vanderkam, James Wilberding, Christian Wilder