https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/ Journal for the History of Science en daily 1 Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_108268.html Geometric ornament in Great Seljuk architecture has been the subject of diverse and sometimes conflicting interpretations in Islamic art scholarship. This diversity raises a methodological question concerning how such interpretations are constructed and validated: on what grounds have scholars developed different historical, symbolic, or metaphysical explanations from the available works and evidence, and how have they justified their validity? Situated within the historiography of Islamic art, this study critically examines and compares the logics of reasoning, interpretation, and validation in three major approaches to Seljuk geometric ornament: descriptive-archaeological, traditionalist, and historical-contextual. Rather than interpreting the ornament itself or privileging one existing reading, the study reconstructs how selected works transform data into evidence, connect evidence to claims, and establish the validity of their conclusions. The analysis shows that the descriptive-archaeological approach provides a strong empirical basis for documentation, dating, and stylistic classification, but requires additional mediating evidence when advancing broader explanatory claims. The traditionalist approach foregrounds the symbolic and metaphysical dimensions of geometry, while its interpretations of particular historical works largely depend on the internal coherence of its symbolic system and accepted correspondences unless independently supported by historical evidence. Historical-contextual approaches are themselves heterogeneous, comprising cultural-perceptual, semiotic-contextual, symbolic-ideological, and technical-workshop models, each facing distinct problems in moving from formal or historical indications to explanation. The study concludes that interpretive validity depends not on methodological affiliation or internal coherence alone, but on the relationship between research questions, data, evidence construction, reasoning, the scope of claims, and the limits of generalization. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_108151.html Scientific illustration in Islamic manuscripts was not merely a decorative method for embellishing texts; rather, it played a fundamental role in the efficient transmission of knowledge, the clarification of technical concepts, and practical instruction. Among the various subjects illustrated in these works, the anatomy of animals—particularly the horse—occupies a significant position. The present study aims to analyze the methods of anatomical representation of the horse in Islamic veterinary manuscripts (4th to 7th centuries AH) by examining the relationship between these illustrations and the accompanying scientific content. The core question addressed is: How was the anatomy of the horse represented in Islamic veterinary manuscripts, and what were the structural characteristics of these depictions?This research employs a descriptive-analytical methodology, based on a visual and content-based reading of the illustrations and their corresponding texts. The findings indicate that the depiction of the horse in works centered on Baytara (veterinary medicine) is neither purely artistic nor strictly scientific in the modern sense; rather, it is the product of a convergence between empirical knowledge and established traditions of visual representation. In these manuscripts, illustrations functioned as educational and practical tools for understanding animal physiology and treating diseases through the omission of non-essential details, visual simplification, the use of textual annotation, and an emphasis on profile and occasionally dorsal views. Consequently, the anatomical representation of the horse in these texts can be categorized as a form of functional and cognitive representation, wherein the image serves to facilitate the transmission of veterinary knowledge. This study demonstrates that Islamic veterinary manuscripts possess a distinct visual tradition in which the image functions not as a decorative element, but as a crucial complement to the text and a mechanism for the scientific understanding of animal anatomy. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_107667.html Objective: This article examines the place of “civil science” in the Islamic classification of the sciences and asks how, in the works of al-Fārābī, Avicenna, and Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī, the governance of the city moves beyond domination, personal command, or the mere skill of ruling. It argues that civic governance in this tradition is linked to knowledge of ends, public interest, practical aptitude, and judgment in particular cases. The article does not seek to extract a later institutional theory from classical texts. Rather, it aims to recover conceptual elements through which authority over common life was understood in relation to knowledge, purpose, public interest, and prudent governance.Method: The study adopts a historical-conceptual method based on close textual analysis and comparative interpretation. It examines al-Fārābī’s Iḥṣāʾ al-ʿulūm, Avicenna’s al-Madkhal from al-Shifāʾ, and Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī’s Akhlaq-i Nasiri as its principal texts. Concepts such as voluntary action, happiness, civic leadership, practical philosophy, law, cooperation, common interest, general rules, and the governance of particular affairs are analyzed in relation to one another.Finding: The findings show that civil science in al-Fārābī is a science of voluntary actions, dispositions, human ends, happiness, and civic leadership. The validity of civic governance in this framework depends on craft, cultivated disposition, and the ability to connect universal principles with particular cases. Avicenna recasts this legacy within practical philosophy and relates politics to general human association and the normative ordering of action. Ṭūsī reformulates the same tradition through cooperation, common interest, general laws, and the governance of particular affairs according to time and public interest.Results: The results indicate that the Islamic classification of the sciences was not merely a pedagogical ordering of disciplines. It also contained a way of thinking about knowledge, action, the city, and the validity of civic governance. In this tradition, rule is not reduced to power or command; it is connected with practical wisdom, moral formation, public interest, general norms, and judgment in changing circumstances.Conclusions: The Islamic tradition of civil science should not be read as a ready-made institutional doctrine belonging to later public law vocabularie. Its significance lies elsewhere. It offers conceptual materials for a non-voluntarist understanding of civic governance and shows that authority over common affairs could be imagined as knowledge-based, purposive, limited, and practically guided before the emergence of later institutional vocabularies. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_107666.html This article explores the historical development of arithmetic and numeral systems from ancient civilizations to the period of scientific flourishing in the Islamic world. It highlights how fundamental concepts such as place value, zero, fractions, and computational tools emerged and evolved within diverse cultural contexts and practical needs. The study begins with the Babylonian sexagesimal system, one of the earliest known positional numeral systems, which enabled sophisticated calculations—particularly in astronomy—through its place-value structure. In contrast, the Greek alphanumeric system represents a non-positional approach to number representation, although sexagesimal divisions were adopted in astronomical computations.The article then examines the origin of the decimal positional system in India, characterized by distinct numerals and the use of zero as a placeholder. This innovation marked a turning point in the history of mathematics. Through scientific and cultural exchanges, the decimal system was transmitted to the Islamic world, where it was not only adopted but further refined and systematized. Within this intellectual environment, structured algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division were developed and widely applied in commerce, administration, and the sciences.Special attention is given to the role of computational tools—particularly the dust board—in shaping arithmetic procedures. The material constraints and practical features of this device influenced the design of algorithms and calculation techniques. The gradual transition from dust boards to paper and ink represented not merely a technical shift but also a cultural transformation in the production and transmission of knowledge. Another significant development discussed is the formulation and consolidation of decimal fractions, which enhanced numerical precision and expanded the scope of quantitative reasoning.Ultimately, the article argues that the evolution of numeral systems was not simply the invention of new symbols, but the result of a dynamic interaction between practical demands conceptual innovation, and material instruments of calculation. This long-term process laid the foundation for the shared mathematical language used worldwide today and underscores the interconnected contributions of multiple civilizations. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_108255.html Charles Carré, a French veterinarian and graduate of the Alfort Veterinary School in Paris, was dispatched to Iran in 1905 as the personal veterinarian to Mohammad Ali Mirza, the Crown Prince (later Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar). During his four-year residence in Iran (two years in Tabriz and two years in Tehran), he compiled the first comprehensive scientific report on equine diseases in Iran. This report, a copy of which has recently been discovered in the library of the Alfort Veterinary School, contains valuable information on the state of traditional veterinary medicine in Iran, contagious and non-contagious equine diseases, Iranian customs and practices concerning animal care, and the confrontation between traditional medicine and modern medicine during the Qajar period. This article introduces this report and its significance in the history of veterinary medicine in Iran, and demonstrates how this historical document can contribute to a better understanding of the background of veterinary medicine in Iran and animal diseases. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_106468.html Through a review of Edmund Husserl’s The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology and Alexandre Koyré’s Galileo Studies, this article examines the concept of the “crisis of European sciences” within the horizon of a historical-philosophical reading. The central thesis posits that the crisis articulated by Husserl pertains not to the empirical or methodological shortcomings of the natural sciences, but rather to a historical-semantic crisis arising from the foundational modality of modern science and its severance from the horizon of the lifeworld (Lebenswelt). Within this framework, Koyré’s analysis of the “mathematization of nature” in Galilean thought—understood as the substitution of the sensible world with an ideal, geometrical one—is construed as the historical matrix of the very process Husserl designates as “objectivism” and the “forgetting of the meaning-fundament of science.” The article demonstrates that although Koyré is not a phenomenologist, his philosophical historiography lays bare the historical underpinnings of the crisis that Husserl analyzes on a transcendental plane. Consequently, the “crisis of European sciences” must be apprehended as a crisis concerning the meaning of rationality and the relation of science to human life, rather than an internal crisis of science itself. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_108431.html The green city is recognized as one of the approaches to achieving sustainable development and enhancing urban livability, having been shaped by political, ecological, and social factors. Accordingly, this study seeks to examine the evolution of green city discourse and identify the epistemic ruptures and knowledge–power mechanisms governing urban planning. In terms of purpose, this research is fundamental, and in terms of nature, it is qualitative. The research methodology is grounded in Foucauldian genealogy combined with critical discourse analysis. Data were collected through in-depth documentary and library-based studies.The findings indicate that the evolution of green city discourse has not been merely linear, progressive, or technical; rather, it is the outcome of seven epistemic and knowledge-based ruptures. These include: urban sanitary engineering; the garden city and biopolitics; modern urbanism and spatial discipline; sustainable development and New Urbanism; ecological biopower; algorithmic biopower; and post-COVID urbanism and transhuman subjectivity. Across these epistemic ruptures, the conception of the green city has shifted from viewing nature as an instrument of sanitary engineering and cleanliness to understanding nature as a co-creator and living partner within resilience networks.Therefore, this study argues that the green city can be interpreted beyond an environmental or technocratic phenomenon. From a Foucauldian perspective, it can be understood as a political—or biopolitical—technology through which urban governance and management are exercised. Furthermore, the findings move beyond linear historiography and critique approaches limited to quantitative measures or green branding, demonstrating that an understanding of urban environmental crises requires an examination of the hidden layers of power and truth. Finally, the study recommends that urban managers and policymakers move beyond an exclusive focus on the quantity of green space and give particular attention to emerging processes such as environmental justice, local proximities, and citizen co-creation in urban governance. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_107402.html The problem of bias and its relationship with objectivity constitutes one of the fundamental challenges in the epistemology of history. This article, presented as an exposition of the core arguments in "Bias in Historical Description, Interpretation, and Explanation," focuses on the views of C. Behan McCullagh. In opposition to postmodern relativism, it explores the typology of bias and potential methods for its mitigation. The analysis begins by dissecting four primary manifestations of bias: interpretive error, unfair selection in description, false general explanations, and the omission of underlying causes. It further investigates the roots of individual motivation and cultural hegemonies. Drawing upon Ziva Kunda’s psychological research on motivated reasoning and Marc Bloch’s methodology regarding "trace-like" evidence (témoignage), the paper argues that a commitment to standards of rational inquiry and engagement with incongruent evidence are pivotal to achieving "fair history." The findings suggest that while cultural biases—due to their subconscious nature—persistently threaten objectivity, transforming historiography into a collective and global project based on heteroglossia (plurality of voices) can pave the way for explanations that remain honest and non-misleading in the face of both common sense and available empirical evidence. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_107665.html This article aims to demonstrate the depth and complexity of Galileo’s engagement with Aristotle. Contrary to the prevailing interpretation—which typically portrays Galileo, from a modern scientific perspective, as standing in direct opposition to Aristotelian thought—this article argues that such a view is historically misleading. It further contends that Galileo’s relationship with Aristotelian philosophy cannot be reduced to the expression of a merely personal belief, nor can it be understood as an attempt to separate scientific inquiry from religious concerns. Likewise, Galileo’s position should not be interpreted as a strategic confrontation with the Church undertaken solely as a means of self-defense. Rather, Galileo’s approach to Scripture represents an interpretation distinct from a literal reading of the sacred text, one grounded in what he regarded as a scientifically informed hermeneutic. For Galileo, God was the author of both the Book of Nature and the Book of Scripture. On this basis, the article traces the trajectory of Galileo’s scientific transformation from its earliest stages through its final articulation. It shows how Galileo came to understand terrestrial and celestial motions as governed by the same underlying principles, thereby unifying the physics of the sublunary and supralunary realms. Ultimately, this article is not confined to a purely scientific analysis. It seeks instead to uncover the theological layers embedded within Galileo’s scientific thought. To this end, the author reconstructs Galileo’s intellectual development and divides this trajectory into six distinct sections, each corresponding to a specific phase in the evolution of his scientific and theological reasoning. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_107798.html This article consists of three parts and an abstract. In the first part, I have reported on several English articles that have been written on the subject of teaching the theory of evolution and ways to improve it in English-speaking countries. This part actually provides a background for the next two parts. In the second part, I have reviewed and reported on Gerald Skoog's article. In this article, Skoog has provided an account of the coverage of the subject of evolution, and especially human evolution, in American textbooks during the twentieth century. The review of Skoog's article provides the necessary premises for a comparison between it and the article I have previously published. Therefore, in the third part, I have recalled the main points of the previous article and also compared it with Skoog's article.Of course, I have also looked at Persian-language documents. Overall, I have shown that the emergence of opposition to the theory of evolution in these two societies, Iran and America, is directly related to cultural, political, and religious events. Finally, it is suggested that in order to further prepare the ground for a proper confrontation with the theory of evolution, it is necessary to rethink the correlation between the beliefs of individuals in society and scientific concepts. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_108150.html This study examines a depth-sounding procedure described by the mathematician Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿĀbis in the opening section of his treatise fī Akhdh al-abʿād (On the Determination of Distances). Whereas conventional ancient and medieval depth-sounding relied on direct linear measurement, Ibn Abī ʿĀbis proposed an indirect procedure based on a hollow metal ball, a detachable weight, and a pengān . The instrument was first operated at a known depth to establish a reference value from the quantity of water collected during the ball's descent and ascent. The quantity obtained in a subsequent trial at an unknown depth was then compared with this reference value, and the depth was inferred through proportional calculation. This article reconstructs the operation of the instrument and examines its measurement procedure in relation to earlier depth-sounding practices and broader traditions of indirect measurement. It argues that the historical significance of Abī ʿĀbis’s procedure lies not in the invention of his instrument but in the combination within a reference-based method of indirect measurement, in which the duration of a body's motion serves as a proxy for an inaccessible linear distance. No equivalent procedure has been identified in the earlier Greek, Roman, or Arabic sources consulted for this study. Although this does not establish absolute historical priority, the treatise preserves an unusually early description of an indirect determination of water depth. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_108572.html This article examines the role of pre-Islamic Iran’s scientific and institutional heritage in the flourishing of mathematics in Islamic civilization from the perspective of the history of science. It argues that the prominent role of the Iranian cultural sphere in the development of Islamic mathematics cannot be explained solely by the transmission of earlier scientific traditions or by individual achievements. Rather, it should be understood through the interaction between inherited scientific and institutional capacities, the new intellectual and practical demands of Islamic society, and the formation of scholarly networks in the Islamic period. Before the advent of Islam, Sasanian Iran had developed traditions in astronomy, calendrical studies, administrative calculation, and intellectual exchange with Greek, Indian, and Syriac scientific cultures. These capacities did not disappear after the emergence of Islam; instead, they were transformed and integrated into a new historical context. At the same time, religious and social requirements of Islam, including the determination of prayer times, the calculation of the qibla direction, calendar regulation, and legal computations, created new demands for mathematical and astronomical methods. By examining historical evidence from pre-Islamic Iran and the contributions of scholars such as al-Khwārizmī, al-Bīrūnī, ʿUmar Khayyām, and Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, this article argues that the flourishing of mathematics in the Iranian cultural sphere resulted from the activation of pre-existing capacities in response to new needs and within the institutional framework of Islamic civilization. The development of Islamic mathematics is therefore best understood as a multifactorial process shaped by historical continuity, cultural interaction, and scholarly creativity. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_108573.html Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī (7th-8th century AH / 13th century CE) is best known for his contributions to logic and for his geometrical treatise Ashkāl al-Taʾsīs. His extant writings on astronomy, however, demonstrate his thorough command of the astronomical sciences of his time. His astronomical corpus ranges from a commentary on the Almagest, a highly specialized work on mathematical astronomy, to short treatises on astrology. This article first surveys al-Samarqandī’s extant astronomical writings and then presents critical editions of three astronomical texts on the basis of the surviving manuscript witnesses: (1) the chapter on hayʾa from Laṭāʾif al-Ḥikma; (2) A Chapter on the Determination of the Divisions of Temporal Hours; and (3) the Table of Lots. The second treatise concerns the conversion between equinoctial and temporal (unequal) hours, whereas the Table of Lots belongs to the tradition of astrology. The chapter on hayʾa in Laṭāʾif al-Ḥikma, by contrast, is a concise introduction to the science of hayʾa (the configuration of the heavens) in both structure and content. Its inclusion within an encyclopaedic work designed to encompass a wide range of disciplines further highlights the broadly educational character of ʿilm al-hayʾa, especially as presented in concise introductory treatises. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_108751.html This article examines the sections on the daily calendar in Chapters One, Two, Fourteen, and Fifteen of Sharḥ-i Bīst Bāb by Mullā Muẓaffar Gunābādī. These chapters are devoted to the principles of calendrical reckoning, the structure and arrangement of the calendar, and the conversion and correspondence of chronological systems. The study discusses such topics as different types of solar and lunar years and months, various chronological systems, methods of date conversion, the use of abjad notation in recording calendrical data, the astronomical foundations of solar and lunar years and months, the structure of the Khaṭāʾī and Uyghur calendars, and the components and contents of the calendar, including its introductory page, the Ayyām-i Mashhūrah (well-known calendrical observances), and the recording of solar and lunar eclipses. In addition to explaining the theoretical foundations of calendrical reckoning, Mullā Muẓaffar provides a detailed account of the practical organization of the calendar and its constituent elements. Sharḥ-i Bīst Bāb may therefore be regarded as a valuable source for reconstructing the structure and contents of such calendars and for understanding calendrical practices in the Islamic tradition. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_108752.html History education during the second Pahlavi period was considered one of the main tools for ideological guidance of the Iranian educational system, and the Supreme Council of Culture and then the Ministry of Education played a decisive role in formulating and approving related policies. Despite the importance of this institution, no comprehensive research has been conducted so far on how history education is represented and decided in the meetings of the council. Accordingly, the main question of the research is what process did history education undergo in the documents and resolutions of the Supreme Council of Culture and Education during the years 1320 to 1354 and what implications does it have for understanding the cultural policy of the Pahlavi government? The aim of the research is to explain the process of developments in history education and analyze the discourse governing the decisions of the council. The research was conducted using the method of document analysis and by examining 66 official minutes of the council during the mentioned period. The findings show that history education during this period fluctuated between two conflicting approaches: “cultural developmentism” and “institutional neglect”. In a way that, alongside efforts to improve educational quality, there are periods of interruption and neglect. This fluctuation is a reflection of the instability of educational policies and a limited understanding of the social function of history. The results of the research can be useful for policymakers, curriculum designers, and researchers of the history of education in rethinking the place of history in the curriculum and rebuilding cultural identity in the Iranian educational system. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_108753.html Modern social psychology does not have a single, uniform, or straightforward historical origin. One of the important origins of psychological attention to the social emerged at the very earliest moments of scientific psychology; in the German tradition, this origin is known as Völkerpsychologie, or the psychology of nations. Using a historical-analytical approach, the present article examines the formation of this tradition within the intellectual, political, and cultural context of nineteenth-century Germany. It seeks to show how concepts such as nation, culture, language, and national spirit became psychological objects of inquiry. In this form of psychology, the social is not merely an external environment for individual behavior; rather, it is a constitutive domain within which mind, language, meaning, and human action take shape. From this perspective, Völkerpsychologie was an attempt to understand those psychological phenomena that emerge not in the isolated individual, but in the historical and collective life of human beings. The article first reconstructs the theoretical background of this tradition in the thought of Herder, Humboldt, and Herbart. It then shows how Lazarus and Steinthal, through the concept of national spirit, made possible the psychological study of collective life. The article further examines Wundt’s redefinition of Völkerpsychologie, according to which this field was not a rival to experimental psychology, but its necessary complement in the study of higher mental processes, language, myth, religion, and custom. The findings indicate that Völkerpsychologie, despite its conceptual ambiguities and institutional failure, opened an alternative horizon for understanding the relation between individual and society. The significance of rereading this tradition lies not only in achieving a more accurate understanding of the history of modern social psychology, but also in its capacity to contribute to a critique of methodological individualism in social psychology and to make possible a reconsideration of the social as a condition for the formation of the human mind. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_108874.html مفاهیم سرزمین و مرز(قلمرو سرزمینی) به عنوان اصلی ترین بحث ها در دانش جغرافیای سیاسی از اهمیت و جایگاه والایی در طی تاریخ و در میان انسان ها برخوردار بوده است. این دو مفهوم علمی در شکل‌گیری روابط انسان، جامعه و قدرت سیاسی با مکان نقش اساسی برعهده داشته‌اند. با وجود گستردگی مباحث نظری درباره این مفاهیم، نحوه تحول معنای سرزمین و قلمرو سرزمینی در دیدگاه‌های مختلف فکری و نسبت آن با ابعاد انسانی، فرهنگی و سیاسی کمتر به‌صورت یکپارچه مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است. پژوهش حاضر با هدف بررسی و تحلیل تحول مفهومی سرزمین و مرز و تبیین ابعاد مختلف رابطه انسان با قلمرو سرزمینی، دیدگاه‌ها و آثار شماری از اندیشمندان، فلاسفه و جغرافیدانان را در دوره‌های مختلف مورد مطالعه قرار داده است. این پژوهش از نظر هدف، بنیادی و از نظر روش، توصیفی ـ تحلیلی و مبتنی بر مطالعه اسنادی و تحلیل کیفی متون نظری است و با بهره‌گیری از رویکرد تفسیری، مفاهیم و دیدگاه‌های مرتبط با سرزمین و مرز را مورد مقایسه و تحلیل قرار می‌دهد. یافته ‌های پژوهش نشان می‌دهد که مفهوم سرزمین در تحول اندیشه جغرافیای سیاسی، از تلقی صرفاً فضایی و کالبدی فراتر رفته و به مفهومی چندبّعدی تبدیل شده است که هم‌زمان واجد ابعاد سیاسی، اجتماعی، فرهنگی، هویتی و عاطفی است. همچنین، تحلیل دیدگاه‌های نظری نشان می‌دهد که مرز صرفاً یک خط تحدیدکننده قلمرو سیاسی نیست، بلکه در فرایند تولید، بازنمایی و تنظیم روابط قدرت، هویت و تعلق مکانی نقش دارد. بر این اساس، فهم سرزمین و مرز مستلزم توجه همزمان به ابعاد مادی و معنایی قلمرو و چگونگی شکل‌گیری رابطه انسان با مکان است. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_109040.html The number and the evolution of its concept have long been subjects of interesting discussions among philosophers, logicians, mathematicians, and literary scholars. In human history, the origins of numbers arose from specific practical needs. “One” is one of the simplest yet most fundamental concepts in mathematics. It emerges in the earliest experiences of counting, but throughout the development of human thought, it has acquired meanings and functions far beyond simple counting. Archaeological evidence indicates that numbers emerged before writing. The earliest records of counting are found not in words, but in notches carved on on wood, stone, or bone. As societies evolved and more complex needs emerged, “one” gradually developed from a simple counting mark into various forms and functions, including the cardinal and ordinal number, the unit, oneness, one-to-one correspondence, and, in more recent periods, the identity element and a fundamental component of the binary system. Alongside these developments, “one” has acquired diverse meanings and connotations in language, philosophy, spiritual traditions, and ancient thought. Using a descriptive-analytical method and a genealogical approach, this paper examines the historical and conceptual transformation of “one,” from the earliest forms of counting to some of its contemporary applications, bringing historical, philosophical, linguistic, cultural, and technological perspectives into dialogue. The findings show that, despite its apparent simplicity, “one” is neither a single-meaning nor a single-function concept; rather, it has developed diverse functions within historical and epistemic contexts and acquired different meanings and implications in areas such as language, culture, mathematics education, and technology. Accordingly, the genealogy of “one” can be regarded as an instance of the transformation of a mathematical concept from concrete experiences and practical applications toward more abstract forms-a transformation that lies at the intersection of the history of mathematics, philosophy, language, culture, and technology. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_109041.html This study aimed to explain the conceptual and institutional evolution of family counseling in Iran, from its Islamic roots to its establishment as an academic and professional field in the contemporary period. The central problem was the lack of a historical-analytical account of the relationship between counseling-related functions in the Islamic tradition and the emergence of family counseling within Iran's modern academic system. Employing a qualitative historical-analytical approach and conceptual historiography, the study analyzed documentary data from classical Islamic sources, historical works on judicial institutions, fatwa, and hisbah, as well as sources on the history of psychology and counseling in Iran across three interconnected levels: conceptual, institutional, and discursive. The findings indicated that family counseling did not exist as an independent discipline in the Islamic tradition; however, functions related to guidance, conflict resolution, and family direction can be identified through concepts such as advice, guidance, and consultation, and within institutions like adjudication, fatwa, and hisbah. In the contemporary period, the introduction of modern psychology and the development of academic and professional institutions gradually transferred these functions from traditional structures to specialized ones. Following the Islamic Revolution, efforts to redefine counseling within an Islamic-Iranian framework emerged alongside its academic and professional expansion. The history of family counseling in Iran cannot be understood merely as the transfer of Western knowledge; rather, it represents a multi-layered process of continuity, rupture, conceptual redefinition, and institutional transformation, underscoring the need for a historical-critical reconsideration of the field's foundations while simultaneously incorporating the Islamic-Iranian intellectual heritage and the achievements of modern psychology in developing culturally grounded approaches. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_109082.html In modern mathematics, numerous kinds of “numbers” have been identified, such as natural numbers and integers, rational and irrational numbers, algebraic and transcendental, real and imaginary, complex and quaternions, cardinal and ordinal, finite and infinite, infinitesimal and infinite, and thousands of other types. What would the analysis of these categories of numbers be within the framework of Aristotelian-Peripatetic philosophy? This paper aims to examine and analyze the first category—namely, natural numbers—based on the foundations of Aristotelian-Peripatetic philosophy. I begin by addressing the debate between Avicenna and Suhrawardī concerning the existence of numbers in the mind or in the external world, and I show that Avicenna’s position is correct, and moreover, that these two views can be reconciled. In the next step, I demonstrate that the disagreement among the Peripatetics over whether zero, one, and two count as numbers is a verbal dispute, stemming from different definitions of “number.” Then, inspired by a Fregean insight, I argue that Aristotelian discrete quantity and natural numbers, contrary to the dominant Peripatetic view, are second-order predicates or properties (i.e., secondary intelligibles [maʿqūlāt thāniyah]), and hence Suhrawardī's position and that of his followers is closer to the truth in this regard. Incidentally, by interpreting iʿtibārī concepts and secondary intelligibles as “accidents of accidents,” one can provide an interpretation of Suhrawardī that is compatible with Avicenna’s view on the extra-mental existence of numbers. Finally, I attempt to explain five essential features of natural numbers and, with their help, arrive at a formal and reliable definition of the general concept of “natural number.” https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_109083.html The process of the transfer and localization of modern military cartographic knowledge and techniques in Qajar Iran began with the companions of the French General Gardane, due to the outbreak of the Russo-Iranian wars and the need of military commanders for this knowledge. French officers provided selected military commanders with scientific and practical training in military surveying and mapping. In addition, following Abbas Mirza’s dispatch of students abroad, some of the students sent to Europe acquired knowledge in this field. With the establishment of Dar al-Funun, military cartography was taught within the framework of infantry and artillery science by foreign and Iranian teachers, and its instruction expanded with the establishment of other military schools, such as the Military School. This article seeks to examine and explain the process of the introduction and teaching of this knowledge on the basis of primary historical sources, such as books, documents, and newspapers. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_109086.html The fundamental distinction between the two concepts of Hermetism and Hermeticism, despite their synonymous usage in a significant portion of the scholarly literature, represents two distinct stages in the evolution of the Hermetic tradition. Hermetism refers to the corpus of philosophical-religious texts and doctrines of the first to fourth centuries CE in Alexandria, which incorporated a synthesis of Egyptian, Greek, Jewish, and Gnostic elements. By contrast, Hermeticism denotes the living and multifaceted tradition that began in the Middle Ages with the translation of texts into Arabic and Latin and, through a complex process of transmission, transformation, and reinterpretation, became an influential current in alchemy, natural magic, Renaissance philosophy, and ultimately psychology and emergent spiritualities. Adopting a genealogical and historical-critical approach, the present essay offers a stage-by-stage analytical timeline, demonstrating that this current is not a linear process but rather a complex network of continuities and ruptures, translations and distortions, revivals and rereadings. Through analysis of primary sources—including the Hermetic corpus, the Asclepius, and alchemical texts—and drawing on recent findings in papyrology and critical editions, the study provides a comprehensive map of the two-thousand-year evolution of this tradition. The milestones of this trajectory include the period of transmission to the Islamic world (8th–12th centuries), the Renaissance revival under Ficino (15th century), the Casaubon crisis and historical critique (17th century), and the modern esoteric revivals (19th–21st centuries). This distinction transcends a merely terminological issue, offering a framework for analyzing and understanding the dynamic process of transmission and transformation of spiritual traditions across different historical-cultural contexts. The findings carry important implications for the fields of intellectual history, philosophy of religion, Western esotericism, and comparative religion, and demonstrate how ancient texts are not merely preserved but recreated and reproduced in the process of cultural transmission. https://jihs.ut.ac.ir/article_109103.html Abstract The illumination and decoration of manuscripts became associated with scientific subjects such as medicine، astronomy، agriculture، and alchemy from the early centuries of the Islamic period. Under Mongol rule، manuscript painting flourished across Iran and other parts of the Islamic world، serving a range of purposes، including ornamentation and visual embellishment، the communication of particular concepts and meanings، or a combination of both. The Kitāb al-Bulhān، an illustrated work dating to the ninth century AH (fifteenth century CE)، is a notable example of this tradition. The seven planets and the twelve zodiacal signs were among the most frequently represented visual elements in illustrated astrological and astronomical manuscripts، books of wonders، and، in some cases، talismanic texts. Within the astrological tradition، the planets and zodiacal signs constituted fundamental elements in the formulation of astrological concepts and practices. Over time، astrologers represented the planets and zodiacal signs through relatively established visual forms and، in some contexts، employed these forms to convey specific astrological meanings. Against this background، this study asks how the celestial illustrations of the Kitāb al-Bulhān relate to the tradition of depicting the constellations and in what ways they extend beyond astronomical representation to convey specifically astrological meanings. To address this question، the study employs a comparative examination of textual sources and uses a historical approach to describe and analyze the visual evidence. The findings demonstrate that some of the celestial illustrations in the Kitāb al-Bulhān، rather than serving merely decorative purposes، correspond to concepts and principles of astrology and visually represent astrological beliefs through human، animal، and mythological figures. These illustrations also convey fundamental astrological concepts، including the planetary houses (buyūt)، the exaltation and fall of the planets، and the lunar mansions. At the same time، comparison with descriptions of planetary hayākil in sources relating to the Harranian Sabians reveals significant correspondences and demonstrates the value of examining these two textual and visual traditions in relation to one another.