Alice in Wonderland. A Glance at an Exotic World: The Forgotten Wonders of 10th-Century Spain

Abstract

This article proposes a new hypothesis regarding the use of mathematics and astronomy on the Iberian peninsula in the Middle Ages by analyzing the astronomical and mathematical knowledge cultivated in Al Andalus in a context particularly rich in epistemological terms, where oral communication and the visualization and manipulation of instruments combined with a prolific geometrical imagination to play a fundamental role. The focus of this narrative shifts among the hero of modern philology, the celebrated figure of the monastic Latin Scribe who compiled “scientific” writings and so rescued the treasures of classical antiquity from the “barbarism” of the Middle Ages, and a range of medieval personages that includes wizards, astrologers, alchemists, mechanical engineers, aspiring aviators and the enchanting Qiyan… singing slave girls. Together, these personages were responsible for redefining mathematics and astronomy as simultaneously coveted luxury goods and simple intellectual tools applied to the manufacture of mechanical marvels.