Ingenuity and Beauty: astrolabe study day

The astrolabe was the most iconic of early astronomical instruments: it promised to bring the heavens literally into your hands. A user could explore and even control time, the seasons, space and place. Its ingenuity was matched by its beauty and it was sought after by both scholars and rulers for more than a millenium.

In partnership with Oxford's History of Science Museum, the Centre for Islamic Studies has staged an exhibition "Lines of Faith: Astronomy and the Art of the Astrolabe in the Islamic World". This study day provides a hands-on accompaniment to the exhibition.

Join Dr Taha Yasin Arslan, exhibition curator Dr Stephen Johnston and Museum Director Dr Silke Ackermann for an afternoon of the astrolabe: an introduction; a guided visit to the display; a sequence of workshop activities on brass astrolabes; and lessons in actually using the instrument.

Astrolabes cannot be made in an afternoon, so Dr Arslan will bring pieces in varying states of readiness. Participants will all carry out several stages of metalworking, from sawing and filing, to riveting and shaping.

The session gives a taste of the way that the astrolabe embodied science, religion, art and craft in one exquisite object.

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This study day was originally planned for Saturday 9 November 2024 and has been rescheduled for medical reasons.

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Dr Taha Yasin Arslan teaches history of science at Istanbul Medeniyet University, and runs a university workshop where astrolabes and other early instruments are created and recreated.

Dr Stephen Johnston is Curator Emeritus at Oxford's History of Science Museum and a specialist on medieval and early modern scientific instruments.

Dr Silke Ackermann is Director of the History of Science Museum, University of Oxford and researches the transfer of knowledge between the Islamic World and Europe and the interconnectedness of science, art and faith.

Host or Publisher Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies