TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 607 The History of Cartography. Vol. 2, bk. 1: Cartography in the Traditional Islamic and South Asian Societies. Edited by J. B. Harley and David Woodward. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. Pp. xxiv+579; illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $125.00. This isJ. B. Harley and David Woodward’s excellent second volume on the history of cartography. The first volume was concerned with prehistoric cartography in general and European cartography before 1500; this one deals with Islamic and South Asian, especially Indian, cartography. It is of special relevance to the history of European cartography because of the decisive influence of Islamic and Indian astronomy and mathematics, the basic sciences for precise cartography. The second volume addresses the cartography of the skies to a much greater degree than the first. A. T. Karamustafa’s general introduction to Islamic cartography is followed by Emilie Savage-Smith’s detailed treatment of astronomic cartography and its instruments, especially the astrolabe and the armillary sphere. Unfortunately, Savage-Smith does not consider the specific Islamic development of instruments for measuring angles, which led to reliable determinations of less than ten minutes. Indeed, the question of precision is not really addressed at all. In the context of cartography, which is today completely devoid of astronomical reference, cosmology can be considered as an enrichment. Here, the essay on celestial cartography is supplemented by Karamus tafa’s survey of cosmographic (including philosophical-theological) diagrams. Because schematic drawings are very numerous in this field, some overlap with other parts of the book is understandable. In three excellent chapters, G. R. Tibbetts introduces geographic cartography in the cultural context of Islam, documenting develop ments which only Konrad Miller has studied previously. There is a chapter devoted to the school of the important geographer Al-Balkhi, and another chapter, by S. M. Ahmad, about Al-Idrisi, the cartographer of the Norman King Roger ofSicily. R. P. Mercier presents a general view of Islamic geodesy, particularly the method of measuring degrees and the circumference of the earth. D. A. King and R. P. Lorch summarize the religious cartography developed to ascertain the direction to face in prayer. This may have provided an impetus for the development of the ephemerides and the coordinate tables. Traditionally, the history of Islamic cartography does not consider Arabic, Syrian, Persian, Moorish, or Uzbek contributions as separate matters but rather—and justly so—as contributions to medieval Islamic civilization. As researched by Karamustafa and T. M. Rogers, however, cartography under the Ottoman is a different matter. Though starting afterward and barely distinguishable from Islamic cartography in the beginning, it later shows some of the traits of European maps. It is still not clear whether there is any dependence on European traditions; the samples depicted here have a picturesque oriental style. This part of the book concludes with Tibbetts’s look at Islamic sea charts. 608 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE J. E. Schwartzberg opens a hitherto little-known field of astro nomic and geographic cartography through an important collection of South Asian and especially Indian maps. This is pioneer work, and he admits that the uninitiated will have difficulty in perceiving their cartographic content. They are neither based on surveys nor drawn to any scale transposed from available mathematical-astronomical knowledge. Although rather uneven, this book clarifies obscure aspects of cartog raphy and differences among some historically important civilizations. It is evident that there is no direct connection between the earliest European sea charts and contemporary charts from the Islamic and Indian world. Yet the rudiments ofWestern cartography—visible for the first time in the so-called Ptolemaic charts and portulan maps—are based on mathematical and astronomical methods worked out by Islamic scientists who in turn relied on Hellenistic writings. The origins of a specific European cartography can no longer be sought in another civilization; the problem is an interdisciplinary one to be addressed by historians of science and technology. This volume is immensely valuable in the search; and the entire Chicago series on the history of cartogra phy will be indispensable. Uta Lindgren Dr. Lindgren teaches at the University of Bayreuth. Ways ofthe World: A History ofthe World’ s Roads and of...
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Jan 1, 2002
Ivan Crozier 
Open Access
