The Arabic Version of Euclid's Optics: Edited and Translated with Historical Introduction and Commentary [Hardcover]

Elaheh Kheirandish (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0387985239 | ISBN-13: 978-0387985237 | Publication Date: December 21, 1998 | Edition: 1

Like all classical Greek texts on science, Euclid's works on optics initially came to the West mainly through medieval Arabic texts and commentaries. While several Greek versions of the Optika were discovered and translated as early as the sixteenth century, sorting out what may have been Euclid's original has not been easy. This book presents a critical translation of an Arabic texts and of Arabic commentaries on the text, and places the whole in a historical context. The Optics is particularly interesting in that Euclid's text was considerably transformed in the process of translation into Arabic "equivalents"; in addition, several of the Arabic editions of Euclid's text (c. 300 BC) contained liberal admixtures of a much later book by Ptolemy (c. 200 AD) of the same title. What was referred to as "Euclid's Optics," the "Kitab Uqlidis fi Ikhtilaf al-manazir," thus became as much an exposition of an Arabic version of a visual theory as a translation of Euclid's ideas on the subject. In preparing this edition, Dr. Kheirandish has thus not only sorted out the various manuscript versions of Al-Manazir, but also related and unrelated texts that were often confused with it.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Arabic (translation)
Original Language: Arabic

Product Details

• Hardcover: 550 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (December 21, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387985239
• ISBN-13: 978-0387985237
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,938,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An early work of mathematical physics, October 28, 2003

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Carl Slim (the factory) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Arabic Version of Euclid's Optics: Edited and Translated with Historical Introduction and Commentary (Hardcover)

This arabic translation (translated into English, of course) lacks the easily accesible style of "The Elements", and the book is much smaller. The method is much the same as in "The Elements"-logical steps to solve optical problems, in a basically geometrical manner.
All propositions (as in "Elements") are still true (the laws of optics have not changed), and therefore this is a worthwhile science text even now. There are of course other branches of optical study not even touched on here (such as how the eye works), and even the "line of vision" based problems presented here can be extended. Nevertheless, this is a masterpiece, because (A) it's good science, and (B) it involves the reader in such a way as to make him truly understand. This, like all Euclidean books I am aware of, is a puzzle book. Take the time and solve the problems on your own: You'll learn more than optics, you'll learn organized logical thinking.
One other note: This book is supposedly older than "Elements", but some knowledge of geometry is really needed before tackling "Optics". A working knowledge of the "Elements", particularly Book One, should do the trick.