Editing and Analysing Numerical Tables: Towards a Digital Information System for the History of Astral Sciences

Astronomical tables are a significant yet understudied part of the scientific historical corpus. They circulated among many cultures, and were adopted and transformed by astronomical practitioners for a variety of purposes. The numerical data conveyed in these tables provides rich evidence for pre-modern scientific practices. In the last fifty years, new approaches to the analysis and critical editing of astronomical tables have flourished due to advances in computing power and associated modern mathematical tools. In more recent times, the rapid growth of digital humanities and modern data analysis promises exciting further developments in this area. The present collection of studies on astronomical tables captures this momentum. It is a result of long-term collaborative work on building a database of astronomical tables and other objects found in manuscripts, released under the name DISHAS (Digital Information System for the History of Astral Sciences). The fourteen contributions in this volume provide a broad coverage of astronomical traditions throughout Eurasia and North Africa, which, with very few exceptions, find their roots in the mathematical astronomy of Ptolemy. The contributions include critical editions of previously unexamined astronomical tables along with insightful mathematical analyses, as well as reflective methodological surveys that open up new perspectives for research on these fundamental sources for the history of mathematics and astronomy.