the Almagest, he went to Toledo, and there, in 1175, translated this great work of Ptolemy. Inspired by the richness of Mohammedan literature, he gave himself up to its study. He translated into Latin over 70 Arabic works. Of mathematical treatises, there were among these, besides the Almagest, the 15 books of Euclid, the Sphœrica of Theodosius, a work of Menelaus, the algebra of Mohammed ben Musa Hovarezmi, the astronomy of Dshabir ben Aflah, and others less important.
In the thirteenth century, the zeal for the acquisition of Arabic learning continued. Foremost among the patrons of science at this time ranked Emperor Frederick II. of Hohenstaufen (died 1250). Through frequent contact with Mohammedan scholars, he became familiar with Arabic science. He employed a number of scholars in translating Arabic manuscripts, and it was through him that we came in possession of a new translation of the Almagest. Another royal head deserving mention as a zealous promoter of Arabic science was Alfonso X. of Castile (died 1284). He gathered around him a number of Jewish and Christian scholars, who translated and compiled astronomical works from Arabic sources. Rabbi Zag and Iehuda ben Mose Cohen were the most prominent among them. Astronomical tables prepared by these two Jews spread rapidly in the Occident, and constituted the basis of all astronomical calculation till the sixteenth century.[7] The number of scholars who aided in transplanting Arabic science upon Christian soil was large. But we mention only one more. Giovanni Campano of Novara (about 1260) brought out a new translation of Euclid, which drove the earlier ones from the field, and which formed the basis of the printed editions.[7]
At the close of the twelfth century, the Occident was in possession of the so-called Arabic notation. The Hindoo methods of calculation began to supersede the cumbrous meth-
