Latest / Timbuktu: Africa's Forgotten Center of Knowledge — Fexingo History
The Timbuktu Astronomer Who Knew the Earth Was Round
Long before Copernicus, scholars in Timbuktu were calculating the circumference of the Earth and mapping the night sky. This episode follows the work of Muhammad al-Wangari, the 17th-century astronomer who wrote the massive encyclopedia 'Mir'at al-'Alam' (The Mirror of the Universe). We explore how he built on earlier Islamic astronomy—from al-Zarqali's Toledan Tables to al-Battani's discoveries—and how his work was used in Timbuktu's Sankore Madrasa. We also look at the astronomical instruments they used, from astrolabes to celestial globes, and how the…
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