Alberto Bardi on "Comparing Greek and Latin Astronomical Literature"

Alberto Bardi is a research scholar at the Polonsky Academy for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. 

This lecture opens up a new scenario on the scientific exchanges between Christians, Muslims, and Jews in astronomical studies in the Eastern Mediterranean in the first half of the 15th century. This topic will be explored by analyzing the manuscript Marcianus latinus VIII 31, a 15th century codex from Crete richly testifying such cross-cultural contacts, thus mirroring how different cultures were facing questions on life, cosmos, nature, and moral responsibility. The main content of this manuscript is a Latin version of a Greek handbook on how to use a set of astronomical tables stemming from Islamic sources. The translation from Greek into Latin will be object of special consideration, alongside methodological problems and research strategies.

Cosponsored by the Department of Italian and Italian Studies, Comparative Literature, and the Department of Greek, Latin and Classical Studies.