Draft: this lesson was written with AI help and has not yet been read by a human editor.
1 What your class asks
This lesson asks you to understand what scientific inquiry was in the classical world and why it mattered. The museum offers three names from Arabic sources, Euclid, Archimedes and Ptolemy, with what those sources say about their books. The other thinkers named in the expectation, and the content of their work, are for your class to bring. 1
Curriculum expectations, with their official codes
- D1.2 demonstrate an understanding of the nature and importance of scientific inquiry in the classical world […]
2 Before you start
A thought to carry into the lesson.
3 The lesson
What did they study, and what survives?
For each author, list the books the source names and the field each belongs to, then ask which survive and how we know. Compare what the source says about the author with what you can say about the books.
Go deeper
See what Arabic readers did with a Greek book. In the record of Euclid, Ibn al-Nadim counts him among the mathematical philosophers, as earlier than Archimedes and others, and names his book on the principles of geometry "al-Istarushiya". 2 He then names those who commented on it: Ayun commented on it and explained its doubts, and al-Nayrizi wrote a commentary; al-Jawhari has a commentary from its beginning to its end, and al-Mahani wrote a commentary on the fifth treatise. 2 The record names the commentators and does not say what they wrote.
Often misunderstood
A report of burned books can be read as a report that Archimedes was lost. The record is more careful. Ibn al-Nadim relates from a reliable source that the Byzantines burned fifteen loads of the books of Archimedes. He then lists those that survive, among them the book of the sphere and the cylinder, the book on squaring the circle, and the book on triangles. 3 The burning is reported on the word of a reliable source, not on Ibn al-Nadim's own sight, and the record does not say who that source was.
How do we know?
The witnesses are not one. For Euclid and Archimedes the record relies on Ibn al-Nadim's Fihrist; for Euclid it names translators and commentators, and for Archimedes it passes on a report from a reliable source. 2 3 For Ptolemy, al-Mas'udi is the witness: he mentions him among the first who advanced in the sciences of the heavens before those who came after Islam, as author of the "Almagest" and the "Geography", in which he counted four thousand two hundred cities. 4 What the records hold are titles and reports of reading, not the books themselves.
Think about it
The record gives a report of fifteen burned loads of Archimedes and a list of his books that survive. What can a reader conclude from such a list about what Archimedes wrote, and what would you want to see to be sure, and why?
Into the museum
- Uqlidis (Euclid): his book, its translators and its commentators in the Fihrist.
- Arshimidis (Archimedes): the report of the burning and the list of the books that survive.
- Batlamus (Ptolemy): his two books as al-Mas'udi names them.
Try this
Read Uqlidis, Arshimidis and Ptolemy. Make a table with three columns: author, books named, field.
4 Carry it further
Where this lesson leads in the museum.
5 Check yourself
Nothing here is marked or sent anywhere. It is for you.
In your own words: what does Uqlidis have to do with this lesson?
Compare with the card
The author of the Principles. Ibn al-Nadim counts Euclid among the mathematical philosophers, and as earlier than Archimedes and others. His book on the principles of geometry was translated twice by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ibn Matar, the Ma'munian translation being the one on which people rely, and al-Mahani wrote a commentary on its fifth treatise. How does a field of inquiry stay alive after its founder?
In your own words: what does Arshimidis have to do with this lesson?
Compare with the card
Books burned, books kept. Ibn al-Nadim relates from a reliable source that the Byzantines burned fifteen loads of Archimedes' books. He lists those that survive, among them the book of the sphere and the cylinder, the book on squaring the circle, and the book on triangles. What can you learn about a scientist from the titles of his surviving books?
I can now