[Islamsci] Richard Lorch: 1942-2021

[Mohammad Bagheri]

Dear colleagues,
On behalf of my colleagues engaged in the history of science in Iran, I
send sincere condolences for Richrd Lorch's passing away. I learned much
from him and appreciated his achievements. We recently published a Persian
translation of Theodosius' *De habitationibus *in our Persian journal *Miras-e
Elmi *(Scientific Heritage, no. 15, Spring & Summer 2019, tr. Mahdieh
Nikhkah), based on its Arabic text edited by Lorch and Paul Kunitzsch. I
also liked very much his work on ibn Salah's treatise about the
stereographic projection where he refers to astronomical observation made
in Maragha before Tusi.
I have very nice memories of being with him during my visit to Munich in
November 2001.
His kindness and modesty were admirable. We will keep his dear memory
shining in our hearts.

On Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 9:24 PM Lutz Richter-bernburg <
lutz.richter-bernburg at uni-tuebingen.de> wrote:

> Dear Benno, dear colleagues,
>    It is not merely with sadness but with a twinge of conscience--for
> not having tried harder to stay in touch--that I read your
> announcement of Richard Lorch's death.  We went back quite some
> time...to Aleppo more than forty years ago.  -- It is somewhat
> soothing to learn that he was not entirely alone in his last weeks,
> but the fracture he suffered and its consequences make for somber
> reading, nearly like a textbook case.  R. I. P.
>     Do take care, all of you, wherever you are.
>     Sincerely,
>     Lutz Richter-Bernburg
>
> Zitat von Benno van Dalen <bvdalen at ptolemaeus.badw.de>:
>
> > Dear colleagues,
> >
> > Dear friends,
> >
> > It is with great sadness that we inform you that Richard Lorch died
> > peacefully at the age of 78 in Warwick Hospital in Warwick, England
> > last Wednesday, 17 February 2021. He had had Parkinson disease for
> > more than ten years. On 26 January he broke his hip when he fell in
> > his flat. He received a hip replacement in the hospital, but did not
> > any more recover. His closest relatives were able to be with him
> > during his last hours.
> >
> > Richard Lorch was born on 13 June 1942 in Gravesend on the river
> > Thames, just east of London. He received his BA in mathematics in
> > 1964, and his MA in history and philosophy of science in 1965, both
> > from St. Johns College in Oxford. In 1971 he was awarded the PhD
> > degree by Manchester University for a dissertation entitled /Jābir
> > ibn Aflah and his Influence in the West‎/. Mathematics and astronomy
> > in the Arabic-Islamic world and its influence in Europe also
> > remained the focus of his research during the following decades.
> > Lorch had a one-year position at Birzeit University near Ramallah
> > (Palestine) and spent two years at the Institute for the History of
> > Arabic Science in Aleppo (Syria). The remainder of his academic
> > career he spent in Munich. Besides five years in the Kepler project
> > of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, he worked in a
> > series of projects that were funded by various German societies and
> > were hosted at the Oriental Institute and later by the Chair for
> > History of Science of Ludwig Maximilian University.
> >
> >
> > Richard Lorch's most important publications consisted of editions of
> > Arabic and Latin texts with mathematical commentaries. His books
> > included /The Melon-Shaped Astrolabe in Arabic Astronomy/ (1999,
> > with Kennedy and Kunitzsch); //Thābit ibn Qurra. On the
> > Sector-Figure and Related Texts/ (2001); Al-Farghānī. On the
> > Astrolabe/ (2005), and, together with Paul Kunitzsch, /Theodosius,
> > Sphaerica. Arabic and Medieval Latin Translations/ (2011). A
> > selection of his articles were reprinted in the Variorum volume
> > /Arabic Mathematical Sciences: Instruments, Texts, Transmission/
> > (1995).
> >
> > Menso Folkerts
> > Benno van Dalen
>
>
>
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