some images of the outside snow at home.
But I am thinking about sundials!
Did you know that there is one hidden sundial in Damascus! the sundial of the astronomer ibn al-Shatir being ‘discovered’ in the Umayyad mosque in Damascus. Actually, the dial shown was a 19th century reproduction: the damaged original is in the Damascus Museum. It dates to 1371/2 and is widely thought to be the earliest sundial in existence with a polar-pointing gnomon and hence it is the forerunner of all our ‘scientific’ dials. The dial puts most modern sundials to shame for the mass of detailed furniture which it has on its large stone surface. It is well illustrated and described in Mark Lennox-Boyd’s book Sundials.
You could see this documentary about Science and Islam by Prof Jim Al-Khalili:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFH1lz0212o
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