My path to becoming an historian of science in premodern Islam was somewhat unconventional. I started out studying dramatic arts and oral interpretation, then received a Master’s in Educational Media and Technology, taught math and English in secondary schools, and eventually became doctora Sally in my sixth decade.

My current research focuses on the tradition of theoretical astronomy and medicine in pre-modern Islam, which includes the role of commentaries and institutional structures for science teaching in Islam and other cultural areas, especially medieval and early modern Europe.

My publications include:

• Jaghmīnī’s Mulakhkhaṣ: An Islamic Introduction to Ptolemaic Astronomy (2016)
• “Jaghmīnī’s Qānūnča: A Popular Abridgement of Avicenna’s Canon,” in Transforming Medical Education (2022).

I retired as a senior researcher at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University in 2020, and currently reside in Chicago, Illinois (USA), where I continue my research on science in Islam. This entails working closely with Jamil Ragep on various projects, including the Islamic Scientific Manuscripts Initiative (ismi), an international collaboration to make information on all Islamic manuscripts in the exact sciences accessible online.

Contact: sally.ragep@mcgill.ca

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