Book Review: David King: In Synchrony with the Heavens, Studies in Astronomical Timekeeping and Instrumentation in Medieval Islamic Civilization

Among the contemporary historians of Islamic science, David King is known for his meticulous research as well as for his unique style of presentation. One of the most important aspects of King's approach to history of Islamic astronomy is his "firm opinion that the history of Islamic astronomy merits study for its own sake, as part of the history of Islamic civilisation generally" (vol. 1, ix, emphasis added). As compared to so many works on the history of Islamic science, which tend to treat it as no more than a conduit for transmission of Greek science to Europe, King and a few other historians of science have successfully laid the foundation for a new approach to the subject which is gaining center-stage. Even within this select group, however, what makes King's work unique is his interest in the broader history of Islamic civilization--an interest which makes its presence felt in many ways in the two volumes under review.

Over the years one has come to expect in his works not only solid historical data but also a trove of anecdotes about his computer problems, reflections on the state of research in the history of Islamic science, suggestions for future research, an ongoing interactive thought process with other scholars and readers interested in Islamic science (particularly Islamic astronomy), witty comments on his encounters with a host of people, places, manuscripts, libraries, and instruments, an interesting usage of words ("a nadim in Frankfurt"), generous appreciative comments for his friends ("By definition a Japanese ex-engineer trained in Japan who then works in Brazil and who then becomes professor of the history of science in Germany is unique. But Yas Maeyama is unique amongst Japanese ex-engineers and German professors because of his warmth, kindness and consideration for others ..." vol. 2, 105) and mentors ("I have an enormous debt to my former teacher Professor Franz Rosenthal of Yale University, who adopted me in 1968 when I knew only newspaper Arabic, and raised me to face the rigours of medieval manuscripts and to savour the delicacies of classical Arabic ..." vol. 1, 777), and an undercurrent of a historian's sense of responsibility toward the contemporary situation of the world. This is reflected in the subtitle of the second volume, "Instruments of Mass Calculation"--perhaps alluding to the mythical "weapons of mass destruction" which became the pretext for the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the Bush administration at a time when this book was under preparation, which, in turn, led to a complete breakdown of law and order during which some of Iraq's best museums were ransacked--a situation which prompted King to add a note ("The occasion of this study") to Part XIIIb of his work, which begins as: "One of my less violent reactions to the horrendous events that occurred in Iraq during the Spring of 2003 was to excavate from my unpublished and incomplete catalogue of medieval Islamic and European astronomical instruments ..."). Given these expectations, these two volumes do not disappoint an avid reader of King's work.

Journal of Islam & Science, Vol. 4 (Summer 2003) No. 1

Muzaffar Iqbal

Muzaffar Iqbal is the President of the Center for Islamic Sciences and the General Editor of the Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qurʾān.