Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Build an Astrolabe from Paper and a Few Other Items...


What is an, "Astrolabe," might be your first question.

The astrolabe is a remarkable Medieval instrument designed to facilitate astronomical calculations. In that sense it is an analog computer, one that can solve a wide range of problems in trigonometry, Greek solar theory, astrology and problems involving time. It was probably developed in early Roman times and became extremely popular by the fourteenth century. I would hope that those who take the time to explore these pages will appreciate the ingenuity and mathematical skill involved in constructing such a complex and useful instrument.

Source: http://www.uwsp.edu/physastr/rislove/astrolabe/index.htm; Accessed February 10, 2010.



Visitors to the 2010 Winter Star Party (February8-13, Florida USA) who were lucky enough to hear Mark Friedman speak on the Astrolabe and attend a workshop he and his wife presented learned about astrolabes and each had the opportunity to build and use one. Your students might like to construct one, too. The Friedmans have referred listeners to:
http://www.uwsp.edu/physastr/rislove/astrolabe/index.htm with the following links:



The astrolabe can easily link science to other areas such as literature, religion, mathematics including trigonometry. For example, "The oldest surviving English-language treatise on the astrolabe was written by none other than Canterbury Tales author Geoffrey Chaucer," Source, http://www.uwsp.edu/physastr/rislove/astrolabe/index.htm; Accessed February 10, 2010. "Okay, literature, but, religion," you might wonder. Prayer times for Muslims and others relying on astronomical events to determine times, can be calculated with an astrolabe, even with the one students build!

Using other areas, such as history, religion, language and math can improve science literacy by engaging students. If a student is very interested in another area, he or she can develop a strong interest in science that overlaps with the area of special student interest, encouraging further reading and study in science.

Have fun building an astrolabe. I'll add some links for further reading:

Severus Sebokht, Description of the Astrolabe, in R.T.Gunther, Astrolabes of the World, Oxford (1932) pp.82-103

Wikipedia on Astrolabes

More from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_astronomy

http://www.giovannipastore.it/ISTRUZIONI.htm (In Italian)

http://www.jstor.org/pss/227240


Astrolabe shown courtesy of Matt Baum. Thanks, Matt!

(c)2010 J S Shipman

3 comments:

Dr-J said...

Thanks, Alena/Andrea.
Dr. J

Dr-J said...

Witryna z tym zdjęciem
Can anyone translate:
Build an Astrolabe from Paper and a Few Other Items.
read-about-it.blogspot.com
Pełny rozmiar
240 × 320 (Taki sam rozmiar), 29KB
Więcej rozmiarów
Wyszukiwanie obrazem
Podobne obrazy
Typ: JPG
Obrazy mogą być objęte prawami autorskimi.

Dr-J said...

Aha! From Google Translate. Thank you.
____________________________
Witryna z tym zdjęciem
=
Website for this image
___________________________
Pełny rozmiar = Full-size
___________________________

Więcej rozmiarów = more sizes
____________________________
Wyszukiwanie obrazem = Search for images
____________________________
Podobne obrazy =
Similar images
____________________________