Societies Without Borders

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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> Societies Without Borders

Societies Without Borders

Human Rights & the Social Sciences

Edited by Judith Blau (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) and Farshad Araghi (Florida Atlantic University), Book Review Editor: Keri Iyall Smith

Journals


ISSN:	1871-8868
E-ISSN:	1872-1915

Current:	Volume 4 (2009)
Number of Issues:	3
List price Individuals:	€ 63.00 / US$ 93.00
List price Institutions:	€ 175.00 / US$ 257.00
List price institutions online only:	€ 158.00 / US$ 231.00

Editorial Board

J.I. (Hans) Bakker, University of Guelph Ruy Braga. University of São Paulo David Brunsma, University of Missouri, Colombia Michael Burawoy, University of California, Berkeley Craig Calhoun, Social Science Research Council Louis Edgar Esparza, Stony Brook University Walda Katz-Fishman, Howard University & Project South George Kent, University of Hawaii Ali Akbar Mahdi, Ohio Wesleyan University Joseph Mensah, York University Frances Fox Piven, Graduate Center, City University of New York Eunice Sahle, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Laura Toussaint, American University

Abstracting & Indexing

International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scholarly Literature in the Humanities and Social Sciences International Bibliography of Periodical Literature in the Humanities and Social Sciences International Bibliography of the Social Sciences International Political Science Abstracts Sociological Abstracts

Instructions for Author(s)

Table of contents

CONTENTS Welcome to new co-editor, Farshad Araghi 1 Articles MARK FREZZO AND FARSHAD ARAGHI, Exorcising the Specter of Development: Human Rights in the 21st Century 3 JOSEPH MENSAH, ‘Doing Religion’ Overseas: The Characteristics and Fun

Back Volumes

Societies Without Borders, Volume 2 (2007)

Societies Without Borders, Volume 3 (2008)

Go to Online Edition (new window)

What the world’s peoples have in common – notwithstanding the borders that divide them – is the aspiration to achieve human rights – the rights to food, housing, health care, education, decent work, free speech, to speak one’s conscience, as well as the right to a fair trial, to a safe environment, and the right to peace. What the world’s people are beginning to discover is that this aspiration is not only a common one, but it can only be pursued collectively in disregard of the borders that divide people. People may live in societies, derive their identities from their societies, but the pursuit of human rights is pursued and coordinated across borders. The journal, Societies without Borders, aims for high caliber scholarly analysis and also encourages submissions that address pioneering thought in human rights, globalism, and collective goods. Authors are cordially invited to submit articles to the journal editors Judith Blau and Farshad Araghi, and books for review to the Associate Editor Keri Iyall Smith. For more information visit also the journals’ website Sociologists Without Borders.

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