Zij Manuscript, Corpus Christi College MS 283

What it is

This manuscript page, held at Oxford's Corpus Christi College, comes from a twelfth-century Latin translation by Adelard of Bath of al-Khwarizmi's astronomical tables, known as a Zij. It shows columns of numbers used for calculating the sun's motion.

Why it matters

Al-Khwarizmi's astronomical tables were among the first works of Islamic astronomy to be translated into Latin, giving European scholars access to data and methods for tracking the movements of the sun and other bodies. The translator, Adelard of Bath, played a key role in bringing Arabic science to Latin Europe.

Look closer

• Why would astronomers need detailed tables rather than just descriptions?
• What does the survival of a translator's name, Adelard of Bath, tell you about how knowledge traveled between cultures?
• What skills would a scribe need to copy out columns of numbers accurately by hand?