- Presentation
- Feb 3, 2026
- 00:03:16
Research Reels: Calculation & Power. Engagement of Astronomers in Water Management Projects in the Early Islamicate State
- Razieh-Sadat Mousavi
- Dept. AAK
- Society, Rituals, and Ecology: An Environmental Approach to Water Laws in Classical Islamic Legal Traditions
“Documents show how mathematical skills were valued as instruments of power.”
Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow Razieh S. Mousavi presents her recent work on Aḥmad al-Farghānī (Alfraganus), one of the most renowned ninth-century islamic astronomers. Using him and his engagement in water management as an example, she examines and emphasizes “the role of mathematicians as key figures connecting scientific innovation with the practical demands of the political situation.”
Publication
- Mousavi, Razieh S. "Calculation and Power: Engagement of Astronomers in Water-Management Projects in the Early Islamicate State." In P. D. Omodeo, D. S. Babu, & C. Zittel (Eds.), Science and Praxis: Historical Cases of Political Epistemology (pp. 19-46) (2025). https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0011-694A-5
Copyrights
Produced by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
Image: Diagrams of the nilometer on Roda Island in Cairo c. 1899. See "Plan général du meqyâs ou nilomètre", in Description de l'Égypte, Tome première. Vol. 23. Source: The New York Public Librabry, Public Domain. Further image sources, see video min. 03:03.
Music: Blue Dot Sessions - Vessel One (CC BY-NC 4.0)