Where: Bldg 20 Auditorium
Description
Time measurement has, throughout history and across continents, been a central part of the lives of Muslims. The need to determine the times of daily prayers as well as the start/beginning and end of the fasting days has motivated people to investigate and develop time measuring devices. Whilst Muslims developed and improved devices such as sundials and water clepsydras — which had been inherited from ancient civilisations such as Egypt, Greece, Persia, China, and India—, they also invented devices of their own, making them popular throughout the Muslim world, stretching from China to Spain. This keynoye lecture looks at the historical development of time-measuring devices, focusing on the history of clocks in the Muslim civilisation.
Popular books of science and engineering, however, have largely neglected those non-European contributions. A study of non-European, and particularly Muslim, contributions to the development of clocks, would hopefully allow us to understand the development of science and technology in greater detail and also to enhance inter-cultural respect. The lecture will demonstrate information about clocks found in manuscripts were transferred into into AUTOCAD engineering drawings and Studio-Max to produce 3D animations. Focus will be made on the water clock that Caliph Harun al-Rasheed gifted Charlemagne (the holy Roman Emperor), the clock of Ibn al-Haytham, the Elephant clock of Al-Jazari, the water clock of Al-Muradi and the mechanical clock of Taqi al-Din.
It is hoped that the story of the development of clocks in the Muslim Civilisation will not only fill in a gap in the public literature, but also inspire the young audience to build a prosperous, sustainable future that appreciates and celebrates the diversity of humanity.
Registration to this event is mandatory for all students who must complete WEP.
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Salim Al-Hassani
Salim T S Al-Hassani is President of the Foundation of Science, Technology and Civilisation (UK) and Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a Professorial Fellow in Humanities at the university of Manchester. Awarded Fellowship of the British Science Association for his work on the promotion of Science within Muslim culture. Founder of the portal: www.Muslimheritage.com. Published numerous papers in international journals and books. Editor of the book “1001 inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization”, which is published by National Geographic with a forward by HRH Prince Charles. Received numerous international awards and was repeatedly mentioned amongst the world’s most influential 500 Muslims in the category of Science and Technology, UK.
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