Tag: Al-shatir

Study suggests Copernicus was influenced by an ancient Muslim astronomer in developing his cosmological system

by Leon Barkho Published on: 1st May 2025

Did Copernicus borrow his cosmological theory from an earlier Muslim scientist? New research reveals that the cosmological model developed by Nicolaus Copernicus, the renowned European Renaissance polymath, closely resembles one designed by an Arab astronomer…

The Fate of Islamic Astronomy in Persia between the Eleventh and Sixteenth Centuries

by Mohamad Abdalla AM Published on: 6th April 2025

This chapter is organised in the following manner. Section one gives a brief overview about important periods in the history of Islamic Astronomy. This is done in order to highlight the significance of choosing to…

Biruni’s Telescopic-Shape Instrument for Observing the Lunar Crescent

by S. Mohammad Mozaffari Published on: 17th October 2020

This paper deals with an optical aid named barbakh that Abū al-Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī (973–1048 CE) proposes for facilitating the observation of the lunar crescent in his al-Qānūn al-Mas‘ūdī VIII.14. The device consists of a long…

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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…