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"Water in the Middle East" presents historical and cross-cultural
perspectives on water and conflict, prospects for future
cooperation in the water arena among Middle Eastern countries, the
political economy of water and technical solutions to water
shortages in the Jordan Valley, and the relationships among water,
agriculture, and environmental sustainability. Through case studies
and essays, natural and social scientific water experts from
Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and the United States examine: The role
of water in Middle East conflicts and the possibility of regional
solutions to water scarcity requiring cooperation among states;
Long-term prospects of various aquifers and other fresh-water
sources, including desalination; current and future environmental
deterioration of water resources; Breakthroughs and developments
increasing regional agricultural productivity, depending less on
high-quality waters while turning to lower quality resources, such
as recycled and brackish waters; alternatives to current
water-usage patterns, particularly with regard to agriculture and
the possibility of redirecting water to tourism and other economic
sectors. While this book highlights the complexities pertaining to
regional water scarcity and inequitable distribution, the
contributors offer no definitive conclusions or facile solutions;
yet there is a broad consensus that regional solutions to maximize
water resources must be pursued even as desalination becomes more
viable both from technical/economic standpoints. The continuing
deterioration of existing water supplies in terms of quantity and
quality mandate that any solution must be achieved within a
political/social framework of peace, enlightened economic policies,
and the application of technical solutions that take due account of
environmental concerns.
In 1984, Noel Swerdlow and Otto Neugebauer argued that Nicolaus
Copernicus (1473-1543) explained planetary motion by using
mathematical devices and astronomical models originally developed
by Islamic astronomers in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Was this a parallel development, or did Copernicus somehow learn of
the work of his predecessors, and if so, how? And if Copernicus did
use material from the Islamic world, how then should we understand
the European context of his innovative cosmology? Although
Copernicus's work has been subject to a number of excellent
studies, there has been little attention paid to the sources and
diverse cultures that might have inspired him. Foregrounding the
importance of interactions between Islamic and European astronomers
and philosophers, Before Copernicus explores the multi-cultural,
multi-religious, and multi-lingual context of learning on the eve
of the Copernican revolution, determining the relationship between
Copernicus and his predecessors. Essays by Christopher Celenza and
Nancy Bisaha delve into the European cultural and intellectual
contexts of the fifteenth century, revealing both the profound
differences between "them" and "us," and the nascent attitudes that
would mark the turn to modernity. Michael Shank, F. Jamil Ragep,
Sally Ragep, and Robert Morrison depict the vibrant and creative
work of astronomers in the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish worlds.
In other essays, Rivka Feldhay, Raz Chen-Morris, and Edith Sylla
demonstrate the importance of shifting outlooks that were critical
for the emergence of a new worldview. Highlighting the
often-neglected intercultural exchange between Islam and early
modern Europe, Before Copernicus reimagines the scientific
revolution in a global context.
"Herbals" - collections describing plants used for medicinal
purposes - were among the ancient and medieval world's most valued
scientific texts, synthesizing a vast treasury of medical learning
to facilitate scientific edification for scholar, bibliophiles, or
practical consultation by physicians. Abu Ja?far al-Ghafiqi (d. ca.
1165 CE) lived in the Arab-Islamic zone of the southern Iberian
peninsula called al-Andalus, a land of many cultures, religions,
and languages. His Herbal reflects the diverse milieu in which he
lived, drawing from ancient Greek sources like Dioscorides and
Galen as well as over thirty other works from India as well as the
Hellenistic and Islamic worlds. The manuscript reproduced in this
edition was purchased in 1912 by Sir William Osler and is now
housed in the Osler Library of the History of Medicine at McGill
University. It has entries for herbal, mineral, and animal-derived
drugs, illustrated by almost 400 coloured, hand-drawn images of
plants and animals. A glossary of over 2,000 secondary entries
provides synonyms in Greek, Sanskrit, Syriac, Persian, Berber, Old
Spanish, Latin, Coptic, and Armenian, reflecting the international
character of medicine and pharmacy at the time. Essays by eminent
scholars discuss the physical features and history of the
manuscript, the philological complexity of the text, al-Ghafiqi's
sources, the Andalusian and larger global contexts of the Herbal,
and the illustrations accompanying the text. A remarkable document,
The Herbal of al-Ghafiqi will be a cherished addition to the
library of anyone interested in the history of pharmacological
science or in the history of the Islamic world.
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