From Serial Access to Random Access: Tables of Contents, Chapter Headings and Hierarchical Text Structures in Fourth/Tenth-century Scientific Books
Abstract The fourth/tenth century saw a number of innovations in the production of scientific books. Chapter headings that summarize the theme of the chapters were previously rare, but in this period they became standard. Tables of contents were placed at the beginning of the book with a list of the...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2020
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| In: |
Journal of Abbasid Studies
Year: 2020, Volume: 7, Issue: 2, Pages: 207-228 |
| Further subjects: | B
Medicine
B Abū Maʿshar B al-Bīrūnī B al-Sijzī B Astrology B al-Majūsī B Abū Bakr al-Rāzī B Mathematics B Ibn Sīnā B book production B Astronomy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Abstract The fourth/tenth century saw a number of innovations in the production of scientific books. Chapter headings that summarize the theme of the chapters were previously rare, but in this period they became standard. Tables of contents were placed at the beginning of the book with a list of the summarizing chapter headings. Page numbering is also encountered for the first time. Perhaps the most striking innovation of this period, however, is the increased complexity in the way authors structured their books. While the two-tier structure of books and chapters used to be standard for large works, three-tier structures were now introduced, and, by the first half of the fifth/eleventh century, books were even produced with five-tier structures. These innovations point to the use of books as a source of knowledge outside traditional learning contexts. Since these features were absent from the Greek scientific tradition, but were present in India and Central Asia, they could well be borrowings from the East. The examples treated here come from the fields of medicine, astrology, astronomy and mathematics. |
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| ISSN: | 2214-2371 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Abbasid Studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/22142371-12340056 |