In our modern age, global positioning systems help us find our bearings and track our location. Telescopes help us observe the sky. But how was this possible one thousand years ago? How did they find their way, how did they measure the distance between stars, and how were they able to calculate the height of…
This Syrian woman, Mariam Al Astrulabi helped develop navigation and timekeeping as we know it. A pioneer of the astrolabe, a scientific device used to calculate the position of the sun and stars, Mariam's achievements have been recognised for over a millennium. Ufuk Necat Tasci 04 May, 2023 In our modern age, global positioning systems…
Muslim Woman Takes the Science of Astrolabes to the Next Level Published January 24th, 2021 - 06:10 GMT (Shutterstock)
Highlights
They however took them to new heights by inventing new tools to measure and calculate the movement of stars and planets.
Mariam took the science of astrolabes to the next level and over a thousand years later, she becomes a central character in the science-fiction novel Binti.
Between the 8th and 15th centuries, Muslim scholars made an immense contribution toward science, inventing sophisticated tools in the fields of medicine, astronomy, physics and chemistry, which inspired the scientists to make ground breaking advances during the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery.