Biography
I pursued an undergraduate degree in mathematical physics, with a senior project in General Relativity exact solutions to the Einstein Field Equations. However, I experienced a profound conversion experience in my academic direction after I returned from my Chinese mission. After studying philosophy and Classics at University of Oxford as a postgraduate, I made a radical switch to the humanities, because I wanted to study people, not matter and equations.
Subsequently, I earned my PhD from Columbia University in History of Islamic Science and Islamic Studies. My first position was with the Islamic Translation Series at BYU, where I worked on the Medical Works of Moses Maimonides, preparing them for publication. I was involved with the Maxwell Institute as a founding member.
I taught Middle East and Byzantine history at BYU for several years, followed by Mediterranean history and history of medicine at the Claremont Colleges. I was an invited senior Research Fellow at the Einstein Centre Chronoi in Berlin working on Arabic reception of Greek medicine.
Research Interests
I research history of astronomy and medicine in the Greek and Arabic traditions, and their successor cultures. I have published a major work on Galen’s astrological medicine (De diebus decretoriis “Critical Days”), and am about to publish another even more important work of Galen’s on therapy (De crisibus “Crises”). These are tour de force applications of philological and historical method to one of the intellectual pillars of Western Civilization and his reception in the Arabic tradition. I have many peer-reviewed articles in this field, involving Ancient Greek, Arabic, Byzantine Greek, and Medieval Latin receptions of Galen. I employ palaeographical methods in reading ancient Greek, Arabic, and Latin manuscripts.Additionally, I am interested in the issue of cultural appropriation, debt, historical erasure, and demonization of the source culture. I am exploring this in a comparative study of how the West has appropriated Classical culture, Judaism, Byzantine ideas and institutions, and Arabic ideas, as well as how Islamic civilization has appropriated Greek and Persian ideas and institutions. This historical study is relevant to the culture wars today over American history and memory.
Teaching Interests
History of Science and Medicine; Islamic Philosophy; Medieval Philosophy; Islamic History; Mediterranean History; Byzantine History, etc.Some innovative approaches to learning that I employ are hands-on use of scientific devices and mathematical methods from the history of astronomy (astrolabes, planetary tables, logarithms, and slide rules), and in-class debates involving historical figures (“Meeting of the Minds”). I also have the students re-enact the Trial of Galileo when we discuss the many issues surrounding that pivotal confrontation between an astronomer and a religious institution.
Education
- No degree, Medieval Greek Paleography and Byzantine Literature , Teaching Byzantine history, and preparing Greek edition Galen, American School of Classical Studies (2009)
- Ph.D., Islamic Studies and History of Islamic Science , Transmission of scientific concepts, especially medical and astronomical, between Islam and Byzantium, Columbia University, Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (1999)
- M.Phil., Ptolemaic planetary theory in the Arabic tradition , History of Islamic Law; history of domestic animals; Byzantine history; historical theory and method from a post-colonial perspective; and history of revolutionary movements in Islam, Columbia University, Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (1997)
- M.A., History of science in Islam, especially astronomy and optics , Sanskrit language and Indian history; and Islamic Law in the formative period of Islam, Columbia University, Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (1995)
- M.A. (course work), Greek and Latin Classics , Greek philosophy, early Byzantine history, classical rhetoric, and ancient Greek music theory, Greek and Latin languages and literatures, Brigham Young University (1991)
- B.A., Mathematical physics (General Relativity field equations, exact solutions) , Philosophy, mathematics, and Chinese language, Brigham Young University (1988)
- No degree, Philosophy of science and history of pyschology , Greek language and philosophy, Linacre College and Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford (1987)
Honors and Awards
- 2011 Outstanding Academic Title , Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries (2011 - 2011)
- Columbia University President's Graduate Fellow, Columbia University (1991-99) (1991 - 1999)
- National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (1992-95), National Science Foundation (1992 - 1995)
- National Translation Competition (2 awards: Greek translation, and Latin Composition), Eta Sigma Phi National Classics Fraternity (1989 - 1989)
Memberships
- American Association for the History of Medicine (2013 - Present)
- American Historical Association (2011 - Present)
- Byzantine Studies Association of North America (2010 - Present)
- Renaissance Society of America (2010 - Present)
- American Philological Association (2008 - Present)
- American Oriental Society (2001 - Present)
- The Commission on History of Science and Technology in Islamic Societies (2000 - Present)
- Eta Sigma Phi (1987 - Present)
Professional Citizenship
- Conference-Related Role, American Association for the History of Medicine (2014 - Present)
- Guest Speaker, BYU Department of Micro- and Molecular Biology Annual Conference (2013 - Present)
- Guest Speaker, Kings College, London (2013 - Present)