Al-Qanun al-Masudi · Or 1997

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The work treats trigonometry, spherical astronomy, geodesy, the Sun, Moon and stars.

This copy was completed in Baghdad in 1174, after its author’s lifetime.

Or 1997 offers a substantial object for studying the organisation of this work. The institutional record describes eleven treatises covering topics including calendars, trigonometry, spherical astronomy, geodesy and celestial bodies. A contents list does not mean that every result in every section has been verified on this platform. Topics within a historical classification must not automatically be equated with current standards of scientific validity. The contents are first a navigation aid. Reducing a question to a relevant section and folio range is more useful than presenting the volume only as an ancient, comprehensive book.

The catalogue states that an anonymous scribe completed this copy in Baghdad in 1174. The author, copyist and later owners have different roles that should also remain separate in a database. On seeing a correction or marginal note, ask how it relates to the main hand before assigning it to the author’s thinking. If converting a historical number, document the adopted units and angular convention. A working modern geometrical model does not establish that the historical page has been translated or verified at the same level of detail. Preserve the boundary between an explanatory calculation and evidence about the manuscript itself.

For a first investigation, open the beginning of a section identified by the catalogue and describe how its heading, diagram and table are connected. If a term requires expertise you do not have, label your Turkish or English explanation as a summary rather than a direct translation. A summary retaining the source-image identifier is more useful than a falsely certain reading. This page deepens manuscript context and research method; it does not claim a new critical edition. Further work can compare another witness or printed edition, retaining the versions, access conditions and unresolved discrepancies with the result.

Other names / spellings: al Qanun al Masudi · القانون المسعودي