The beginning of the 20th century has witnessed a significant development that has renewed and stimulated the long passionate historical relationship between two great civilisations which are traditionally known as the West and the East. Following their ancestors who cultivated the quest for knowledge tradition, some Arab scholars have come to leading European countries to learn the latest advancement in knowledge. They did not expect they would be confronted with what seems to be the poor showing of their scientific and (...) cultural heritage according to the assessment that was carried out in the previous century by Western scholars and historians. The Western study of the Eastern heritage had such influence that it has generated new Arab intellectual elite which blames the past for the present difficulties. Following the discovery of major scientific Arabic works in the second half of the 20th century, some Arab scholars like Ibrahim Madkour realised that they had in fact just misunderstood their own tradition. What is the source of their misunderstanding? How did they become aware of it? And how can a better understanding of the past change present attitudes and guide future actions? By attempting to provide some answers to such questions, the aim of this paper is to shed light on what seems to be a turning point in modern Arabic intellectual history. (shrink)

This paper surveys the results established so far by the on-going research on the planetary theories in Arabic astronomy. The most important results of the Maragha astronomers are gathered here for the first time, and new areas for future research are delineated. The conclusions reached demonstrate that the Arabic astronomical works mentioned here not only elaborate the connection between Arabic astronomy and Copernicus, but also that such activities, namely the continuous reformulation of Greek astronomy, were not limited to a specific (...) group of astronomers or to a specific geographical area. It is shown that such activities were spread over a period of more than seven hundred years, from the early eleventh till the sixteenth century, and over an area stretching from the Andalusian peninsula in the west to the farthest reaches of Central Asia in the east. L'auteur expose, dans cet article, les résultats établis jusqu'ici par les recherches en cours concernant les théories planétaires de l'astronomie arabe. Les résultats les plus importants relatifs aux astronomes de Maragha sont rassemblés ici pour la première fois et le contour de nouveaux domaines pour la recherche future s'y trouve délimité. Les conclusions auxquelles on parvient dans cet article montrent d'une part que les oeuvres en astronomie mentionnées nous permettent de mieux saisir la liaison entre l'astronomie arabe et celle de Copernic, d'autre part que l'activité de reformulation continue de l'astronomie grecque ne fut limitée ni à un groupe spécifique d'astronomes, ni à une aire géographique déterminée. On montre ici qu'une telle activité s'est en fait étendue sur une période de plus de sept siécles, depuis le début du Xle siècle jusqu'au XVIe siècle, et sur une aire allant de la péninsule andalouse à l'Ouest jusqu'aux confins les plus éloignés de l'Asie centrale à l'Est. (shrink)

This paper surveys the results established so far by the on-going research on the planetary theories in Arabic astronomy. The most important results of the Maragha astronomers are gathered here for the first time, and new areas for future research are delineated. The conclusions reached demonstrate that the Arabic astronomical works mentioned here not only elaborate the connection between Arabic astronomy and Copernicus, but also that such activities, namely the continuous reformulation of Greek astronomy, were not limited to a specific (...) group of astronomers or to a specific geographical area. It is shown that such activities were spread over a period of more than seven hundred years, from the early eleventh till the sixteenth century, and over an area stretching from the Andalusian peninsula in the west to the farthest reaches of Central Asia in the east. (shrink)