The astronomical activities that took place from the 8th to the 14th century in the
Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, and Moorish Spain.
Arab/Arabic is not meant as an ethnic but rather a linguistic term. In
fact a large number of Non-Arab scholars, mainly Persians, Mongols, and
Spanish people, wrote their works in Arabic. Even so, many astronomical
works were also produced in the other languages of this civilization,
especially Persian and in the later centuries Turkish. For example, the
main → zijs were originally written in Persian, a notable example being
the Zij of Ulugh Beg (c. A.D. 1394-1449), a landmark in precise
observations before the Renaissance. Therefore, the term Arabic astronomy is
misleading. It also creates a disparity with respect to Western scholars who wrote in Latin.
The term “Latin astronomy” is meaningless and
as far as these scholars are concerned, the Latin adjective is not specified. For example,
the expressions like “the Latin astronomer Copernicus,” “the Latin physicist
Newton,” or “the Latin philosopher Leibniz” are not used. See also
→ Islamic astronomy.
See also: M.E. arabik, from O.Fr. arabique, from L. Arabicus;
→ astronomy.
