Book IV of the Konika consists of two parts; the first presents a theory of poles and polars, the second deals with the number of intersections and points of contact in a conic section. Previously the book was only extant as the very unreliable text of a Greek commentary by Eutocius. Roshdi Rashed here presents for the first time an edition of an Arabic translation based on a text independent of this Greek version. This is a valuable re-discovery, for which reason it is published here as a separate volume. It contains an edition princeps of the Arabic text, together with a faithful translation and a historical-mathematical commentary.

Le livre IV des Coniques est composé de deux parties. La première porte sur la théorie des pôles et des polaires et la seconde sur le nombre des points d'intersection et de contact des sections coniques. Ce livre n'a été jusqu'ici connu que dans une version grandement défectueuse d'une recension d'Eutocius. C'est ce que permet de montrer l'édition et l'étude de la traduction arabe d'une version grecque indépendante de ce dernier. Il s'agit donc d'une véritable redécouverte, ce qui explique qu'un volume entier soit consacré à ce livre. On y trouve l' editio princeps de cette version arabe, une traduction rigoureuse et un commentaire mathématique et historique.

Autorentext

Roshdi Rashed, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique und Université de Paris VII, Paris, Frankreich.

Klappentext

Book IV of the Konika consists of two parts; the first presents a theory of poles and polars, the second deals with the number of intersections and points of contact in a conic section. Previously the book was only extant as the very unreliable text of a Greek commentary by Eutocius. Roshdi Rashed here presents for the first time an edition of an Arabic translation based on a text independent of this Greek version. This is a valuable re-discovery, for which reason it is published here as a separate volume. It contains an edition princeps of the Arabic text, together with a faithful translation and a historical-mathematical commentary.

Zusammenfassung

Book IV of the Konika consists of two parts; the first presents a theory of poles and polars, the second deals with the number of intersections and points of contact in a conic section. Previously the book was only extant as the very unreliable text of a Greek commentary by Eutocius. Roshdi Rashed here presents for the first time an edition of an Arabic translation based on a text independent of this Greek version. This is a valuable re-discovery, for which reason it is published here as a separate volume. It contains an edition princeps of the Arabic text, together with a faithful translation and a historical-mathematical commentary.