The University of Sharjah hosted an astrolabe workshop in which western scientists showed participants how an astronomical instrument made by an ancient Muslim scholar nearly 1,000 years ago measured ...

While modern humans tend to think of science in terms of innovations made during the past 100 to 200 years, mankind has always had great scientific thinkers. Over 2,000 years ago, one or more such ...

Astrolabes were astronomical calculating devices that did everything from tell the time to map the stars. This 16th century planispherical astrolabe stems from Morocco. Rama / Wikimedia Commons ...

Click to open image viewer. CC0 Usage Conditions ApplyClick for more information. Mariners were using astrolabes like this one to determine latitude by the late fifteenth century. A mariner would hold ...

There’s something enchanting about ancient tools and instruments. The idea that our forebears were able to fashion precision mechanisms with nothing but the simplest hand tools is fascinating. And ...

The Warwick Manufacturing Group, an academic department at the University of Warwick, is usually concerned with the future. Its researchers use high-resolution lasers and 3D visualizations to create ...

Sometimes a little modern technology can help turn up an ancient treasure — even if that technology is nothing more than a computer screen and a simple web search. That's what happened to Federica ...

An Islamic astrolabe from medieval Spain, discovered in a museum in Verona, Italy, has been found to contain multiple layers of Hebrew engravings, thought to be additions by various Jewish owners of ...

It may not seem as exciting as the record for the longest fingernails or largest collection of dinosaur poo, but a recent verification by Guinness World Records is a big deal for history buffs. As ...

A mariner’s astrolabe recovered from the wreck of one of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama’s ships is now officially the oldest known such artifact, according to a new paper in the International ...