Lecture at U Minnesota about Medieval Islamic Automata, Thu, Nov 8, 2007

 http://events.tc.umn.edu/event.xml?occurrence=403208

 Thursday, November 8, 2007 4:00 PM

Room 125
Nolte Center for Continuing Education
Minneapolis Campus

Free Lecture

“Simulations of Time and Life in al-Jazari’s Automata: Islamic Symbolism, Teleological Mechanisms, and Ontological Difference”: a talk with Ayhan Aytes

Sponsored By:  Institute for Advanced Study
Additional Sponsors:  Center for Medieval Studies

 Ayhan Aytes’s research focuses on a series of examples from al-Jazari’s Book of Ingenious Mechanical Devices written in 1206. By using media archeology, his study addresses the symbolic depiction of the concept of time such as in al-Jazari’s Elephant Clock, as it simulates a unique mechanistic conception of the universe. Because of the highly syncretic nature of the symbolic system to which these machines refer, al-Jazari’s works are also a subject to the discussion of knowledge transmission of medieval technology. Ayhan Aytes is a graduate researcher in the Department of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. This event is also part of the University Symposium on Time.

Thanks to Aurangzeb for the tip.