An Investigation on the Qusta ibn Luqa's Translation of Heron's Treatise on Crane

Document Type : Research/Original/Reqular Article

Authors

1 Professor ofTarbiat Modares University

2 MA in History of Science, Tarbiat Modares University

Abstract

The Arabic translation of Heron's treatise on crane by Qusta ibn Luqa, in the absence of its Greek original, is among the most important texts on mechanics remained from the Islamic civilization. It was thought hitherto the extant manuscripts of this translation were limited to those available in Leiden, Britania and Manchester libraries. The authors of the present paper have found some manuscripts of the Arabic translation of Heron's treatise in Iran's libraries, in addition to several Persian treatises. These Arabic manuscripts are important for completing the works already undertaken by some orientalists such as Carra de Vaux, Nix and Schmidt. The Persian manuscripts were inspired by Qusta's translation. It is tried in the present paper to present a brief but comprehensive introduction of all of Qusta's manuscripts, in order to provide the necessary background for the future studies. The life of Heron has also been shortly investigated, especially to make the date of the original treatise of crane clear as it has been in a veil of obscurity.

Keywords


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