Mathematical Instrumentation in Fourteenth-Century Egypt and Syria: The Illustrated Treatise of Najm Al-Din Al-Misri

This volume contains the critical edition with English translation of a richly-illustrated Arabic treatise on the construction of over 100 various astronomical instruments, many of which are otherwise unknown to specialists. It was composed by Najm al-Din al-Misri, a rather shadowy figure, in Cairo, c.1330. The edition is accompanied by a detailed technical and historical commentary, which is framed as a self-standing essay on Islamic mathematical instrumentation. While this essay/commentary is mainly based on Najm al-Din's treatise, it also benefits from the consultation of a large number of previously unstudied manuscripts, and includes a discussion of all relevant sources from the period 800-1500.