scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1110562

Publication date 27 January 1998

History of Chinese mathematics (01A25) History of mathematics in the Golden Age of Islam (01A30)

In this contribution to the festschrift composed in honor of E. Kennedy, the author surveys what is known about the presence of Islamic astronomy in China, which is documented mainly from the Mongol period (13th century) onwards. The institution of an Islamic observatory in Peking in 1271 went along with the building of several Islamic instruments, the use of which constituted the main influence ``Western astronomy had on its Chinese counterpart at the time: the computation of the Chinese calendar, performed after Kublai ordered the reform in 1276, does not betray any other influence from the West. After the overthrow of the Mongols, Islamic astronomers went on working at the Chinese Imperial Court to establish the Islamic calendar. However, it does not seem that these scientists had exchanges with their Chinese colleagues. The Court's awareness of the high value of ``Western (Islamic) astronomy resulted in having several books on the topic translated in Chinese. The author sketches their content, shows how they are situated in the tradition of Ptolemaic astronomy, but concludes on the little impact they were in fact to have in China. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0881.00050].

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