Encyclopedia is the thermostat of a nation’s culture

In the commemoration ceremony of the founder of modern encyclopedia of Iran:
Encyclopedia is the thermostat of a nation’s culture

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By Anahid Khazir, Amordad correspondent
TEHRAN (Amordadnews):  “Reference books and encyclopedias act as the thermostat of a nation’s culture.”
In the commemoration of Dr Gholam Hossein Mosaheb, founder of the modern encyclopedia of Iran, Kamran Fani, permanent member of the Persian Language and Literature Cultural Centre of Iran, called encyclopedia as the thermostat of a nation’s culture, and in this respect, said:  “Every society has questions and searches for their answers.  A society that does not have any question is a dead society.  People search for answers to their questions in encyclopedia.”
In the 30th death anniversary of Dr Mosaheb, held in the Cultural Personalities and Literary Works Society, Fani spoke of his own experience of referring repeatedly to Mosaheb’s encyclopedia in all these years, in his encyclopedia writing efforts, and said:  “The weight that Mosaheb’s encyclopedia carries, is a sign of the credibility and value of his work.”
According to Fani, it is true that encyclopedia writing has a very old history in our culture but the new method started with the encyclopedia of Mosaheb.  We still use the method of Mosaheb in our work.  In this respect, Fani explained:  “This encyclopedia owes its credibility to Dr Mosaheb personally, because he was a mathematician and a logician.  Knowledge of mathematics gave him accuracy and organization in his work.  He had a very strong personality and was a perseverant scientist, and these specialties helped him to have a scientific management on encyclopedia writing and managed group work in a unique manner.
In compiling this collection, Dr Mosaheb took help from all the scientists and scholars of his time, a few of which are Dr Abbas Zaryabkhoi, Dr Gholam Hossein Zarinkoub, Ehsan yarshater and Dr Mehdi Mohaghegh.  This book has a strong and simple language.  One of the innovations in his encyclopedia is calligraphy. 
Mosaheb innovated a new method in composing lexicography.
In the commemoration of Dr Gholam Hossein Mohaghegh, Dr Mehdi Mohaghegh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cultural Personalities and Literary Works Society, said:  “Modern encyclopedia writing, with new lexicography methodology, started in Iran with Dr Mosaheb and there is no doubt that the merit of this new method in Iran goes to him.”
Mohaghegh continued:  “Great mean like Mosaheb do not need to be given such commemoration ceremonies because they live forever with their literary works and their honourable lives.  But our country needs to keep these features alive for the young generation so that they take example of these personalities and benefit from their services to the Iranian nation.
Mosaheb was the innovator of coinage of words for scientific terms. 
In this work he is considered as first class innovator in our country.  Mosaheb held the first conference on verbiculture for geography science and many of the geographic and weather cast terms that we use today were innovated by him.  On the other hand, Mosaheb is also the innovator of mathematics verbiculture in Iran.”
Dr Taher Ghassemi Honari, professor of Teachers Training University and a pupil of Dr Mosaheb, also gave a speech, in which he said:  “Mosaheb was a genius who mastered many fields.  His writing style is an example of accuracy and objective orientation, in which the grammar rules were fully considered.”
Dr Mosaheb was born in 1289 (1910) in a learned family.  His first book was printed in 1309 (1930).  Dr Mosaheb received his PhD in Mathematical Analysis from Cambridge University, England.
The first concise and complete book on mathematics in Iran was written by Mosaheb.  Before him, the books on mathematics were either taken from foreign sources or were collection of the same books.
Mosaheb founded the “Mathematics Institute” because he realized that the problem of mathematics in Iran was that we did not have teachers in Iran with the new mathematics knowledge and whatever was taught was from mathematics of the 19th century.
In conclusion, Taraneh Mosaheb, Dr Mosaheb’s daughter, gave a short speech in which she thanked Dr Mohaghegh and members of the board of Directors of the  Cultural Personalities and Literary Works Society and all professors in the commemoration ceremony, on her family’s behalf.

Translation by Rowshan Lohrasbpour