Two editions of Ibn al-Haytham's Completion of the Conics

Abstract

The lost Book VIII of the Conics of Apollonius of Perga (ca. 200 B.C.) was reconstructed by the Islamic mathematician Ibn al-Haytham (ca. A.D. 965-1041) in his Completion of the Conics. The Arabic text of this reconstruction with English translation and commentary was published as J. P. Hogendijk, Ibn al-Haytham's Completion of the Conics (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1985). In a new Arabic edition with French translation and commentary (R. Rashed, Les mathématiques infinitésimales du IXe au XIe siécle. Vol. 3., London: Al-Furqan Foundation, 2000), it was claimed that my edition is faulty. In this paper the similarities and differences between the two editions, translations, and commentaries are discussed, with due consideration for readers who do not know Arabic. The facts will speak for themselves. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).