Islamic Advances in Math and Science Helped Update the Math of the World
In Islamic Advances in Math and Science Helped Update the Math of the World, host Andrew Marr takes us back to the 9th Century. The Islamic scholar Muhammad al-Khwarizmi and other scholars are using measurements and calculations to calculate the Earth’s circumference and create an updated map the Earth. Learn how the work of the Islamic scholars impacts today’s technology and mathematics. This video is excerpted from BBC’s A History of the World, a story of human history that uses reenactments, modern footage, and storytelling to explain history’s greatest achievements.
Lesson Express
Q: How big was the Islamic Empire?
A: Students may mention that the Islamic Empire included 30 million people, stretched from Pakistan to Spain, and was larger than the Roman Empire.
Q: How did Islamic scholars use math to calculate the circumference of the Earth? How accurate were they?
A: They measured the Sun’s angle to the Earth and how far it was before the angle changed by one degree, then multiplied it by 360 degrees. They were very accurate.
Q: What surprised you from this video?
A: Student responses will vary.
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