Spatial Vision

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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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Spatial Vision

An international journal on computation, perception, attention and action

Editors-in-Chief: Dov Sagi (Rehovot, Israel) and Adam Reeves (Boston, MA, USA)

Journals


ISSN:	0169-1015
E-ISSN:	1568-5683

Current:	Volume 22 (2009)
Number of Issues:	6
List price Individuals:	€ 166.00 / US$ 244.00
List price Institutions:	€ 478.00 / US$ 703.00
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Associate Editors W.F. Bischof Edmonton, Alberta P. Cavanagh Cambridge, MA M. Ferraro Turin A. Gorea Paris M. Landy New York Z.-L. Lu Los Angeles, CA B. Pinna Sassari J.M. Wolfe Cambridge, MA S.W. Zucker New Haven, CT Editorial Advisory Board S.-I. Amari Saitama H.B. Barlow Cambridge, UK T. Caelli Canberra D.H. Foster Manchester N. Graham New York, NY R.L. Gregory Bristol J.J. Koenderink Utrecht T. Poggio Cambridge, MA D.M. Regan North York, Ont. R.J. Watt Stirling N. Weisstein Buffalo, NY G. Westheimer Berkeley, CA

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Spatial Vision, Volume 20 (2007)

Spatial Vision, Volume 21 (2008)

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NOW AVAILABLE - Online submission: Articles for publication in Spatial Vision can be submitted online through Editorial Manager, please click here. Aims and Scope Spatial Vision is an interdisciplinary journal aimed at the encouragement of communication between researchers on all aspects of human and mammalian vision, including mathematical modeling and computational analysis, the biophysics of vision, the psychophysical analysis of visual processing, the study of perception and action, and the cognitive aspects of vision. Submission of theoretical and empirical papers is encouraged, as well as reviews of major topics. Theoretical contributions should be firmly based on experimental data, and mathematical arguments should be clearly presented and sufficiently illustrated to be useful to the experimentalist, with details placed in appendices. Experimental papers should be theoretically relevant. Review articles should emphasize the development of ideas in the field. Short communications and technical notes that draw attention to significant new developments or innovations in technique are also welcome, as are Commentaries by authors wishing to express their views on current issues. Special Issues dealing with a single topic will be announced frequently. Thomson Scientific’s Journal Citations Report for 2008 ranks Spatial Vision with an Impact Factor of 1.339. Members of the Vision Sciences Society can subscribe to the 2009 Volume of Spatial Vision at the special individual e-only member subscription rate of EUR 60 / US$ 88. For details click here This title is included in the HINARI programme. For back volumes or issues older than 2 years, please contact Periodicals Service Company, 11 Main Street, Germantown, NY 12526, USA psc@periodicals.com / www.periodicals.com/brill.html

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You can download supplementary data on "Special Issue on Unresolved Questions in Stereopsis" (SV21/6): here.