Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS, 2003, Volume 11 Tibetan Modernities

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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.

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Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS, 2003, Volume 11 Tibetan Modernities

Notes from the Field on Cultural and Social Change

Edited by Robert Barnett and Ronald Schwartz

Books

Available
Publication year: 2008


Series:	Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS, 2003, 11
ISBN-13 (i)The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) has been changed from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007:	978 90 04 15522 0
ISBN-10:	90 04 15522 8

Cover:	Hardback
Number of pages:	xxii, 458 pp.

List price:	€ 89.00 / US$ 132.00

Table of contents

CONTENTS
Maps and illustrations
Abbreviations
Preface
INTRODUCTION
Tibet and modernity - RONALD SCHWARTZ

PART 1 MODERNISATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE
Modernity, memory and agricultural modernisation in Central Tibet, 1950–1980 - EMILY T. YEH
The flow of wealth in Golok pastoralist society: Towards an assessment of local financial resources for economic development - SUSAN COSTELLO
Pollution and social networks in contemporary rural Tibet - HEIDI FJELD
Embodying the Nation: Childbirth in Contemporary Tibet - JENNIFER MARIE CHERTOW

PART 2 THE PEDAGOGY OF MODERNITY
Imaginaries of Ladakhi modernity - MARTIJN VAN BEEK
Schooling and ‘quality education’ in the Tibetan Diaspora and Tibet - ELLEN BANGSBO
A preliminary note on Chinese codeswitching in modern Lhasa Tibetan - KALSANG YESHE

PART 3 TWO ARTISTS ON CONTEMPORARY ART AND CINEMA
Twentieth century Tibetan painting - TSEWANG TASHI
Reflections on Tibetan film - CHENAKTSHANG DORJE TSERING (JANGBU)

PART 4 NEW MEDIA, NEW PUBLIC SPACE
Dancing to the beat of modernity: The rise and development of Tibetan pop music - YANGDON DHONDUP
Blue Lake: Tibetan popular music, place and fantasies of the nation - ANNA STIRR
newtibet.com: Citizenship as agency in a virtual Tibetan public - TASHI RABGEY
Authenticity, secrecy and public space: Chen Kuiyuan and representations of the Panchen Lama reincarnation dispute of 1995 - ROBERT BARNETT

Appendix: Books and Dissertations on 20th Century Tibet
Contributors
Index

Readership

Academic libraries, Asian Studies and social science institutes and scholars of Tibetan studies.

About the author(s)

Robert Barnett Ph.D. (2003) in Oriental Studies, Cambridge University is the Adjunct Professor in Contemporary Tibetan Studies at Columbia University, New York. His publications include Lhasa: Streets with Memories (Columbia, 2006) and Resistance and Reform in Tibet (Hurst and University of Indiana , 1994).
Ronald Schwartz Ph.D. (1977) in Sociology, University of Toronto, is Professor of Sociology at Memorial University, St Johns, Newfoundland, and author of numerous works including Circle of Protest (Hursts and Columbia, 1994).

This is the first major publication in the West to study modernity and its impact on contemporary Tibet. Based on field work by researchers from the fields of anthropology, sociology, environmental science, literature, art and linguistics, it presents essays on education, economics, childbirth, environment, caste, pop music, media and painting in Tibetan communities today. The findings emerge from studies carried out in Ladakh, Golok, Lhasa, Xining, Shigatse and other areas of the Tibetan world. It will provide important and sometimes surprising results for students of Tibet, China, Himalayan studies, as well as an important contribution to our understandings of modernity and development in the modern world.

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