The Corpus of the Arabic Science of Weights: Textual Tradition, Theoretical Scope and Significance in the History of Mechanics

The lecture will present a general overview on the tradition of theoretical mechanics in Arabic classical science (9th-16th century), as I reconstructed it from unpublished manuscripts and analysed it as a transformation of mechanics, in which emerged the science of weights (ʿilm al-athqāl) as an independent branch, separated from the science of machines (‘ilm al- ḥiyal).
The lecture will be devoted to three main concerns: (1) The description of the textual tradition of the Arabic corpus of the science of weights - a tradition of scientific and technical treatises reconstituted from manuscripts, most of which were never published before. (2) The interpretation of the Arabic corpus of the science of weights as a transformation in the history of mechanics. Such a transformation was represented by the creation of an independent theoretical branch that evolved from ancient contributions and nourished the debate in physics until the advent of modern science. (3) In this light, a new interpretation of the history of medieval mechanics establishes tight links between the Arabic science of weights and the Latin scientia de ponderibus that emerged in the works of Jordanus (13th century). Hence, beyond cultural and linguistic boundaries, it becomes possible to write a unified and intercultural history of pre-modern mechanics.
Prof. Dr. Mohammed Abattouy is a professor of history and philosophy of science at the Mohammed Vth University in Rabat, Morocco. He specialized in the history of Arabic mechanics, in particular the manuscripts of the science of weights ('ilm al-athqal) which he reconstructed in full; currently he prepares this corpus for publication, with an English translation and commentary.