5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Auditorium (building 20) or tune in to KAUST Facebook page to watch this lecture live.
By Salim T S Al-Hassani, President of the Foundation of Science, Technology and Civilisation (UK) and Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
Time measurement has, throughout history and across continents, been a central part of the lives of Muslims. The need to determine the times of daily prayers as well as the start/beginning and end of the fasting days has motivated people to investigate and develop time measuring devices. Whilst Muslims developed and improved devices such as sundials and water clepsydras — which had been inherited from ancient civilisations such as Egypt, Greece, Persia, China, and India—, they also invented devices of their own, making them popular throughout the Muslim world, stretching from China to Spain. This keynoye lecture looks at the historical development of time-measuring devices, focusing on the history of clocks in the Muslim civilisation.
Registration for this event is mandatory.