ABSTRACT
In the history of Apollonius’ Conics, as in that of research on conic sections, the part played by the Banº Mºsæ was crucial. They were the ones who had searched for Greek manuscripts, they were also the ones who had employed the translators who made Arabic versions of the seven books of the Conics that were found; they were also the ones who had supervised the process of translation; finally, they were the ones who, together with their pupils, reactivated research on conics, which had lain dormant for several centuries. One might point to the works on conics by the youngest brother, alÎasan, and those of their pupil, Thæbit ibn Qurra.1 The tradition on which they set their stamp is certainly the one to which Ibn al-Haytham belongs, as we have seen in the first two volumes. That is to say, it would have been impossible for him to ignore what the Banº Mºsæ had written on conics. Indeed, he had good reasons for being interested in their work, first as a student of the theory of conics, second as an expert and serious-minded reader of the Conics and finally as one engaged in making a copy of the text.
