Dear Colleagues,

I hope this email finds you well.

We are writing to announce a Call for Chapter Proposals for an upcoming edited volume titled 'Euclid Beyond the Mediterranean'. The volume will be anchored in our working group of the same name under the Research Group 'Astral Science in Trans-Regional Asia' (ASTRA) at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) in Berlin. You can view more details about the working group project on the MPIWG website.

As part of this publishing project, we are planning an international workshop in late 2027 at the MPIWG in Berlin to bring contributors together for a collective gathering where critical feedback can be shared internally before final manuscript completion. The resulting volume is planned to be published in our forthcoming Brill book series, Astral Sciences in Trans-Regional Asia (launching in 2026).

The volume explicitly seeks contributions from early-career researchers and advanced PhD students. We warmly encourage you to forward this call to interested scholars in your networks and encourage them to apply. This project offers a wonderful occasion to extend the conversation of Euclidean reasoning far beyond Western Europe.

Please find the full Call for Chapter Proposals below.

With warm regards,

Anuj Misra (MPIWG Berlin / Freie Universität Berlin)

Toke Lindegaard Knudsen (SUNY Oneonta)

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CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS

Title: 'Euclid Beyond the Mediterranean'

Editors: Anuj Misra (MPIWG Berlin / Freie Universität Berlin) & Toke Lindegaard Knudsen (SUNY Oneonta)

Overview
Euclid’s Elements stands among the most influential works in the history of global knowledge. However, historiographical attention has predominantly focussed on its transmission, commentary traditions, and modern developments within Mediterranean, Western European, and Near Eastern contexts.

'Euclid Beyond the Mediterranean' aims to expand this perspective by examining the multifaceted reception and translation of Euclidean geometry across Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Building on the momentum of foundational initiatives such as the 'EUCLIDES' project ('Euclid in the modern era: A history of transmissions, translations and intercultural transformations of the Elements', led by Vincenzo De Risi and Angela Axworthy), this edited collection—tied to the MPIWG working group of the same name—seeks to extend these inquiries to encompass regional classical and vernacular cultures beyond the Mediterranean basin that actively engaged with Euclidean ideas.

We seek original contributions that explore how Euclidean concepts—and the text of the Elements itself—were translated, adapted, transformed, contested, or integrated into local intellectual, practical, and philosophical frameworks.

Themes & Scope
We welcome proposals addressing—but not limited to—the following themes in non-Mediterranean geographies across all chronological periods:

• Translation & Vernacularisation: The translation of the Elements into regional classical (e.g., Sanskrit, Classical Chinese, Persian) and vernacular languages, focussing on terminological innovation, linguistic adaptations, manuscript traditions, and lost or fragmentary translations.

• Transmissions & Textual Trajectories: Circulation networks, scribal practices, and the material history of Euclidean texts moving across regional boundaries.

• Philosophical & Epistemological Encounters: How Euclidean axioms, definitions, and modes of proof interacted with local cosmological, logical, or mathematical traditions.

• Technical & Material Culture: Practical applications of Euclidean geometry in architecture, surveying, cartography, navigation, astronomy, and visual arts.

• Sociohistorical & Political Contexts: Institutional adoption, patronage, educational reform, colonial encounters, and post-colonial re-evaluations of Euclidean knowledge.

• Historiographies & Modern Appropriations: How regional translations and interpretations of Euclid shaped local histories of science and mathematics.

To foster diverse perspectives and support the next generation of scholarship, early-career researchers (ECRs) and doctoral candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.

Workshop & Publication Plan
Contributors whose proposals are accepted will be invited to participate in a collective working group workshop in late 2027 at the MPIWG in Berlin to share feedback internally. The finalized volume is scheduled for publication in the forthcoming Brill book series Astral Sciences in Trans-Regional Asia (launching in 2026).

Submission Guidelines
To apply, kindly send a tentative title and a 150–200 word abstract outlining the topic, methodology, sources, and central argument, along with your name and contact details, as a single PDF file to:

• Anuj Misra: amisra@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de 

• Toke Knudsen: toke.knudsen@oneonta.edu

Subject line: 'Chapter Proposal: Euclid Beyond the Mediterranean'

Key Dates & Timeline 

• Abstract Submission Deadline: 30 November 2026

• Notification of Acceptance: 15 January 2027

• Full Chapter Submission (approx. 7,000–9,000 words): 15 September 2027

• Working Group Workshop (Berlin): Late 2027

• Target Publication: Spring 2028