1212 Michigan Ave.
La Porte, IN 46350, USA
Marion, Indiana
24 October 1974
American
Cultural transmission of astronomy, cosmology, and calendars; Astronomical iconography; Near Eastern and Egyptian mathematics; Egyptian contexts of astronomy, cosmology and astrology; Continuity and communication of mathematical practices and notions of proof.
Dissertation: Horoscopic Ostraca of Medinet Madi
Advisor: †David Pingree
Ancient Studies Program
Horoscopic Ostraca of Medinet Madi presents thirty-four Demotic ostraca containing forty complete or partial horoscopes. After the provenance and cultural background of the ostraca are laid out, a survey of previous interpretations of the texts from Medinet Madi follows. Then previous methods of establishing a date for the collection are examined. Next, introductions of mathematical, astronomical, astrological and chronological concepts are made for the benefit of the non-specialist. Among these discussions, the use of numbers and fractions is introduced. Necessary astronomical terminology is defined and the causes of error in astronomical calculations are considered. A definition of horoscope is presented and the elements of a horoscope are established. The compositional styles of Demotic and Greek horoscopes are contrasted. The calendars of Greco-Roman Egypt are explicated. The varieties of astrological and astronomical ostraca are defined and the results of a search for such texts among the ostraca of Medinet Madi are reported. The documentary aspects of horoscopic ostraca are discussed and the palaeography of Demotic zodiacal signs and planetary symbols is revisited. After these preliminaries are fixed, the horoscopes are divided into four classes. A transcription, transliteration, translation and commentary is presented for each ostracon. No separation is made between the astronomical and philological commentary. In the conclusion, these ostraca are used to establish a more secure historical dating for Medinet Madi. The range of astrological techniques is outlined, and correspondences with the Petosirian tradition are noted. Some tentative conclusions are drawn about the scope of astronomical techniques used at Medinet Madi.
Supervisor: Kuang Tai Hsu
I collaborated with Professor Kuang Tai Hsu on the adaptation of European cosmologies and astronomical terms into a Chinese context by Jesuit missionaries. Professor Hsu has studied the work of Matteo Ricci and written extensively on elements of Chinese cosmology and physics. With Hsu, I considered the Aristotelian physics and Ptolemaic models brought by Jesuits to China. This project coordinated the text of the Qingkun Ti Yi by Ricci with its Latin source material.
Supervisor: Dominique Tournès
Under the auspices of the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche, I worked with Professor Dominique Tournès of Université de la Réunion in Saint-Denis. Professor Tournès has assembled an international working group to study the development and the transmission of numeric tables. In this project, I highlighted the importance of Egypt as the setting for the development of Greek mathematical tables. I compared the technical vocabulary of tables and mathematics in Egyptian and Greek contexts and outlined the social dimensions of calculation by tables.
Supervisor: Michio Yano
Through the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, I collaborated with Professor Michio Yano. Professor Yano has studied the transmission of Greek astronomical terms into Sanskrit astronomical and astrological texts of India and the transmission of Sanskrit texts into Arabic. With Yano, I analyzed several Egyptian and Near Eastern elements carried by Greeks into India. I also studied several of Yano’s techniques for establishing linguistic connections between texts and am reapplying these methods to the linguistic exchanges between Greece and Egypt. This project has culminated in JyotiWiki.com, a site for the collaborative edition and electronic dissemination of Sanskrit texts on astral sciences. In electronic form, the technical terms are easily searchable and statistical information can be easily produced.
Supervisor: Yves Duroux
During the spring of 2008, I conducted a series of seminars which evaluated the Greek accounts of Egyptian astronomy from two distinctly different approaches. First, I compared Greek reports of Egyptian astronomical and mathematical development with respect to the available (but unpublished) Egyptian evidence. Also, working with only the Greek accounts, I analyzed the development and rhetorical use of several less credible Greek accounts of Egyptian wisdom.
Supervisor: Karine Chemla
Within the REHSEIS research group at Université Paris 7, I collaborated with Christine Proust on the types of mathematical texts used in antiquity. We compared the contexts in which these texts were found and the development of larger texts from smaller corpora. These considerations have resulted in our on-going contributions to Dominique Tournès’ project on the history of mathematical tables.
Algebra II, Euclid's Elements, Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus AB
Designed and taught a comprehensive program of mathematics for secondary students. These courses prepared students from a wide range of backgrounds and previous mathematical experiences for higher education. Because Sacred Heart Apostolic School is a minor Catholic seminary, this program seeks to develop mathematical competence with reference to the Western liberal arts. During the three years of this program, students averaged their highest scores in the mathematical portions of SAT and MAP testing.
The Scientific Revolution:1550 – 1700
Designed and taught a two credit-hour course introducing the Scientific Revolution to undergraduate students. This course introduced pre-modern scientific theories to undergraduates and then outlined the changes in these ideas in relation to the development of European society. After its first offering, this course was incorporated as an elective in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program of National Tsing Hua University. Over the three semesters which this class was offered, enrollment increased from 67 students to 129 students.
Fettering the Stars: Islamic Navigational Knowledge in Ming China
Served as the second reader for “Fettering the Stars: Islamic Navigational Knowledge in Ming China,” a Master's thesis by Sandy Lin. This thesis compares navigational methods known from Chinese sources with navigational techniques known from Arabic sources, Indian traditions, and a handful of surviving navigational instruments. In this capacity, I met regularly with Lin over eighteen months to read primary sources, guide English composition, and oversee documentation of sources.
Micah T. Ross — micah@micahross.com