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Figure 1: Fig. 1: Illustration of Kuttab School in a mosque, from the 7th maqama of al-Hariri's Maqamat. This manuscript, copied and illustrated by al-Wasiti, was executed in Baghdad in 1237. MS. ar. 5847 f. 18v., Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris. Islamic science developed thanks to a good system of knowledge diffusion through education. (Source).
Rediscovering Arabic Science
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The magazine Saudi Aramco World published in May-June 2007 an interesting folder on Arabic and Islamic...
Figure 1: Taqī al-Dīn's observational clock is shown in the right hand side middle of this famous picture of Istanbul observatiry. Source: Istanbul University Library, MS F1404, folio 57a.
The Astronomical Clock of Taqi Al-Din: Virtual Reconstruction
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In his book The Brightest Stars for the Construction of Mechanical Clocks (Al-Kawakib al-durriyya fi wadh' al...
Figure 1: An armillary sphere in Ma'rifatname of Ibrahim Hakki Erzurumi. Adapted from the original manuscript held in the Suleymaniye Library in Istanbul, Haci Mahmud collection, MS 5616, fol. 1b.
The Armillary Sphere: A Concentrate of Knowledge in Islamic Astronomy
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The armillary sphere is an ancient astronomical instrument reproducing a model of the celestial sphere. In...
Figure 1: Islamic Celestial Globe in brass, dated 1630 CE. This globe served both as a map of the heavens, as viewed from outside the starry sphere, and as a precision tool for making astronomical calculations. Engraved on its surface are various coordinate lines, constellation figures, and Arabic inscriptions. The stars are made of embedded bits of silver. The globe is hollow and was cast in one seamless piece. Source: http://www.nasm.si.edu/exploretheuniverse/etu_ne.htm.
Seeking Seamless Scientific Wonders: Review of Emilie Savage-Smith's Work
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Najma Kazi reviews some salient aspects of Emilie Savage-Smith's work. Emilie Savage-Smith, who is a...
Figure 2: Prototype of an Islamic astrolabe.
Using an Astrolabe
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The history of the astrolabe begins more than two thousand years ago, but it is in the Islamic classical...
Sextant (mushabbaha bi'l-manâtiq) of Taqî al-Din.
Astronomical Instruments of Tycho Brahe and Taqi al-Din
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Tycho Brahe "was a brilliant astronomer and scientist of his time, and has had a big significance on the...
