Science in Medieval Jewish Cultures

Cambridge University Press, 1/23/2012
EAN 9781107001459, ISBN10: 1107001455

Hardcover, 560 pages, 25.4 x 18 x 4.3 cm
Language: English

Science in Medieval Jewish Cultures provides the first comprehensive overview by world-renowned experts of what we know today of medieval Jews' engagement with the sciences. Many medieval Jews, whether living in Islamic or Christian civilizations, joined Maimonides in accepting the rationalist philosophical-scientific tradition and appropriated extensive bodies of scientific knowledge in various disciplines: astronomy, astrology, mathematics, logic, physics, meteorology, biology, psychology, science of language and medicine. The appropriated texts – in the original or in Hebrew translation – were the starting points for Jews' own contributions to medieval science and also informed other literary genres: religious-philosophical works, biblical commentaries and even Halakhic (legal) discussions. This volume's essays will provide readers with background knowledge of medieval scientific thought necessary to properly understand canonical Jewish scientific texts. Its breadth reflects the number and diversity of Jewish cultures in the Middle Ages and the necessity of considering the fortunes of science in each within its specific context.

Introduction Gad Freudenthal
Part I. The Greek-Arabic Scientific Tradition, Its Appropriation, Adaptation, and Development in Medieval Jewish Cultures, East and West
1. The assimilation of Greek-Arabic learning by medieval Jewish cultures
a brief bibliographic introduction Gad Freudenthal
2. Medieval Hebrew translations of philosophical and scientific texts
a chronological table Mauro Zonta
3. Arabic and Latin cultures as resources for the Hebrew translation movement
comparative considerations, both quantitative and qualitative Gad Freudenthal
4. The medieval Hebrew scientific book
production, circulation Malachi Beit-Arié
Part II. Individual Sciences as Studied and Practised by Medieval Jews
5. Logic
its roles in the curriculum and as the organon of science Charles H. Manekin
6. Astronomy among medieval Jews Bernard R. Goldstein
7. Interactions between Jewish and Christian astronomers in the Iberian peninsula José Chabás
8. Hebrew mathematics and Jewish culture in the Middle Ages Tony Lévy
9. Mathematical and physical optics in medieval Jewish scientific thought Eyah Meiron
10. The evolution of the genre of philosophical-scientific commentary
Hebrew supercommentaries on Aristotle's Physics Ruth Glasner
11. Latin scholastic influences on late-medieval Hebrew physics
the state of the art Mauro Zonta
12. Meteorology and zoology in medieval Hebrew science Resianne Fontaine
13. The mental faculties and the psychology of sleep and dreams Hagar Kahana-Smilansky
14. Toward a history of astrological literature in Hebrew
a bibliographical survey Reimund Leicht
15. Astrology among medieval Jews Shlomo Sela
16. Astral magic in medieval Hebrew thought Dov Schwartz
17. Medicine among medieval Jews
the science, the art, and the practice Carmen Caballero-Navas
18. Medieval alchemy in Hebrew
a noted absence Gad Freudenthal
19. The science of language in medieval Jewish thought Judith Olszowy-Schlanger
Part III. Scientific Knowledge in Context
20. Science in the Karaite communities Daniel Lasker
21. Science in the Jewish communities of the Byzantine cultural orbit
new perspectives Y. Tzvi Langermann
22. Science in medieval commentaries on the Bible James T. Robinson
23. Scientific elements in Kabbalah Hava Tirosh-Samuelson
24. History, language and the sciences in medieval Spain Eleazar Gutwirth.