Legal Challenges in Maritime Security

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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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Publications & Services> Books> Book Series> Legal Challenges in Maritime Security

Legal Challenges in Maritime Security

Edited by Myron H. Nordquist, Rüdiger Wolfrum, John Norton Moore and Ronán Long

Books

Available
Publication year: 2008


Series:	Center for Oceans Law and Policy, 12
ISBN-13 (i)The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) has been changed from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007:	978 90 04 16427 7
ISBN-10:	90 04 16427 8

Cover:	Other
Number of pages:	xviii, 594 pp.

List price:	€ 153.00 / US$ 226.00

Table of contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Distinguished Speaker Lectures Sponsored by the Center for Oceans Law & Policy

Fighting Terrorism at Sea: Options and Limitations Under International Law
Rüdiger Wolfrum

Combating Terrorism at Sea: The Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation
Helmut Tuerk

Conference Keynote Addresses
National and International Approaches to Maritime Security
Rear Admiral Gottfried A. W. Hoch (Germany)

Keynotes on Legal Challenges in Maritime Security
Rüdiger Clauß

Mare Liberum and Maritime Security: Contradiction or Complement?
Georg Witschel

Panel I: National and International Approaches to Maritime Security
Panel II: Cargo, Port and Supply Chain Security
Special Presentation on Iraq
Commander James Kraska, JAGC, USN
Panel III: International Maritime Security Needs and Initiatives
Panel IV: Piracy
Panel V: Maritime Information Sharing
Panel VI: Maritime Security Capacity Building

CD Table of Contents
Several presenters included slides, maps, or other visuals, most of them in PowerPoint presentations. Instead of incorporating all visuals in the printed text, the editors chose to include a CD that is found in the pocket inside the back cover. The CD features eight of the color Microsoft PowerPoint presentations given at the Conference (including the special presentation on the US rationale for intervention in Iraq), biographies of the moderators & panelists, and a selection of law of the sea documents and reports.
The editors hope that the readers will find it particularly helpful that the additional source materials on the CD include the 1982 UNCLOS treaty; the UN Fish Stocks Agreement; and a current list of Parties to the Convention and the Agreement. An especially important extra feature is a draft of the Cumulative Index to the six-volume series United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982: A Commentary (1985-2002), provided courtesy of H.E. Satya N. Nandan. We have also included important maritime security resources such as the SUA Convention (both original and amended versions), the US National Strategy for Maritime Security (and six of its supporting plans), IMO materials, and reports on the US Merchant Marine as well as the US Cooperative Strategy for 21st-Century Seapower.
US Rationale (Official) for Iraq Intervention

Maritime security is a major challenge for the international community that cuts across a broad spectrum of scholarly disciplines and maritime operation. This volume provides in-depth analysis of current international and regional approaches to maritime security, cargo, port and supply chain security, maritime information sharing and capacity building. The work describes measures in place at multilateral and regional levels to improve information sharing and operational coordination regarding security threats to shipping, offshore installations and port facilities. Several chapters address measures aimed at reducing acts of piracy and armed robbery against shipping at sea. This edited volume contains articles by government officials, senior naval and coast guard commanders as well as by leading jurists and academics.
One unique feature of this volume is that many of the contributions are by operational commanders with first–hand experience of the practical law enforcement problems involved in minimizing disruption to legitimate trade and business. This collection will appeal to all concerned with maritime security and the protection of vital international trade by sea. The CD accompanying the volume includes important documents such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as well many PowerPoint presentations from the thirty-first annual Virginia conference held in Heidelberg, Germany, May 24-26, 2007.

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