The Diagram as Paradigm

The Diagram as Paradigm is the first book that examines medieval diagrams from a cross-cultural perspective, focusing on three regions—Byzantium, the Islamicate world, and the Latin West—each culturally diverse and closely linked through complex processes of intellectual, artistic, diplomatic, and mercantile exchange.

The volume brings together case studies, often of little-known material, by an international group of specialists. It is prefaced by four introductory essays that provide broad overviews of diagrammatic traditions in these regions, as well as considering the theoretical dimensions of diagramming. Among the historical disciplines whose use of diagrams is explored are philosophy, theology, mysticism, music, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and cosmology.

Despite the sheer variety, ingenuity, and visual inventiveness of premodern world diagrams, they often share many similarities in conception, construction, and practical use. Diagrams prove to be an essential part of the fabric of premodern intellectual, scientific, religious, artistic, and artisanal life.