RT Article
T1 Waters Above, Waters Below: Conceptions of the Water Cycle in Abbasid-Era Thought
JF Journal of Abbasid Studies
VO 12
IS 1
SP 88
OP 112
A1 Borroni, Massimiliano
LA English
YR 2025
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1950983196
AB This article investigates philosophical and scientific thinkers’ conceptions of the water cycle during the Abbasid period. It focuses on authors who disregarded or negated the subterranean generation of water envisaged in Aristotelian doctrines, which form the mainstream of Arabo-Islamic natural philosophy. The historical authors analysed are Thābit b. Qurra, Abū l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī, Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, al-Bīrūnī, Miskawayh, and al-Karajī. Their diverse conceptions reveal the central role of Thābit b. Qurra and possible accommodations between endogenous and exogenous conception of the water cycle. This investigation sheds light on the historical evolution of the understanding of the water cycle and may contribute to contemporary discussions and advancements in hydrology.
K1 Hydrology
K1 history of science
K1 natural philosophy
K1 water cycle
DO 10.1163/22142371-00802029