Ibn Yunus and The Pendulum: A History of Errors
by David A King Published on: 29th April 2015
In this article, Professor David A. King explores the authenticity of the statement that tenth-century Egyptian astronomer Ibn Yūnus was the first person to use a pendulum to measure time. After examining evidence originating from…
The renaissance of astronomy in Baghdad in the 9th and 10th centuries
by David A King Published on: 19th February 2015
[Note of the editor] This article was published in 2003 as: David A. King, "The renaissance of astronomy in Baghdad in the ninth and tenth centuries: A list of publications, mainly from the last 50…
Al-Khalili and the Culmination of Spherical Astronomy in 14th-Century Damascus
by David A King Published on: 9th June 2016
Syria in the 14th century was the scene of the most sophisticated developments in astronomy anywhere in the world. Shams al-Din al-Khalili was a muwaqqit, or mosque astronomer, in Damascus in the middle of that…
The Petra Fallacy: Early Mosques do face the Sacred Kaaba in Mecca
by David A King Published on: 15th September 2020
Dan Gibson, a Canadian amateur archaeologist, is the latest of a number of revisionist historians of early Islam who are desperate to show that Islam did not start in Mecca, and hence that early Islamic…
The Suhayl 2014 Vol 13
by The Editorial Team Published on: 26th February 2015
The Suhayl 2014 Vol 13 - International Journal for the History of the Exact and Natural Sciences in Islamic Civilisation FSTC is pleased to bring to the attention of readers the availability online of the…
Copernicus and Arabic Astronomy: A Review of Recent Research
by George Saliba Published on: 23rd May 2007
Some 800 years in the past, in 1206, a brilliant Muslim scholar died : Badi' al-Zaman Abu al-‘Izz ibn Ismail ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari. He was one of the most important inventors and mechanical engineers in…
Islamic Astronomy
by David A King Published on: 24th April 2017
This article was originally published as: “Islamic Astronomy”, in Christopher Walker, ed., Astronomy before the Telescope, London: British Museum Press, 1996, pp. 143-174.
Quran, Hadith and Knowledge
by The Editorial Team Published on: 1st September 2002
The Quran, repeatedly calls on the believers to seek knowledge, "And He has subjected to you, as from Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: behold, in that are signs indeed for…
Star-finders Astrolabes
by Cem Nizamoglu Published on: 7th September 2017
Over a thousand-year period in Muslim Civilisation, epoch-making discoveries and contributions, such as the first record of a star system outside our own galaxy were made. Also astronomical instruments including celestial globes, armillary spheres, sextants…
Astronomy in Medieval Jerusalem
by David A King Published on: 1st February 2018
Various medieval Arabic manuscripts preserved in libraries around the world – Leipzig, Cairo, Princeton, and not least Jerusalem
Rediscovered Fresco Reveals Islamic Influence in Medieval Christianity
by Cem Nizamoglu Published on: 18th May 2025
The rediscovery of a 13th-century fresco in Ferrara, Italy, has generated significant interest online. This article not only provides further context for the discovery but also explores why such findings evoke surprise and fascination. The…
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
by The Editorial Team Published on: 26th February 2013
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Tusi (born in 18 February 1201 in Tus, Khorasan – died on 26 June 1274 in Baghdad), better known as Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, was a Muslim Persian scholar and prolific…
Islamic Sacred Geography and Finding the Qibla by the Sun and Stars
by David A King Published on: 24th February 2020
A survey of the historical sources with an appendix on some recent fallacies about mosque orientations
In Memoriam of Aydin Sayili: Biography and Account of his Scientific Activity
by Mubahat Turker-Kuyel Published on: 10th October 2008
The following article presents a thorough intellectual biography of the late Aydin Sayili, the well known historian of Islamic science. The second part of the article is a comprehensive list of his works. This bibliography…
The Mechanics of Banu Musa in the Light of Modern System and Control Engineering
by FSTC Published on: 10th August 2007
This article is a review of the book published recently by Professor Attila Bir (Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Istanbul) on Banu Musa's book of mechanics studied in the framework of…
Manuscripts and printing in the spread of Muslim science
by Geoffrey Roper Published on: 15th July 2010
[Proceedings of the conference 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World organised by FSTC, London, 25-26 May 2010]. The following article presents a brief status about the transmission of Muslim scientific texts, and how the…
800 Years Later: In Memory of Al-Jazari, A Genius Mechanical Engineer
by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 30th January 2008
Al-Jazari (1136-1206) was an important Arab Muslim scholar. He was an inventor and mechanical engineer who gained fame and glory with his famous book of mechanics Al-Jami `bayn al-`ilm wa 'l-`amal al-nafi `fi sina `at…
Natural Sciences in the Islamic Context
by Glen M. Cooper Published on: 11th August 2025
This article provides a comprehensive overview of the history of Islamic science as well as current issues and future trends in the discipline. Significant references to modern scholarship on Islamic science and medicine, including the…
Ahmad Salim Sa‘idan: A Palestinian Historian of Arabic Mathematics
by Mohammed Abattouy Published on: 23rd January 2009
Since the middle of the 20th century, the history of Arabic mathematics evolved as a sub-field of history of science and became an area of a special expertise in which intermingled the skills of confirmed…
Al-Jazari’s Third Water-Raising Device: Analysis of its Mathematical and Mechanical Principles
by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 24th April 2008
Five pumps or water-raising machines are described by al-Jazari in his monumental treatise of mechanics Al-Jami' bayn al-‘ilm wa 'l-‘amal al-nafi' fi sina'at al-hiyal (A Compendium on the Theory and Useful Practice of the Mechanical…