Behaviour - BRILL

(0)

[i]

The Astrolabe

An ancient instrument for solving problems of location and distance, as well as time

Astrolábon órganon is the word used in Ptolemaeus Syntaxis 5.1 to describe a form of armillary sphere consisting of both fixed and rotating rings for determining the ecliptic co-ordinates of stars. Also called astrolabe were two-dimensional representations of the celestial sphere: over fixed disks with a representation of the horizon of the earth (in each case for a specific geographic latitude) and its parallels up to the zenith lies a rotating representation of the heavens (called ‘spider’ or ‘net’) with zodiac and indicators for some of the brightest stars. On the back is an indicator (‘alidade’) with visor plates for calculating the height of the stars. The astrolabe allows its user to determine the hours of day and night, the positions of stars, and the height and depth of objects on earth (mountains, buildings, wells). The oldest extant descriptions of the flat, planispheric astrolabe come from Iohannes Philoponus, 6th century AD, and (in Syrian) from Severus Sebokht, c. 660 AD. Indirect references may date back as early as Theon (4th cent.). Between the 8th and the 9th centuries the Arabs appropriated the knowledge of the astrolabe. At the end of the 10th century and again in the 12th century, they passed it on to Western Europe, where astrolabes were constructed up until the 17th cent. Today, one Byzantine astrolabe (from 1062) is extant, as are some 750 Arabic-Islamic astrolabes and approximately the same number of European astrolabes.

This information is abstracted from Brill's New Pauly, the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. For more information see www.brillsnewpauly.com or visit our website catalog: www.brill.nl/bnp
Brill’s New Pauly and the complete original Der Neue Pauly, the recognized standard reference works for students and scholars of the ancient world are also available online. This dual-language edition offers basic and advanced search facilities and is fully browsable. New English translations are added as they become available. See www.paulyonline.brill.nl for more information and a demo version.

Close

Publications & Services> Books> Book Series> Behaviour

Behaviour

Managing Editors: P.C.H. Albers (Groningen, The Netherlands) and B.D. Wisenden (Moorhead, MN, USA)

Journals


ISSN:	0005-7959
E-ISSN:	1568-539X

Current:	Volume 146 (2009)
Number of Issues:	12
List price Institutions:	€ 1080.00 / US$ 1588.00
List price institutions online only:	€ 972.00 / US$ 1429.00

Editorial Board

Technical Editor P.C.H. Albers Groningen, The Netherlands Associate Editors Th.C.M. Bakker Bonn, Germany H. Brumm Starnberg, Germany M. Butovskaya Moscow, Russia R. Cocroft Columbia, MO, USA M. Eens Antwerpen, Belgium T. Groothuis Groningen, The Netherlands J. Heinze Regensnburg, Germany K. Hogendoorn Adelaide, Australia S. Kaiser Münster, Germany K. Karino Tokyo, Japan S. MacDougall-Shackleton London, Ontario, Canada J.H. Manson Los Angeles, CA, USA M. Morris Athens, OH, USA R. Pinxten Antwerpen, Belgium B.A. Schulte Statesboro,GA, USA D. Shutler Wolfville, NS, Canada B. Thierry Strasbourg, France T. Uller Oxford, UK

Abstracting & Indexing

Abstracts in Anthropology Abstracts of Mycology AgBiotech News and Information Agricultural Engineering Abstracts Animal Behaviour Abstracts Animal Breeding Abstracts Applied Ecological Abstracts Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts (Part 1 & 2) Bibliography and Index of Geology Bio Control News & Information Biological Abstracts BIOSIS Previews Chemical Abstracts Current Contents Dairy Science Abstract Entomology Abstracts Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management e-psyche (ceased) Field Crop Abstracts Food Science & Technical Abstracts Forestry Abstracts Helmithological Abtracts Horticultural Abstracts Index to Scientific Reviews Index Veterinarius Key Word Index of Wildlife Research M L A International Bibliography of Books & Articles on the Modern Languages and Literatures MEDLINE Nematological Abstracts Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews Pig News & Info Postharvest News and Information Poultry Abstracts Protozoological Abstracts PsycInfo Psychological Abstracts Research Alert (Philadelphia) Review of Agricultural Entomoloyg & Review of Medical and Veterinary Entomology Review of Medical & Veterinary Mycology Rice Abstracts Russian Academy of Sciences Bibliographies Science Citation Index SCOPUS Social Sciences Citation Index Soils & Fertilizers Sport Fisheries Abstracts (now: Fisheries Review) Tropical Diseases Bulletin Veterinary Bulletin Wildlife Review Abstracts Zoological Records

Instructions for Author(s)

Back Volumes

Behaviour, Volume 144 (2007)

Behaviour, Volume 145 (2008)

Go to Online Edition (new window)

Call for Papers – Special Issue on Dispersal and Sociality. For details click here NOW AVAILABLE - Online submission: Articles for publication in Behaviour can be submitted online through Editorial Manager, please click here.
BEHAVIOUR publishes original research pursuing Tinbergen’s four questions and questions resulting from the interrelationship among the four. In addition, the editorial board encourages reviews of behavioural biology that illuminate emergent trends and new directions in behavioural research. Niko Tinbergen (1907-1988) defined 4 questions for research in behavioral biology: Proximate causation of behaviour: 1. How does an animal use its sensory and motor abilities to activate and modify its behaviour patterns? (physiological mechanisms) 2. How does an animal’s behaviour change during its growth, especially in response to the experiences that it has while maturing? (ontogeny of development) Ultimate causation of behaviour: 3. How does the behaviour promote an animal’s ability to survive and reproduce? (adaptation) 4. How does an animal’s behaviour compare with that of other closely related species, and what does this tell us about the origins of its behavior and the changes that have occurred during the history of the species? (phylogeny) Niko Tinbergen shared, with Konrad Lorenz and Karl von Frisch, the 1973 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology for contributions to the study of behavioural biology. Tinbergen was at heart an experimentalist who, more than Lorenz and von Frisch, applied the scientific method to the field of animal and human behaviour. It is his experimental approach to the study of behaviour that lasts to this day. That is why Tinbergen listed questions and not answers (theorems or laws). The answers (or at least some of them) are published monthly in BEHAVIOUR, the journal Tinbergen co-founded with W. H. Thorpe in 1948. Thomson Scientific’s Journal Citations Report for 2008 ranks Behaviour with an Impact Factor of 1.556. The editorial board of Behaviour wishes to state unequivocally that it is not our policy to influence the Impact Factor in any way that could be regarded unethical.

See also Tinbergen’s Legacy in Behaviour: Sixty Years of Landmark Stickleback Papers, by Frank von Hippel: http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=31167

This title is included in the HINARI programme.

For back volumes or issues older than 2 years, please contact: Periodicals Service Company, 11 Main Street, Germantown, NY 12526, USA psc@periodicals.com / www.periodicals.com/brill.html

	Print Version
	Recommendation

Extra

You can access supplementary media files for Behaviour here.

Media files with Behaviour volume 146, issue 1, article 1.