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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Nov 29 2014
Muslims discovered Earth is round, Turkey's science minister says
ISTANBUL
Muslim scientists working around 1,200 years ago were the first to
determine that the Earth is a sphere, Turkey's science, industry and
technology minister, becoming the latest Turkish official to inform
the world about apparent scientific firsts on the part of Islamic
world.
Speaking at a reception for business leader in the Central Anatolian
province of Konya late Nov. 28, Minister Fikri IÅ?ık stressed the
contributions of the Islamic world to science throughout history.
"Some 700-800 years before Galileo, 71 Muslim scientists led by
al-Khwarizmi convened by the order of the Caliph Al-Ma'mun and
revealed that the Earth is a sphere," he said. IÅ?ık added that a copy
of the original document is currently in the Museum of Islamic Science
and Technology in Istanbul.
The museum was founded by Fuat Sezgin, a Turkish professor emeritus on
Arabic-Islamic science who was recently referred by Turkish President
Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, too. During a speech on Nov. 18, ErdoÄ?an quoted
Sezgin's theories for his controversial claim that the American
continent was "discovered by Muslim sailors" some 300 years before
Christopher Columbus.
The concept of a spherical Earth remained a matter of philosophical
speculation until the 3rd century BC, when Hellenistic astronomy
established the spherical shape of the earth as a physical given.
Galileo Galilei, on the other hand, was put to trial and convicted by
the Roman Catholic Inquisition in 1616 and 1633 for his support of
heliocentrism, a theory which is not directly related to the notion
that the Earth is a sphere. Heliocentrism, the theory that the Earth
was a planet that revolved around the Sun, contradicted geocentrism,
the Aristotelian view that the earth was the center of the universe,
which agreed with a literal interpretation of the Bible.
Around 830 AD, Caliph Al-Ma'mun commissioned a group of Muslim
astronomers and geographers to measure the distance from Tadmur
(Palmyra) to Raqqah in modern Syria. They calculated the Earth's
circumference, reaching to numbers very close to the currently modern
values.
Today, the war-torn Raqqah is known as the stronghold of the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.
November/29/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Default.aspx?pageID=238&nID=74989&NewsCatID=338
Nov 29 2014
Muslims discovered Earth is round, Turkey's science minister says
ISTANBUL
Muslim scientists working around 1,200 years ago were the first to
determine that the Earth is a sphere, Turkey's science, industry and
technology minister, becoming the latest Turkish official to inform
the world about apparent scientific firsts on the part of Islamic
world.
Speaking at a reception for business leader in the Central Anatolian
province of Konya late Nov. 28, Minister Fikri IÅ?ık stressed the
contributions of the Islamic world to science throughout history.
"Some 700-800 years before Galileo, 71 Muslim scientists led by
al-Khwarizmi convened by the order of the Caliph Al-Ma'mun and
revealed that the Earth is a sphere," he said. IÅ?ık added that a copy
of the original document is currently in the Museum of Islamic Science
and Technology in Istanbul.
The museum was founded by Fuat Sezgin, a Turkish professor emeritus on
Arabic-Islamic science who was recently referred by Turkish President
Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, too. During a speech on Nov. 18, ErdoÄ?an quoted
Sezgin's theories for his controversial claim that the American
continent was "discovered by Muslim sailors" some 300 years before
Christopher Columbus.
The concept of a spherical Earth remained a matter of philosophical
speculation until the 3rd century BC, when Hellenistic astronomy
established the spherical shape of the earth as a physical given.
Galileo Galilei, on the other hand, was put to trial and convicted by
the Roman Catholic Inquisition in 1616 and 1633 for his support of
heliocentrism, a theory which is not directly related to the notion
that the Earth is a sphere. Heliocentrism, the theory that the Earth
was a planet that revolved around the Sun, contradicted geocentrism,
the Aristotelian view that the earth was the center of the universe,
which agreed with a literal interpretation of the Bible.
Around 830 AD, Caliph Al-Ma'mun commissioned a group of Muslim
astronomers and geographers to measure the distance from Tadmur
(Palmyra) to Raqqah in modern Syria. They calculated the Earth's
circumference, reaching to numbers very close to the currently modern
values.
Today, the war-torn Raqqah is known as the stronghold of the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.
November/29/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Default.aspx?pageID=238&nID=74989&NewsCatID=338