Perspectives on the contribution of Arabs and Muslims to geography

Conclusion The fact that Arab and Muslim geographers had contributed in a substantial way to geographical thought is well-recognized by many scholars of international standing including orientalists. It has now also been proved beyond any doubt that Muslim geographic thought was transmitted through Spain (Andalusia), Italy and Sicily during the Middle Ages to Europe. The Muslims had more advanced culture than did most of medieval Europe, and had made great discoveries in various fields of study (Hasan 1967). They had also preserved many of the writings of ancient Greek, Roman and other oriental civilizations. It was through Spain that the Muslims made these works as well as their own contribution available for European scholars. The centres of learning in Muslim Spain were thriving, with scholars from many places and particularly so from Europe. As Arabic was the language of culture and learning, many books were translated from Arabic into Latin and other European languages including German, French and English (Ahmed 1947; Hasan 1967; Kish 1978; James & Martin 1981; Muhammadain 1988).It is also understood that when geographical works were not translated some of the ideas and concepts revealed in them were adopted in other translated works. With the final collapse of Muslim rule in Spain (1492 AD), Muslim intellectual centres were opened to Christians from all over Europe. Indeed, translations from Arabic into European languages continued well into the 16th century, and some of the translated books remained in use until the 17th century.To ignore, as did some writers, the contribution of Muslims to geography during the Middle Ages, and to claim that the European Renaissance developed independently of what was happening in the Islamic world, is to dismiss seven centuries of Muslim leadership of world culture. Surely, no one nation or group of people can claim all the achievements of our present civilization. Present-day civilization is actually the sum total of all the past human efforts which have been accumulated over the long years of man's existence on earth, and as such there can be no gaps in human cultural history. While accepting the fact that the contribution of the various groups of people to the advancement of culture has not been the same, all are participants and have shared in its building and development. By looking at human cultural history in this spirit, it would not be difficult to appreciate the positive role played by the Arabs and Muslims in the advancement of knowledge during the Middle Ages. One of these branches of knowledge, which we have been trying to explain in this essay, is geography. To put the contribution of Arab and Muslim geographers into even more perspective, one can say that their most outstanding and original contributions, as has been stated before, were in the field of regional and mathematical geography as well as surveying. Although most of the studies were concerned with regions or individual countries, some contributions were highly specialized dealing with only one topic, such as climate or plants. The regional approach is represented by the many books written with the title: Al-Masalik wa Al-Mamalik or Roads and Provinces, and those with the title: Al-Bilad or Countries. As has been indicated earlier in this essay, treatment in these regional studies has beencomprehensive covering almost all aspects of physical and human geography.To contemporary Muslim people the science of geography will continue to be as appealing as it was to their predecessors, partly because of religious needs and partly because of the Muslim love for his environment. To sum up, in the following quotations from the Holy Quran Muslims are asked to contemplate four things: qu]Do they not look At the Camels, How they are made? And at the sky, How it is raised high? And at the mountains, How they are fixed firm? And at the Earth, How it is spread out? (Holy Quran: Sura LXXXVIII, verses 17\2–20).The contemplation of these things does not only make Muslims sense the absolute powers of their Creator, but also makes them constantly aware of their geographical surroundings.     

Ocean's philosophical images

From early Greek cosmology and pre-socratic thought to Kant, Nietzsche and the philosophy of existence, ‘ocean’ is a figure of the most relevant significance, in accordance with two different patterns: as mythical representation of the principle of the universe and as metaphor of the adventure of human knowledge. Now the question could be: do the philosophical images of the ocean have some value for modern science?     

It's a long way to the other geographers and geographic knowledges

Geographic knowledge is usually understood as the knowledge produced by geographers. Yet, it is also produced by people outside of the academia. But as Western science claimed for its exclusive self the status of ‘knowledge’, others have long been denied the production and possession of a true knowledge, and recognised merely the mastering of practical skills. The binary opposition between scientific and other forms of knowledge has been central to the construction of academic geography until the late 1980s, when postmodern thought cast some doubt on the universality of scientific knowledge. This led to critical analyses of academic geography, revealing its situatedness, as well as to a new interest for the geographies of the ‘Others’. Examining how geographers have dealt with other knowledge sets so far, and how they have labelled them, this paper argues that other geographies should be given more attention. This means focusing on the knowledges themselves, and considering implementing a true dialogue between these and academic geography. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The state of european science and technology in the late middle ages

The great European expansion of the Age of geographical discoveries was the final outcome of an economic, technical and scientific development, begun centuries before. The author briefly examines the evolution of ships up to the carrack and the caravel, which were the protagonists of oceanic voyages, and of sailing techniques, including navigation by the stars which allowed sailors at the end of the 15th century to know the position of the ship even on the open sea. The contribution of scholars is also examined and their noteworthy share in building new instruments and in elaborating scientific theories about the shape of the world and about the distribution of sea and land, upon which great sailors founded those projects, that would lead to the exploration of New Worlds.     

跨入新世纪 迎接新挑战

本文分析了21世纪铀矿地质科研面临的新形势，提出今后工作的总体方针是认真贯彻中央精神，具体落实中核集团提出的目标任务，在成矿理论的创新与发展，传统与非传统矿产资源的勘查与开发利用，矿业开发与环境保护的协调发展等研究领域有新的突破。文章强调了大规模成矿作用及大型矿集区预测研究的重要性，认为应加强学科交叉和学术交流活动，争取良好的政策环境，保持必要的投资强度，培养和造就一批年轻的技术骨干和学科带头人，以崭新的姿态迎接21世纪的挑战。     

美国科学基金会地球科学远景报告介绍

21世纪地球科学已经发展成为结合与联系了生物科学、社会科学、计算机科学、物质科学和工程科学等许多学科在内的真正跨学科科学。地球科学面临新的挑战和发展机遇,为了更深入地理解地球及其内部的相互作用,要求地球科学必须应用整体系统性分析方法,探索应用来自所有科学与工程学科的最新知识和技术。美国科学基金会(NSF)地球科学咨询委员会(AC-GEO)针对地球科学面临的新挑战,指导"地球科学远景工作组"(GEO Vision Working Group)制订了地球科学未来发展的新的规划:《地球科学远景(GEOVISION)——通过地球科学揭示未被拆散的地球的复杂性》,强调从整体系统角度来迎接地球科学未来面临的挑战。主要介绍《地球科学远景报告》的主要观点,AC-GEO提出的地球科学面临的3大挑战、5个重大科学问题,以及迎接挑战的3个措施与10个建议。     

论变化环境下流域管理的知识创新

提出全球气候变化与世界社会经济动荡等变化环境下流域可持续发展的科学内涵、制约因素以及解决途径。以自然与社会协同进化的复杂系统作为变化环境下流域概念的抽象表征,以科研能力与管理能力作为流域可持续发展的重要影响因素,以流域管理中科学研究与管理实践的相互作用机理为出发点,分析当前流域管理中科学研究与管理实践的种种错位,提出适应变化环境的流域管理知识创新机制,为提高流域科研水平、充分发挥科学在流域可持续发展中的作用提供理论支撑。     

Aerosol transmission of human pathogens: From miasmata to modern viral pandemics and their preservation potential in the Anthropocene record

Ongoing uncertainty over the relative importance of aerosol transmission of COVID-19 is in part rooted in the history of medical science and our understanding of how epidemic diseases can spread through human populations. Ancient Greek medical theory held that such illnesses are transmitted by airborne pathogenic emanations containing particulate matter (“miasmata”). Notable Roman and medieval scholars such as Varro, Ibn al-Khatib and Fracastoro developed these ideas, combining them with early germ theory and the concept of contagion. A widely held but vaguely defined belief in toxic miasmatic mists as a dominant causative agent in disease propagation was overtaken by the science of 19th century microbiology and epidemiology, especially in the study of cholera, which was proven to be mainly transmitted by contaminated water. Airborne disease transmission came to be viewed as burdened by a dubious historical reputation and difficult to demonstrate convincingly. A breakthrough came with the classic mid-20th century work of Wells, Riley and Mills who proved how expiratory aerosols (their “droplet nuclei”) could transport still-infectious tuberculosis bacteria through ventilation systems. The topic of aerosol transmission of pathogenic respiratory diseases assumed a new dimension with the mid-late 20th century “Great Acceleration” of an increasingly hypermobile human population repeatedly infected by different strains of zoonotic viruses, and has taken centre stage this century in response to outbreaks of new respiratory infections that include coronaviruses. From a geoscience perspective, the consequences of pandemic-status diseases such as COVID-19, produced by viral pathogens utilising aerosols to infect a human population currently approaching 8 billion, are far-reaching and unprecedented. The obvious and sudden impacts on for example waste plastic production, water and air quality and atmospheric chemistry are accelerating human awareness of current environmental challenges. As such, the “anthropause” lockdown enforced by COVID-19 may come to be seen as a harbinger of change great enough to be preserved in the Anthropocene stratal record.     

保护煤炭资源 建设小康社会

煤炭是我国主要能源。无论过去、现在、还是未来，煤炭在我国能源市场的重要地位都不可动摇。煤炭资源安全牵系着国家能源战略安全，直接影响到国民经济的可持续发展。新世纪，在全球性能源危机面前，中国实行全面的节能增效与减灾政策，是保障国家能源安全的必然选择。影响煤炭资源安全的因素，存在于煤炭工业的各个环节，对资源的科学管理，是减灾保煤，降耗增效的关键。     

桐城地区侏罗纪碎屑岩地球化学特征及其对物源的影响

由于印支运动,大别造山带周缘各盆地物源不同,前期学者认为陆源碎屑岩主要来自扬子大陆。本文由大别山东南缘挂车镇剖面入手,通过对该地区侏罗纪碎屑岩进行地球化学分析,并结合判别图投点分析。研究区碎屑岩是经过短距离搬运、快速堆积形成,物源地应为北面大别山地区,该盆地为前陆盆地。     

Ethnic residential shifts: The Greek population of Akron, Ohio, 1930–2005

The purpose of this paper is to apply the framework of transnationalism to the study of the Akron, Ohio Greek community through the spatio-temporal changes in the residential patterns. Church records for the period 1930 to 2005 form the basis of the study. The first Greek immigrants arrived in Akron, Ohio in the latter part of the nineteenth century and settled around the commercial zone in the central city. Additional immigrants, mostly young males with little education, arrived during the early decades of the twentieth century to seek employment in the growing industries, especially the tire factories. The establishment of a sizable colony made it possible to form a parish church in close proximity to the place of work. In addition to the place of worship, ethnic stores, and coffee houses became foci of ethnic life. Although this central city cluster was undergoing minor residential shifts to the suburbs, it was identifiable until the early 1970s. By then most of its immigrant residents as well as their American born children moved to the suburbs, especially in the northwestern part of the city, because of economic improvement. Post-1965 immigrants bypassed the central city cluster and settled in the suburbs. Anecdotal information suggests that these immigrants, individually and collectively as a group, maintain a variety of economic, social, and cultural connections with their place of origin as well as the Akron Greek community. Thus, transnationalism is an appropriate framework to study recent immigrants who maintain concurrent connections to the United States and Greece.     

Re-Os同位素体系在矿床地球化学中的应用

简述了Re-Os同位素地球化学体系的原理与方法,在此基础上重点介绍了国内外目前在矿床地球化学研究中,应用Re-Os同位素体系进行成矿作用年代学及矿质来源等方面研究的一些最新成果.认为Re-Os同位素体系是对矿床进行定年和示踪研究的有力工具,为成矿作用机制等的深入研究提供了新的思路.尽管Re-Os同位素定年研究中存在矿物适应性等问题,但本世纪初期Re-Os同位素体系的研究将会深刻地推动矿床地球化学的进步和发展.     

培养德识双馨的国家栋梁之才：《普通地质学》课程教学有感

《普通地质学》是引领新生进入地学殿堂、了解地球科学知识的一门专业启蒙课,也是新形势下地学通识教育中的一门基础理论课。其内容涉及地质学全部基础知识中的最必要部分,具有衔接和统领地学各门专业基础知识的特点。根据多年教学体会,笔者认为在精英教育与通才教育并举的新形势下,必须心系学生,与时俱进,转变教育理念,优化集课堂、实验、野外教学为一体的教学体系,推进教学内容的改革与建设,摈弃不适应时代发展与国家需求的教育模式,采用现代化的教学方法和教育技术;对学生开展基础理论传授、专业基础技能训练、创新科研培育的系统教育,拓宽学生的专业知识面,激发学生专业兴趣和创造性思维。在传授科学知识的同时,目标明确地开展思政教育,引导学生认清学问与道德的关系,建立德识双馨的价值取向,提高基础地质课程教学质量和学生的综合素质,促进教学改革,为国家培养五育兼备的优秀人才。     

油气地质学的若干问题

:2 0世纪世界开采了 115 0亿t石油 ,64万亿m3 天然气 ,如此大量的油气开发是与油气地质的新理论出现并应用于勘探密切相关。 19世纪 70年代出现海相生油论 ,2 0世纪一直在发展和完善 ,其在油气勘探开发中起了重大作用。 2 0世纪 2 0年代开始形成的陆相生油理论 ,对中国石油工业的发展起了重大作用 ,1999年产油 1.60亿t,使中国从“贫油国”而成为世界第五产油大国。2 0世纪 4 0年代煤成气理论形成 ,使勘探天然气理论从仅与腐泥型源岩有关的“一元论” ,发展于既与腐殖型煤系源岩也与腐泥型源岩相关的“二元论” ,促进了天然气工业大发展。世界产气第一大国俄罗斯探明天然气储量 75 %是煤成气 ,中国近期天然气储量大幅度增长是以煤成气为支撑的 ,2 0 0 0年全国气层气储层的 64%是煤成气。天然气水合物是非常规气 ,较一致估计资源量在 2 .0×10 16 2 .1× 10 16 m3 ,相当于当前已探明的化石燃料总含碳量的 2倍 ,被认为可能是 2 1世纪的替代能源 ,潜力大。但由于地质的、成藏的、富集的、开发的和环境的诸多问题未深入研究或有待解决 ,目前未开发利用。     

Petrographic and geochemical characterization of Archaic‐Hellenistic tableware production at Solunto,Sicily

A selected assortment of Archaic‐Hellenistic tableware samples from Solunto, a Phoenician‐Punic site located 20 km east of Palermo (Sicily), has been subjected to thin‐section petrography and chemical analysis (XRF). In this settlement several ceramic kilns remained operative over a long time period (7th to 3rd century B.C.). The main goal of this analytical study is to distinguish the ceramics manufactured locally from regional and off‐island imports. Analytical results were matched to similar data concerning local natural clay sources and to coeval tableware productions from other sites in the same area. The ceramic pastes used by the ancient craftsmen of Solunto in the case of this class of pottery could be differentiated clearly by their petrochemical characteristics. We conclude that ceramics were locally produced far beyond satisfying just internal consumption needs, indicating interaction of Solunto with neighboring Greek colonies, indigenous people, and Phoenician‐Punic colonies of Sicily. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How to stir a revolution as a reluctant rebel: Rudolf Trümpy in the Alps

Rudolf Trümpy (1921–2009) was one of the great Alpine geologists of the twentieth century and an influential figure in the international geological community. He played a dominant role in the change of opinion concerning the Alpine evolution by showing that normal faulting dominated the early development of the Alpine realm from the Triassic to the early Cretaceous. This provided a convenient model for later plate-tectonic interpretations of collisional mountain belts. His further recognition of strike-slip faulting during all stages of the Alpine evolution presaged the realisation that the Alps were not built by a simple open-and-shut mechanism. Trümpy was educated during an intellectual lull, a time when simplistic models of the earth behaviour inherited from the middle of the nineteenth century became prevalent under the influence of a close-minded, positivist approach to geological problems. This period, which we term the Dark Intermezzo, lasted from about 1925 to 1965. The grand syntheses of Suess and Argand which preceded this period were viewed from this narrow angle and consequently misunderstood. It was thought that earth history was punctuated by global orogenic events of short duration taking place within and among continents and oceans whose relative positions had remained fixed since the origin of the planet. These views, summarised under the term ‘fixism’, were developed when the ocean floors were almost totally unknown. When data began coming in from the post World War II oceanographic surveys, the world geological community was slow to receive and digest them. Trümpy followed these developments closely, realising that his work was important in placing the geology of the mountain belts within the emerging, new theoretical framework. He adopted the position of a critic and emphasised where detailed knowledge of the Alps, unquestionably the best known mountain belt in the world, supported and where it contradicted the new ideas. His voice was listened to carefully and subsequent developments have shown his critique to have been prescient. It is regrettable that he did not publish some of the theoretical criticisms he communicated to his colleagues during scientific meetings and informal conversations. His hesitance in becoming involved in theoretical arguments in geology may have stemmed partly from his scientific upbringing during the Dark Intermezzo and partly because he genuinely believed that he was better off sticking to what he thought he knew for sure. He nevertheless stressed that it is important for geologists ‘to dream’. It is often said about teachers that one should do what they say, not what they do. In Trümpy’s case, it was the opposite. Both scientifically and as a human being, he was a most admirable man.     

Politics of critique: Understanding gender in contemporary Middle East

This paper explores the implications of spatial production of academic knowledge on the Middle East, through the critiques of Orientalist discourses on the “Muslim woman.” It begins with an examination of the success of postcolonial studies and scholarship on democratization in challenging racist perceptions and politics in the West. Then it reflects on the ways in which this knowledge production travels and is reconfigured in places where power inequalities are different. This requires a consideration of the regional consequences of either an over-emphasis on differences in agencies of “Muslim women” or a relative silence on issues of gender inequality. The paper’s suggestion is to shift the focus from representation and discourse to the structural circumstances in which ordinary men and women’s agencies play out; various political mechanisms which participate in the production of acceptable cultural practices; and patterns of resistance, which may defy arguments about culturally specific definitions of agency. This is a quest for making the “exotic” familiar, without exoticizing the familiar.     

实验岩石学发展现状与趋势

实验岩石学通过高温高压实验来模拟地球内部状态,正演研究矿物、岩石及其组分的物理化学行为,与天然矿物和岩石样品反演研究相互补充. 从20世纪初美国卡内基研究所建立地球物理实验室算起,实验岩石学已经历了100多年的发展,在认识地球内部状态和过程以及矿物和岩石成因方面发挥了重要作用. 我国实验岩石学研究开展约50年,进入21世纪以来在实验平台和创新性研究成果方面取得了显著进步. 在学科发展趋势方面,实验岩石学表现出以下6方面的特点:（1）新的高温高压实验技术不断涌现;（2）实验与分析测试技术高度融合;（3）实验模拟与计算模拟相结合;（4）从热力学平衡扩展到动力学研究;（5）从干体系扩展到对挥发分和流体的深入研究;（6）应用场景从固体地球扩展到类地行星. 通过进一步开发或改进高温高压实验技术,加强与分析测试技术以及计算技术的结合,实验岩石学有望在破解地球内部流体的性质和作用、地幔演化和岩浆分异、变质反应速率和机制、类地行星形成与演化等重要科学问题方面作出关键贡献.