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Loading... Alberuni's India (Norton Library (Paperback)) (edition 1971)by Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Bīrūnī (Author)
Work InformationAlberuni's India : an Account of the Religion, Philosophy, Literature, Geography, Chronology, Astronomy, Customs, Laws and Astrology of India about A.D. 1030 by Al-Biruni
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In 1017 A.D., Sultan Mahmud, ruler of a great empire in what is now Afghanistan and Iran, brought to his court at Ghazna many of the most brilliant scholars of the Islamic world. Among them was Alberuni (or Al Biruni), who was renowned as a mathematician, astronomer, and political philosopher.Alberuni's aim was to acquire an exact understanding of the Hindus' knowledge of the natural world, to make it possible for Muslims "to converse with the Hindus, and to discuss with them questions of religion, science, or literature, on the very basis of their own civilization." For thirteen years he traveled in North India, observing, questioning, and studying. The result was an account of Indian culture that is unique in its sympathetic understanding, shrewdness of observation, and probing analysis. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)915.4History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography of and travel in Asia Indian SubcontinentLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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But what if Newton had been born even earlier? This work suggests that it may not be better. From the thinking exhibited in this book, it is clear that Al Beruni had the mind of a great mathematician and physicist, but it is also clear he lacked earlier work to build on and create breakthroughs. Thus, he engages, for example, in complex trigonometric calculations to estimate the distance from the summit of the mythological Mount Meru to the horizon and using these calculations to show that the earth must be a sphere if the writings of Hindu scholars are correct. It's a splendidly mathematical approach to an absurd speculation, but it carries the mark of genius, which Al Beruni surely was.
Alberuni's India, claimed to be his masterpiece, is a dispassionate, and for the most part, non-judgmental exploration of Indian culture in the 11th century. There is a great deal of minutia about astrology, units of measure, and calculations of time, but these are interspersed with observations of Hindu philosophy and culture that are predictive of current scholarship.
This edition is an abridgment of a complete English translation that can be found online, but an examination of the full work indicates that the excisions by the editor are not overly zealous. Beyond its cultural and historical interest, Alberuni's India allows one to experience an exquisite mind operating in the obscure milieu of the Central Asian renaissance, with its strange blend of Islamic religiosity, Greek philosophy, and Indian proto-science. ( )