The Possibilities of Transnational Activism: the Campaign for Disarmament between the Two World Wars

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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> The Possibilities of Transnational Activism: the Campaign for Disarmament between the Two World Wars

The Possibilities of Transnational Activism: the Campaign for Disarmament between the Two World Wars

Thomas Richard Davies, City University, London

Books

Available
Publication year: 2007


Series:	History of International Relations, Diplomacy, and Intelligence, 2
ISBN-13 (i)The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) has been changed from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007:	978 90 04 16258 7
ISBN-10:	90 04 16258 5

Cover:	Hardback
Number of pages:	xii, 284 pp.

List price:	€ 99.00 / US$ 147.00

Table of contents

PART I: PURPOSE AND METHOD
1. Transnational Activism: Untested Assertions
2. The Interwar Disarmament Campaign: A Test Case

PART II: BACKGROUND TO THE DISARMAMENT CAMPAIGN
3. Roots, Precursors and Precedents
4. Composition

PART III: EVOLUTION OF THE DISARMAMENT CAMPAIGN
5. The Emergence of the Interwar Disarmament Movement, 1919 to 1925
6. The Preparatory Commission and the Development of Disarmament Activism,
1926 to 1930

PART IV: THE WORLD DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE
7. Preparations for the World Disarmament Conference, 1931
8. The World Disarmament Conference: The First Six Months, February to July 1932
9. The International Consultative Group and the Collapse of the World Disarmament
Conference, July 1932 to October 1933

PART V: ASSESSMENT – THE POSSIBILITIES OF TRANSNATIONAL ACTIVISM
10. Impact of the Disarmament Campaign
11. Testing the Factors Affecting Impact
12. Summary of Conclusions

APPENDICES
I.The Principal Associations
II.The Principal Activists
III.Organisations that Participated in the Trocadéro Conference
IV.Organisations that Participated in the Interorganization Council on Disarmament
V.The Women’s Disarmament Petition
VI.The ‘Budapest’ Resolution

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reviews

'Davies’s account is based on an impressively vast array of source material from Britain, the United States and France. He has produced an extremely lucid account. Throughout the book, Davies is an author who remains in remarkable control of the vast material he covers, stands as an exemplar of analytical clarity'
Holger Nehring. H-Soz-u-Kult ,

Readership

Researchers, students and everyone with an interest in transnational history and politics, twentieth century international history, international relations, globalization, non-governmental organizations, and peace studies.

About the author(s)

Thomas Richard Davies is Lecturer in International Politics at City University, London, where he conducts research into transnational politics and history.
He has also been a Research Fellow at St Antony’s College and a Lecturer at St Catherine’s and New Colleges in the University of Oxford. Dr Davies was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and his doctoral thesis was awarded the British International History Group Thesis Prize.

International non-governmental organisations and transnational activism are a prominent feature of contemporary world politics. This book sheds uniquely valuable historical light on these phenomena by providing an in-depth study of one of the most substantial international non-governmental campaigns ever to have been undertaken: the campaign for disarmament that took place between the two World Wars, which mobilised organisations that claimed a combined membership as high as half of the population of the world at the time. Based on extensive research into more than eighty governmental and non-governmental archives in five countries, this book forces us to reconsider our assumptions about the possibilities and limits of transnational civil society.

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