Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology

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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
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Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology

Edited by Christopher Key Chapple, Loyola Marymount University. Book review Editor: Whitney Bauman, Graduate Theological Union

Journals


ISSN:	1363-5247
E-ISSN:	1568-5357

Current:	Volume 14 (2010)
Number of Issues:	3
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Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief:

Christopher Key Chapple,
Department of Theological Studies,
University Hall 3763,
Loyola Marymount University,
Los Angeles,
California 90045,
USA
cchapple@lmu.edu

Reviews Editor:
Whitney A. Bauman
Assistant Professor of Religion and Science Department of Religious Studies
Florida International University
University Park, DM 302 Miami, FL 33199
U.S.A.
whitneyabauman@mac.com

Associate Editors:
Mary Evelyn Tucker, Yale University
John Grim, Yale University
Heather Eaton, St Paul's Seminary, Ottawa, Canada

Editorial Board:
Nurit Bird-David, University of Haifa (Social Anthropology) – J. Baird Callicott, University of North Texas (Environmental Philosophy) – Richard Clugston, Center for Respect for Life and Environment, Washington D.C. – John Cobb, School of Theology at Claremont (emeritus) (Philosophical Theology) – O.P. Dwivedi, University of Guelph (Political Studies) – Niels Einarsson, University of Akureyri (Anthropology) – J. Ronald Engel, Meadville-Lombard Theological School (Religion) – Erica Fudge, Middlesex University (Humanities) – Peter Harries-Jones, York University, Ontario (Ecological Epistemology) – Roger S. Gottlieb, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Philosophy) – Sonia Juvik, University of Hawai’i at Hilo (Geography) – Jay McDaniel, Hendrix College (Religious Studies) – Max Oelschlaeger, University of North Arizona (Philosophy and Religion Studies) – Francis O’Gorman, University of Leeds (English) – I.G. Simmons, University of Durham (emeritus) (Geography) – Bron Taylor, University of Florida, Gainesville (Social and Environmental Ethics) – Piers Vitebsky, University of Cambridge (Social Anthropology) – David Loy, Bunkyo University (International Studies) – Michael Whyte, University of Copenhagen (Anthropology) – Nina Witoszek, Oslo Univ./European Univ. in Florence (Cultural History)

Abstracting & Indexing

American Humanities Index Environment Abstracts Human Population & Natural Resource Management International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scolarly Literature Internationale Bibliographie der Zeitschriftenliteratur aus allen Gebieten des Wissens / International Bibliography of Periodicals from all Fields of Knowledge Science of Religion – Abstracts and Index of Recent Articles

Instructions for Author(s)

Table of contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME 10, no.3 Protestantism, Anxiety and Orientations to the Environment: Sweden as a Test Case for the Ideas of Richard Sennett Hilary Stanworth Nature Seen through the Eyes of Faith: Understandings among Seminarians Back Volumes

Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, Volume 12 (2008)

Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, Volume 13 (2009)

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Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology has as its focus the relationships between religion, culture and ecology worldwide. Articles discuss major world religious traditions, such as Islam, Buddhism or Christianity; the traditions of indigenous peoples; new religious movements; philosophical belief systems, such as pantheism, nature spiritualities and other religious and cultural worldviews in relation to the cultural and ecological systems.

Focussing on a range of disciplinary areas including Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Geography, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Sociology and Theology, the journal also presents special issues that center around one theme.

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