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About Mispar
Mispar is an open access MediaWiki research platform for the study of medieval Hebrew arithmetic. It provides annotated transcripts of almost all surviving Hebrew medieval arithmetic and algebraic treatises. The transcripts are organized into a peer-updatable database that includes English descriptions of the components of each treatise as well as search features that allow for comparing thematic components across all treatises. In addition, the database offers the following databases: thesaurus, list of mathematical formulas, and a pool of word problems that appear in the texts.
The databases and search capacities are based on the tailor-made YATA semantic annotation system.
Mispar database is a service provided by ETH, Zürich. The initial version of the database is being prepared by Naomi Aradi. This project is supported by the Rene & Susanne Braginsky-Stiftung and the ETH Zürich Foundation.
Aims and Development
The primary aim of the project is to allow an integrative view of an entire scientific culture (medieval Hebrew mathematics) with advanced search capacities. The database will include about 40 different manuscripts (ca. 2000 manuscripts pages), some of which exist in several copies. The long-term objective is to create a model digital system for presenting and analyzing medium-size collections of thematically related manuscripts.
Current phase
Naomi Aradi is re-coding the transcripts of medieval arithmetic works on the Mispar platform. The manuscripts are presented together with the usual meta-data (author, time, place, etc.), as well as a detailed list of headings and subheadings in English, notes with modern transcriptions of mathematical operations, and partial English translations. A unique feature of this project is tagging each treatise by mathematical subjects and motifs arranged in a hierarchical tag tree Category Page. Subsequently, one can use these tags to search the texts. Our tagging system was especially developed by ETH Zürich to allow tagging a dynamic MediaWiki page. It is unique in that it allows for editing and reprocessing a page even after it is tagged. As a result, gradual crowd-sourced amendment and improvement of the page is still possible after the tagging. The tagging allows, among other things, to compare all definitions of a certain term across the corpus, all algorithms for specific arithmetical operations (such as root extraction), and all treatments of specific subjects across this entire corpus. It enables to track routes of transmissions of knowledge and the evolution of ideas within the scientific culture. It will also facilitate tracking down the influences of non-Hebrew sources through translation and adaptation. The user now has the possibility to browse, search, and read this material. Editing the texts (and, in particular, creating tag-based searches) is not open for the general public at this point. Please note that at this stage many of the pages are still under construction and may contain errors. Suggestion, corrections and criticism, however, will be welcome.
The medium-term
In the near future, users will be allowed to add their own corrections, updates, and comments such as English translations, scholarly comments, etc. They will also be able to use the tags for searching the database. We intend to add critical apparatus to the texts, in order to update old existing editions and create a modern corpus edition of the arithmetical works.
The long-term
Mispar may be transformed to a platform for the study of medieval Hebrew mathematics by including Hebrew geometrical manuscripts. Ultimately it may even be extended to a multi-lingual database for medieval mathematics in general, by including relevant non-Hebrew manuscripts.
Texts
| Geometry |
|---|
| كتاب اوقْلِيدس في الأُصول |
| Commentary of al-Nayrīzī on Euclid’s Elements |
Conventions
The Hebrew text (right column): should reflect the text as appears in the manuscript
- Without additional punctuation – using line breaks (br) instead.
If the text has survived in a single manuscript:
- The numbers of the pages are noted in the text.
- Superscript (sup) for additions above the lines.
- Deleted text (s)
- Corrections and additions based on marginal notes – marked by reference (ref marg.)
- Comments in marginal notes – added as references.
Left column:
- Headlines reflect the content of the text, even if they are not stated by the author.
- Mathematical formalization – should reflect the procedure described in the text while avoiding anachronism as much as possible (although some anachronism is inevitable). The general procedures are written in black; the demonstrations of the exercises are stated in blue and errors are marked in red. The translation is not always complete or literal.
- Bibliography - including the following details: date of birth and place of birth of author; date of death and place of death of the author; the date and place the text was written. The list of bibliographical items includes only the items that deal with the text specifically. If the text is a translation or a commentary, there is no need to include the items that concern the original text as these will be included in the page of the original text once it will be created.
- Manuscripts – if available online, a link should be added to the digital version of the manuscript (preferably at the owner site).
