This article studies the legacy in the West of Abū al-Wafāʾs Book on those Geometric Constructions which are Necessary for Craftsmen. Although two-thirds of the geometric constructions in the text also appear in Renaissance works, a joint... more
This article studies the legacy in the West of Abū al-Wafāʾs Book on those Geometric Constructions which are Necessary for Craftsmen. Although two-thirds of the geometric constructions in the text also appear in Renaissance works, a joint analysis of original solutions, diagram lettering and probability leads to a robust finding of independent discovery. The analysis shows that there is little chance that the similarities between the contents of Abū al-Wafāʾs Book and the works of Tartaglia, Marolois and Schwenter owe anything to historical transmission. The commentary written by Kamāl al-Dīn Ibn Yūnus seems to have had no Latin legacy either.
