Astrolabes and Quadrants from Medieval England

A Catalogue and Study of Their Development and Influence
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-0-19-791665-0
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 496 Seiten, Print PDF

The book presents a detailed description of all known astrolabes and quadrants made in England in the Middle Age, placing these instruments within their historical context. It analyses the socio-cultural and intellectual situation in England in the Early Middle Ages, which allowed astronomical instrument manufacture to develop and flourish in the fourteenth century.

With additional consideration of the political situation in England and northern Europe during this period, including the Black Death and the beginning of the 100 Years War, the text also develops a series of interlocked hypotheses regarding the instruments' makers, owners and commissioners, revealing the influence of English instruments in continental Europe. The tools used to make these instruments are also described: these are largely undated and unsigned, but by reverse-engineering their designs and studying their metallurgy for the first time it is possible to assign likely dates of manufacture.

Including seven specialized appendices and an extensive bibliography, the book is a detailed and copiously illustrated catalogue of all surviving Medieval English astrolabes and quadrants placed in their historical, social, and technical context.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Davis, John

Turner, Anthony

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction: what is an astrolabe?

- 1: Astrolabes and Quadrants in England, 1000-1300

- 2: Making the Instruments

- 3: Methods of Analysis and dating

- 4: The Instruments Described

- 5: Interpreting the Data

- 6: English Styles of Astrolabe Design and their Influence in Mainland Europe

- Appendix 1: The early Latin astrolabe (IIL 161) in the British Museum

- Appendix 2: Saint's days on the astrolabes described

- Appendix 3: Stars on the instruments described

- Appendix 4: XRF results from Medieval European astrolabes

- Appendix 5: Luni-solar data on the astrolabes

- Appendix 6: Spacing of the azimuth curves and almucantars on the instruments described arranged by date

- Appendix 7: Altitude sundials on astrolabe alidades

- Appendix 8: Concordance of instrument numbers with International Instrument List numbers

Über Autor(innen)

John Davis obtained his PhD from Cambridge University in 1982 for work on electron beam processing of semiconductors. Since his retirement from telecommunications research in 2000 he has researched early scientific instruments, particularly sundials and astrolabes, with a particular interest in their metallurgy.

Anthony Turner is an independent scholar and freelance consultant. His main areas of interest are the social history of ideas during the Ancien Régime, the history of scientific instruments, clocks, watches and sundials, and of precision technology in general. Consultant to Sotheby's and to Bonhams on scientific instruments, he also acts as expert to Paris auctioneers for horology and science sales held in their rooms in the rue Drouot. In 2018 he was awarded the Paul Bunge prize for contributions to the history of scientific instruments, and in 2021, the Gaia Prize for his work on the history of horology.