The Observatory in Islam and Its Place in the General History of the Observatory

The Observatory in Islam and Its Place in the General History of the Observatory PDF Author: Aydın Sayılı
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Astronomical observatories
Languages : en
Pages : 504

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The Lighthouse and the Observatory

The Lighthouse and the Observatory PDF Author: Daniel A. Stolz
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107196337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
This history of astronomy in Egypt reveals how modern science came to play an authoritative role in Islamic religious practice.

The Observatory in Islam

The Observatory in Islam PDF Author: Aydın Sayılı
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Astronomy and Astrology in the Islamic World

Astronomy and Astrology in the Islamic World PDF Author: Stephen P. Blake
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748649115
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
It was the astronomers and mathematicians of the Islamic world who provided the theories and concepts that paved the way from the geocentric theories of Claudius Ptolemy in the second century AD to the heliocentric breakthroughs of Nicholas Copernicus and Johannes Kepler in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Algebra, the Arabic numeral system, and trigonometry: all these and more originated in the Muslim East and undergirded an increasingly accurate and sophisticated understanding of the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets. This nontechnical overview of the Islamic advances in the heavenly sciences allows the general reader to appreciate (for the first time) the absolutely crucial role that Muslim scientists played in the overall development of astronomy and astrology in the Eurasian world.

Astronomy in the Service of Islam

Astronomy in the Service of Islam PDF Author: David A. King
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040231489
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
Based on a wide variety of previously unstudied sources, these articles explain how science was applied to three aspects of Islamic ritual in the Middle Ages: the regulation of the lunar calendar; the organisation of the times of the five daily prayers; and the determination of the sacred direction (qibla) towards the Kaaba in Mecca. Simple procedures of folk astronomy were used by the scholars of religious law who determined popular practice; more complicated mathematical methods were provided by the scientists - and this proved a powerful incentive for the development of scientific analysis and research. Some of these procedures were to have far-reaching consequences. For example, the astronomical alignment of the Kaaba - known to various medieval writers, but long forgotten - led to the adoption of similar alignments for the qibla, and the final articles show how these were calculated, whether from astronomical observation or geographical computation, and their impact on the orientation of religious and secular architecture across the Islamic world. C’est à partir d’une grande diversité de sources inexplorées que ces articles expliquent comment la science avait été appliquée a trois aspects du rituel islamique au Moyen Age: la régulation du calendrier lunaire; l’organisation des heures assignées aux cinq prières quotidiennes; et l’établissement de la direction sacrée (qibla) vers la Kaaba de la Mecque. Des procédés simples d’astronomie populaire étaient utilisés par les érudits en droit religieux qui décidaient de la pratique populaire; des méthodes mathématiques plus complexes étaient offertes par les hommes de science - ce qui, en effet, s’avèra être une motivation puissante dans le développement de l’analyse et de la recherche scientifique. Certains de ces procédés eurent des consequences d’une grande portée par la suite. L’alignement astronomique de la Kaaba - pour ne reprendre qu’un exemple connu

Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life

Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life PDF Author: Jörg Matthias Determann
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755601300
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
The Muslim world is not commonly associated with science fiction. Religion and repression have often been blamed for a perceived lack of creativity, imagination and future-oriented thought. However, even the most authoritarian Muslim-majority countries have produced highly imaginative accounts on one of the frontiers of knowledge: astrobiology, or the study of life in the universe. This book argues that the Islamic tradition has been generally supportive of conceptions of extra-terrestrial life, and in this engaging account, Jörg Matthias Determann provides a survey of Arabic, Bengali, Malay, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu texts and films, to show how scientists and artists in and from Muslim-majority countries have been at the forefront of the exciting search. Determann takes us to little-known dimensions of Muslim culture and religion, such as wildly popular adaptations of Star Wars and mysterious movements centred on UFOs. Repression is shown to have helped science fiction more than hurt it, with censorship encouraging authors to disguise criticism of contemporary politics by setting plots in future times and on distant planets. The book will be insightful for anyone looking to explore the science, culture and politics of the Muslim world and asks what the discovery of extra-terrestrial life would mean for one of the greatest faiths.

A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables

A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables PDF Author: Edward Stewart Kennedy
Publisher: American Philosophical Society
ISBN: 9780871694621
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 82

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Book Description
The source material for the study of medieval oriental astronomy consists of Byzantine Greek, Sanscrit, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, and Turkish astronomical and astrological manuscripts. If one desires to build up a detailed picture of Islamic astronomy, one can choose material from these available manuscripts. Of these manuscripts it is possible to isolate a group of works, the "zijes". A "zij" consists of the numerical tables and accompanying explanation sufficient to measure time and to compute planetary and stellar positions, appearance, and eclipses. This paper is a survey of the number, distribution, contents, and relations between "zijes" written in Arabic or Persian during the period from the 8th through the 15th centuries. Illustrations. Oversize.

Signs in the Heavens

Signs in the Heavens PDF Author: Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad
Publisher: Writers Inc. International
ISBN: 9780962785429
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
Many scientists have come to realize that science and religion can nurture each other. One example was the flowering of science in the first centuries of Islam. For Dr. Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, a Muslim and an astronomer, studying the universe is an expression of faith. Scientists and non-scientists should appreciate the insights in this passionate and lucid book. Dr. Ahmad's book has been widely acclaimed for its insights into the Islamic approach to science and the spiritual foundations of Western scientists such as Galileo, Newton and Einstein. A Palestinian trained at Harvard, he offers a unique perspective of the role of religion in science.

Science & Islam

Science & Islam PDF Author: Ehsan Masood
Publisher: Icon Books Ltd
ISBN: 1848311605
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
From Musa al-Khwarizmi who developed algebra in 9th century Baghdad to al-Jazari, a 13th-century Turkish engineer whose achievements include the crank, the camshaft and the reciprocating piston, Science and Islam tells the story of one of history’s most misunderstood yet rich and fertile periods in science: the extraordinary Islamic scientific revolution between 700 and 1400 CE.

Religions and Extraterrestrial Life

Religions and Extraterrestrial Life PDF Author: David A. Weintraub
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319050567
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
In the twenty-first century, the debate about life on other worlds is quickly changing from the realm of speculation to the domain of hard science. Within a few years, as a consequence of the rapid discovery by astronomers of planets around other stars, astronomers very likely will have discovered clear evidence of life beyond the Earth. Such a discovery of extraterrestrial life will change everything. Knowing the answer as to whether humanity has company in the universe will trigger one of the greatest intellectual revolutions in history, not the least of which will be a challenge for at least some terrestrial religions. Which religions will handle the discovery of extraterrestrial life with ease and which will struggle to assimilate this new knowledge about our place in the universe? Some religions as currently practiced appear to only be viable on Earth. Other religions could be practiced on distant worlds but nevertheless identify both Earth as a place and humankind as a species of singular spiritual religious importance, while some religions could be practiced equally well anywhere in the universe by any sentient beings. Weintraub guides readers on an invigorating tour of the world’s most widely practiced religions. It reveals what, if anything, each religion has to say about the possibility that extraterrestrial life exists and how, or if, a particular religion would work on other planets in distant parts of the universe.