How to Calculate Time With an Islamic Astrolabe

It is one of Islamic science’s most important and complex astronomical instruments.
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[@howardg396]

Wow, I always wanted to know how they used them. Amazing instrument (and no batteries required).

[@soukainalaoui]

I’m so proud being born to this culture ! My father introduced me to Astrolabes and since then I collected it! Muslim Arab sailors like Ibn Battouta used it

[@Xev729]

Can i have one please?

[@und3rcut535]

Ibn Battouta hated sailing and majority of his trips did not involve sailing at all. He avoided it religiously.

[@soukainalaoui]

@@und3rcut535 he did use Astrolabe and he spoke about it

[@jeremypearson9019]

I didn't know anything about astrolabes before this video and I'm blown away. This was a great achievement for your ancestors. I wish you all the best from the USA.

[@owaisahmad6478]

Can you please tell me where to get one

[@OrangUtanItuForestans-IQ97]

beautiful instrument

[@michaelbruchas6663]

I have never seen one in real life. The amazing engineering in creating this - is mind numbing…

[@paperclip9558]

Finally found a video that actually shows visually how it works. Thank you!

[@ThomasConover]

What an absolutely magnificent precision-instrument for reading time. 😮

[@clydebalcom3679]

Absolutely fascinating.

[@kingrichardiii6280]

another neat trick of astrolabes that they don't mention is you can uses them as a yearly planisphere to predict when stars will rise and set and find their location in the sky and with planetary charts you can locate the planets. position the star on the east horizon, meridian, and west horizon lines each time setting the sun locater arm on the date. the times pointed to will be the times (in solar time mind you) that star will be out. if at any of those reading the sun arm is above the horizon line it will be day time and you can not see the star.

[@katherineweber8955]

That's incredible! Thank you for teaching us this!

[@Niketic88]

What a genius mind created that thing. Line up with the sun then all these circles. Mind blowing

[@susanshestok2386]

What the human mind can conceive and create just blows my mind.

[@pawshands9706]

This is quality programming. Thank you.

[@mariebarker4499]

Make sure you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! He is coming soon! Please don't be left behind! Accept and believe in Jesus Christ! John 3:16, Revelation 20:15

[@user-kq8rk1vd3u]

It has more uses its used for navigation for ships and desert using the stars

[@Whatweeknow]

Wonderful

[@michaelcaprio5269]

Has anyone ever made a modern version of an astrolabe?

[@Kevin_Williamson]

Yes. You can get a planispheric or a universal astrolabe, both of which have updated star maps. They are still in use today in astronomy classes as a learning tool or for the avid hikers/explorers going places their handy GPS may not work. Side note: they were used for navigation until the 17th century when they were replaced with the sextant.

[@jofugitt]

Is that Michelle Yeoh I hear??? Maybe not. The voice has a similar cadence to it. Fascinating!

[@NativeTexMexican]

Cool! 🤓👍

[@cielprofondinfo]

I had always wanted one, so I made one, in brass. I’m very proud of it. I can make more for those who want them; private message for prices.

[@healthymind7816]

i love islam

[@SolaceEasy]

As precise as the device.

[@SolaceEasy]

Date from a stick in the ground, after over a year of observations.

[@mascadadelpantion8018]

What a beautiful culture

[@mariebarker4499]

Make sure you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! He is coming soon! Don't be left behind! Accept and believe in Jesus Christ! John 3:16, Revelation 20:15

[@soukainalaoui]

@@mariebarker4499 Jesus peace be upon him is a prophet wake up from your delusion

[@mariebarker4499]

@@soukainalaoui Sorry, but you are wrong! Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords and the only Saviour of the whole world to all that will believe in Him! He is the only one! Please don't be decieved by the devil!!!

[@soukainalaoui]

@@mariebarker4499 he is e prophet not a god ! Gob is beyond human representation

[@mariebarker4499]

@@soukainalaoui Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords and the only Saviour! If people don't accept Jesus Christ then God will not accept them!

[@robertotorino8862]

I wonder if they came in pocket size, “have you got the time” have you got the money, I got a slap on the face for that joke lol

[@nobleroman1133]

I can see Flava Flav wearing that around his neck

[@ZaydDepaor]

I'd be impressed if he understood it, he doesn't look like he could.

[@cann5565]

I literally just had to find an astrolabe in the new Hogwarts Legacy game. It was the first time I had heard of one. Two days later, wham! PBS Doc on it lol thank you

[@PuReSAVAG3]

Same here bro but I saw it on Vikings Valhalla two days ago 🤣

[@GGoAwayy]

What if you don't know the date

[@MrJayPuff]

U use the astrolabe, obviously 😂

[@EricDaMAJ]

It was CERTAINLY developed by the Greeks in Ptolemaic Egypt. References exist of Hypatia using them. Though the general idea may have came from Babylon. No doubt the Islamic world perfected it. Though it's quite likely most of the improvements didn't come from Saudi Arabia or Iraq but Afghanistan and Pakistan, which were the most civilized parts of the Islamic world before the Mongol invasions.

[@juanalba4698]

Wondering if it can be used as a compass also 🤔

[@jackrosso1456]

It's and other thousands things in such a small device.

[@remcotevreden1228]

so why did I never learn this at school???

[@medethmantv]

They teach us only the western civilization

[@MrGencyExit64]

Yeah, Islam is obsessed with time :)

[@mariebarker4499]

Make sure you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! He is coming soon! Please don't be left behind! Accept and believe in Jesus Christ! John 3:16, Revelation 20:15

[@nyuh]

@@mariebarker4499 what the hell a christianity bot

[@kellydalstok8900]

@@mariebarker4499 prove anything you claim is true. And no, the bible isn’t evidence, it’s the CLAIM.

[@MissRenee_X]

Why do they always try to say the Greeks did this and the Greeks did that knowing the Greeks had nothing to do with the Islamic golden ages period.

[@zatmanisback7058]

they say the name (Astrolabe) is of Greek origin. Astro and the Muslims have evolved this object. but as you said it's a bit weird because the greek period and Islam have a lot of time difference between them how the muslims managed to know the greek studies so there was no internet or translation between the two Arabic and Greek language

[@lillzy_mm2]

My teacher sent me this and i dont understand a thing 👀

[@EricDaMAJ]

They're complicated.

[@RededicateYrLife]

I still dont understand lol

[@ZaydDepaor]

neither do I, I will need to study it more.

[@noxnc]

I’ll just stick with my smart watch.

[@juanalba4698]

Lol 😆

[@MrJayPuff]

What do u do when the battery dies? Imagine you are riding a camel in the desert now what?

[@noxnc]

@@MrJayPuff As long as we’re imagining, I’ll just imagine I have a power bank. 😝 Seriously though, if I’m near civilization and have somewhere to be, I’ll just proceed to my destination asap. If I’m in the middle of nowhere I’ll just try to get to civilization asap, not sure knowing the time is useful there. Oh, also, this was a joke.

[@SolomonPaschalDesbinMuziq]

Please explain Islamic. That is a religion. Wouldn't this be entitled Arabic? Or maybe you should have said why it's Islamic, in reference to Arabic. Please correct. I now have a headache.

[@heroofskys]

It was developed by Muslim not the Greeks

[@jojogo22]

Islam, the religion, started 700 years after the astrolabe was invented. They didn't develop it, they simply used it. Credit goes to the Greeks.

[@EricDaMAJ]

The Greeks _definitely_ had it before the Arabs. But the most refinements came from the Islamic World.

[@kainejoyes2981]

Such a beautiful design it’s a shame religion stunted Islamic science, this is both stunning beautiful and extremely clever.

[@storm2000808]

Islamic or greek?

[@eons8941]

Astrolabe was invented by Apollonius of Perga between 220 and 150 BC the word itself is greek

[@adchowdhury7700]

It was invented by Greek. But it's developed vy Islamic scientists. Because Islam needed to pray five times a day in a very accurate time. That's why they needed to develop such a device

[@jojogo22]

​@@adchowdhury7700 Islam (the religion) didn't come along until 700 years later.They didn't develop it, they simply used it.

[@user-dr7ru8pm3d]

@@jojogo22 lol Why are you speak out of ignorance?!! Muslims developed it into this form and with that accuracy. The Greek astrolabe is old and Its shape is different and difficult to use . Go see it.and find out

[@TheOz91]

@@adchowdhury7700 Don't forget celestial navigation. The astrolabe was also used to find the direction of Makkah/Mecca depending on where you are on the globe.

[@MiguelGarcia-os4oz]

the greeks….. right….

[@AdeobaDebayo-Doherty-zg6kj]

John 3:16

[@suprebaddeathmachine]

Funny how it comes out of the ancient Greece, but its "Islamic." How can something that is invented well before the founding of a religion be attributed to that religion? C'mon.

[@asmrnaturecat984]

It was created by muslim.. But muslim always credited to the people inspired them such as such

[@EricDaMAJ]

@@asmrnaturecat984 It was not. There are mentions of astrolabes in Greek culture hundreds of years before Mohammed. Hypatia of Alexandria is specifically mentioned as using them. She died hundreds of years before Islam. But Islam DID make the most perfected versions. And they put them to best use. Not only finding the direction of Mecca and determining prayer times but navigating the Mediterranean. Barbarossa wasn't originally a Disney pirate. He was the greatest Islamic pirate of his age and later an admiral of the Ottoman Empire's Navy. The Turkish Navy still salutes his tomb as they sail by _to this day._ Without the astrolabe the Moslems couldn't have navigated the Mediterranean. And while Medieval Christians had them, it wasn't until well after the Barbarossa died they realized their full potential as a navigational aid. There was not significant improvement in naval navigation until the invention of the mechanical clock to determine longitude in the 18th century.

[@michaelkuzelka8903]

@@asmrnaturecat984 No it wasnt lol. It was widely used by Muslims, and very likely had some features added to it by Muslims, but it was most certainly NOT invented by 'Muslims'.

[@Rationalific]

Is every Western invention a "Christian such-and-such"?

[@asmrnaturecat984]

Because every invention by muslim at that time is due to religion During that time, islam is very intertwined with their daily life, the needs to pray 5 times a day at specific time towards specific direction forced them to create such things, that can be use in the middle of the sea And the trend is the same with muslim in spain, egypt, iraq and central asia. Instead of calling them arab invention which mostly not, better called them islamic invention You don't see modern muslim invent anything and call it as muslim invention anymore as it is due to market and demand Christian on the other hand were seperated and restricted only to church...

[@umitdemir7362]

Islamic, not Arabic.

[@ZorroDaddy]

Copied idea from the Greeks and others, there are hardly any Arab scientists, and the few all had Greek/Roman and other teachers, hence you see the scientists have Persian names etc. Old days, the Khalifa/Sultans, rewarded scientists, and many came from the west for profit, some remained and died in the Arab world.

[@whootoo1117]

LOL what a bigot you are! You assume that billions of arabs through history had no scientists? Is that what you are convinced or entertain with your racist bigotry? Arabs had a 1400 civilization and muslims in USA are the most educated minority. I guess you know some of them, if you don't live in a cave. Arabs and muslims invented many fields of philosophy, and science including optics, sociology, trignometry, algorithms, algebra and numerals including zero. Not only fields of science but magnitude of words in your english today. Words like sugar, alkali, cotton, admiral, tariff, sheriff, might and even the term "meaning" are an extensive list of arabic words taken from muslim world and latinized in the middle ages. All in all, you can't think modern without using some arabic concepts and cannotations. You are just ungrateful for that fact. Even western civilization is a continuation and bastardized islamic civilization and the wisdom of muslims of Iberia and andulus. The west would have been dark without it. No neathanderal genes or fantacies of eurocentric none-sence that could help.

[@adchowdhury7700]

And the al chemist came from china,ibn sina came from Germany, al gebra came from Australia

[@joeschmoe21]

You really hate Arabs, don't you. Hate is not healthy. Hate results in bad hormones, which in turn can lead to your early death. On the other hand, given your hate, that may not be a bad idea.

[@conanthedestroyer7123]

It is made by wisemen that did not practice the later developrd cult of Islam. These wise men followed the stars and were from Arab areas. PBS is wron again providing false information.

[@solomonkane102]

But white men invented the chronometer.

[@rickallen1908]

You Win !!!!!! The Who Cares comment of the day !!! Congratulations!!!

[@bngr_bngr]

I think the white man would refer to himself as English first.

[@wargamingrefugee9065]

@@bngr_bngr Nyet!! White man was a Soviet invention!

[@bluebird5173]

First of all, why pull the race card? Secondly, what do you mean "but"? How does talking about the astrolabe diminish the chronometer in any way?

[@soukainalaoui]

Jealous of our history Medicine is us Navigation is us Conquests is us Eat your heart up

[@strongbelieveroftheholybible]

1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight . As it is written: He catches the wise in their craftiness. Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon🙏🏼❤️🕊REPENT, believe in the Gospel, Be Born Again

[@soukainalaoui]

Allah is the only truth and Jesus peace be upon him is his prophet

[@mariebarker4499]

Jesus is coming soon! Please make sure you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour everyone! He is coming soon! Please don't be left behind! Accept and believe in Jesus Christ! John 3:16, Revelation 20:15

[@ChrisNoonetheFirst]

Jesus is always about to come.

[@jimmytimmy3680]

The j3ws say he is a nobody.

[@bngr_bngr]

What Bible do you use?

[@kellydalstok8900]

Here’s a list of all the times he was predicted to come and failed to show up: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictions_and_claims_for_the_Second_Coming You are just another fool who thinks they know it all, while actually knowing nothing at all

[@Kevin_Williamson]

Well, look at that. A comment that has nothing to do with the video about an event that was supposed to happen thousands of years ago, and which every generation since insists it's going to happen "soon". Can I borrow a thousand dollars from you? I promise to pay you back "soon". 😆

[@ryan49805]

Ish be cray though…