User:Ruud Koot/Arabic mathematics

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In the present case, the problems of the proper "historical" approach are further complicated by the difficulties of defining "Islamic" mathematics. One minor dispute is terminological: since "Islam" is primarily a religious term, it seems inappropriate to use it to qualify a science whch had very little to do with religion (especially when a number of its practitioners in the period in question were not Muslims). I prefer "Arabic," although that term too requires many qualifications. But, even when we allow "Islamic" to stand as a shorthand word for a cultural complex, we are still faced with the fact that the mathematics (like all the sciences) of that culture are simply a continuation of the Hellenistic Greek tradition. One of the most remarkable features of Islamic civilization was the way in whch it took over and continued, in a different language and mostly in a different geographical area, the scientific heritage of antiquity, which was moribund in the contemporary Byzantine Empire, and in so doing breathed new life into it. There are a number of brilliant achievements in Arabic mathematics, but it has to be viewed as the direct continuation of the Greek tradition (and indeed is unintelligible without that background). Thus making "Islamic mathematics" a separate subject of study is artificial. Berggren, a scholar with a notable record of investigation of previously unstudied medieval mathematical texts, is of course well aware of all this, and of necessity allots some space to laying out the ancient Greek background to the topics he treats. But I should have liked to have seen in the book a more forceful presentation of the essential unity of Greek and Arabic mathematics. On the contrary, where possible, he devotes a part of each chapter to "The Islamic Dimension," in which he attempts to show how the topic is related to peculiarly Islamic features of the civilization. These aspects are usually trivial, and in one case that classification is simply inappropriate. In the chapter on geometry, constructions with a "Rusty Compass" are attributed to the "Islamic Dimension." There are indeed some interesting problems in Arabic mathematics involving the use of a compass restricted to a fixed opening, but there is nothing peculiarly Islamic about this, and the basic idea, as usual, is of Greek origin (although, quite by chance, the one known detailed treatment of the subject from the Hellenistic period survives only in the Arabic translation of a Greek work). — Gerald J. Toomer on J. Lennert Berggren's Episodes in the Mathematics of Medieval Islam. (The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 95, No. 6. (Jun. - Jul., 1988), pp. 567-569)

Although many able authors have contributed valuable articles, the work as a whole is flawed, to such an extent that one hesitates to recommend it as a general reference on the subject for non-specialists. The flaws are of an editorial nature, and the first is the title chosen for the work. It is no disservice to Arabs (modern or medieval) to point-out that non-Arabs (principally Persians and Turks) also played important roles in the development of medieval Islamic science, and these roles should be acknowledged in the choice of title. "Islamic" is a very serviceable epithet and should have been used, rather than "Arabic," to describe the science being studied. — J. Lennart Berggren on Roshdi Rashed's Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science. (Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 120, No. 2. (Apr. - Jun., 2000), pp. 282-283.)

Wikipedia discussion

Category:Historical board games Category:Historical board games to Category:Board games involving history or Category:Board games set in history (or...)

Disambiguation. (Are these board games that are old but e.g. no longer played, or are they board games involving the old...?)

Rename to either, as nom. David Kernow (talk) 09:43, 14 May 2007 (UTC) Keep, reluctantly. Unfortunately, that's what these things are called. See, for example, this page of Origins Awards where, midway down, there's the "Historical Board Game of the Year."--Mike Selinker 10:58, 14 May 2007 (UTC) Keep. The name sucks, but the suggested renames suck more. If that's what they're called, that's what they're called. It's not up to Wikipedia to rename things for others. Doczilla 14:35, 14 May 2007 (UTC) Keep I agree with Doczilla. The renames sounds worse. This is not to say the current name is all that good. Bulldog123 18:12, 14 May 2007 (UTC) Keep - terminology is accepted and in use by the gaming community. Any other name would be artificial. -Sean Curtin 02:28, 15 May 2007 (UTC) Keep, reluctantly per discussion above. It's a confusing name, but there's no sign of a better one.--BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 13:05, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

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