Younes Mahdavi

B.S., Mathematics, University of Shahid Beheshti (Tehran), 2006
M.A., History of Science, University of Tehran, Institute for the History of Science, 2009
Ph.D., History of Science, University of Oklahoma, 2021

Younes Mahdavi specializes in the intellectual history of the Islamic world, focusing on the development of sciences among Islamic societies of the premodern era and the Persianate world. He earned his PhD in History of Science at the University of Oklahoma in 2021. His dissertation titled “Astronomy in Safavid Persia: Bahāʾ al-Dīn ʿĀmilī and the Patronage of Science” was recognized with the Provost’s PhD. Dissertation Prize. He holds an MA in the History of Science from the University of Tehran, where his thesis focused on Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī’s work on trigonometry. He also holds a BS in Mathematics. His research studies science and cultural exchange from the Medieval to the Early Modern period, geographically extending from Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent to North Africa and the Mediterranean region, contributing to the understanding of historical scientific practices and their relevance today.

HSTM 1113: Science, Nature, and Society

HSTM 2423: Social/Ethical Issues Science

HSTM 3453: Science & Civilization in Islam

Intellectual history of the Islamic world; development of sciences among Islamic societies of the premodern era; Persianate world; Science and cultural exchange

“Astral sciences among the Safavids: Bahāʾ al-Dīn ʿĀmilī on the prayer niche direction (qibla) and the Crescent Garden,” Intellectual History of the Islamicate World, 2024.

“The ʿilm al-hayʾa (Astronomy) in the Tenth Century: Abū Saʿīd al-Sijzī and the Structure of the Orbs,” Arabic Sciences and Philosophy Vol 31, no. 1 (2021).

“Solving Ptolemaic Problems: A Continued Interest in Early Modern Islamicate Astronomy,” Scientiae 2018: Disciplines of Knowing in the Early Modern World, University of Minnesota, May 19, 2018.

“Sijzī, Abū Saʿīd,” [Life and Scientific Career of Sijzī] Encyclopedia of the World of Islam, vol. 23, 2017. In Persian.

“Būzjānī, Abu’l-Wafāʾ”, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam, two-volume set, vol. 1, 2014, pp. 116-120.

“Ḥasdāi ibn Shibrūṭ” (Hasdai ibn Shaprut, a Jewish scholar, physician, and diplomat), The Great Islamic Encyclopedia, vol. 20, Tehran 2013, pp. 523-525. In Persian. 

“Patronage and Science in the Career of Bahāʾ al-Dīn ʿĀmilī ”, Ghadir Conference, Hartford International University for Religion & Peace (HIU), Jun 23-25, 2024.

“Astronomy in Safavid Persia: Bahāʾ al-Dīn ʿĀmilī and the Patronage of Science,” Presented in the History of Science Department at the University of Oklahoma, April 2, 2021.

“Patronage and Science in Safavid Persia: Bahāʾ al-Dīn al-ʿĀmilī’s Scientific Career,” Presented in Symposia Persica at the Oklahoma State University, February 21-24, 2018.

“Abū Saʿīd al-Sijzī and his Jāmiʿ al-shāhī,” Tarikh-e Elm: Iranian Journal for the History of Science, University of Tehran, no. 12, Spring & Summer 2013, pp. 65-94. In Persian. 

“Ṭūsī’s Place in the History of Trigonometry,” Conference in Memory of Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, Iranian Institute of Philosophy, Tehran, February 23, 2013. 

Edition and commentary of al-Ṭūsī’s Exposing the Secrets of the Menelaus Theorem (Kashf al-qināʿ ʿan asrār al-qaṭṭāʿ), Iranian Institute of Philosophy, Tehran (under contract). In Persian with English Introduction.