Ibn Bāṣo's universal plate and its influence on European astronomy

Abstract

SUMMARY: Ibn Bāṣo, an astronomer who lived in Granada in the 13th century, wrote a treatise on the use of a universal plate devised to be used in conjunction with an astrolabe. This plate was widely diffused in the Islamic World until the 18th century and also was the inspiration of some astronomical instruments made in Europe between the 14th and the 17th centuries. The paper describes the characteristics of Ibn Bāṣo's universal plate, the most remarkable surviving examples of it and its influence on later astronomers both in the Islamic World and in Europe.