850

Astronomy

Egyptian astronomer and geographer Afragamus (Abu-al-'Abbas al Farghani) [b. c. 820, d. 861] presents Ptolemy clearly in Arabic. See also 827 Astronomy; 900 Astronomy.

In China, Classified Essentials of the Mysterious Tao of the True Origin of Things, attributed to Zheng Yin, describes a primitive form of gunpowder. The book warns against mixing the powder because of the danger of burning both the experimenter and the house in which the experiment is taking place. See also 1044 Materials.

The Egyptian practice of using a thin film of a metal oxide, called a luster glaze, on glass is adapted by Umayyad potters for use on ceramics. See also 750 Materials; 1100 Materials.

The Persian brothers known as Banu Musa write a book on automatons, Kitab al-Hiyal ("the book of ingenious devices"), partially based on the work of Heron of Alexandria. About a hundred devices and how to use them are described. See also 832 Communication; 1180 Tools.

The modern saddle harness is in use in Europe. See also 580 Transportation.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)