Scientific sovereignty becomes part of astronomy policy

Avicenna defended mathematical and observational study of the heavens while rejecting claims of certain prediction about human affairs.

The publication argues that standard accounts understate how his astronomical work influenced Islamic and Latin traditions.

The publication places manuscript astronomy, pharaonic timekeeping and Indigenous seasonal knowledge within a long continental history.

The authors ask who produces, validates, publishes and owns knowledge generated by African researchers.

African research may be performed locally while prestige, archives and citation systems remain concentrated outside the continent.