Journal of Early American History

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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> Journal of Early American History

Journal of Early American History

The American Colonies, 1500-1830

Edited by L.H. Roper, State University of New York—New Paltz, Bertrand Van Ruymbeke, Université de Paris VIII and Jaap Jacobs (independent scholar, The Netherlands)

Journals


ISSN:	1877-0223
E-ISSN:	1877-0703

Number of Issues:	3

Editorial Board

L.H. Roper, State University of New York—New Paltz Bertrand Van Ruymbeke, Université de Paris VIII Jaap Jacobs (independent scholar, The Netherlands) Sarah Barber, Lancaster University (U.K.) Max Edling, Uppsala University (Sweden) Gilles Havard, Centre de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris Paul Otto, George Fox University (U.S.A.) James Robertson, University of the West Indies, Mona Cècile Vidal, Centre d'Etudes Nord Américaines, L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris Matthew Ward (book review editor), University of Dundee (Scotland)

Instructions for Author(s)

NOW AVAILABLE - Online submission: Articles for publication in Journal of Early American History may be submitted online, please click here. The early modern colonization of the Americas ranks among the most influential developments that shaped the modern world. Between the initial exploratory European contacts with the Americas in the late fifteenth century and the eventual independence of American states from Europe lies the multifaceted development of small communities into large colonies, which drew upon their European inheritance and their New World experience and interaction with non-European cultures and societies to form distinctive cultures and identities. The peer-reviewed Journal of Early American History is dedicated to the advancement of scholarly understanding of the history of the colonization of the Americas and will appear three times annually. It offers explorations on any aspect of early American history to a broad audience of historians. These investigations may be conceived in the broadest way chronologically, geographically, and thematically, whether in explicitly comparative studies, or by the grouping of studies. The editors invite manuscript submissions of between 25-45 pages (approximately 8,000-10,000 words), double-spaced (in English), which relate to topics related to any aspect of early American history, again broadly defined. The Journal of Early American History will also include in-depth review articles of 3000 words, covering four to six books published in the last five years.' Please send books for review to: Matthew Ward History School of Humanities University of Dundee Dundee DD1 4HN UK

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