Historical Organization
British Museum
British Museum
Details
Organization Timeline
British Museum publishes a guide to Islamic astrolabes
📅 29 January 2018The article explains how moving plates and engraved scales model the visible sky for particular latitudes.
Astrolabes calculate time and celestial altitude
📅 29 January 2018Users could solve problems involving stars, sunrise, direction, calendars and the hours of prayer.
Instrument makers combine craft and astronomy
📅 29 January 2018Metalworking, calligraphy, geometric design and numerical tables were all necessary to produce a reliable instrument.
Islamic scholars transform an ancient device
📅 29 January 2018They expanded astrolabe theory, manufacture and uses before the instrument circulated further through Africa, Asia and Europe.
British Museum publishes a guide to Egyptian mathematics
📅 1 September 2025The 1 September 2025 article uses the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus to explain practical problems from ancient Egypt.
The papyrus teaches through worked examples
📅 1 September 2025Problems involving fractions, areas, volumes and distribution reveal a structured instructional tradition.
Ahmes identifies himself as a copyist of older knowledge
📅 1 September 2025The document preserves a chain of transmission and reminds readers that surviving artifacts may reproduce still earlier works.
Museum interpretation makes ancient algorithms accessible
📅 1 September 2025The publication connects object history, translation and mathematical reconstruction for a general audience.