Uzbekistan Reconstructs Historic Globe of Scholar Al-Biruni

Uzbekistan’s Center for Islamic Civilization has reconstructed the historic globe of Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, a scientific artifact that did not survive to the present day.

The model was created based on the scholar’s works and other scientific sources, The Caspian Post reports via Uzbek media.

Al-Biruni originally built the globe in 995 in Kath, one of the major educational and scientific centers of Khwarezm. He aimed to map geographic features and calculate the latitude and longitude of settlements based on distances between them.

Al-Biruni’s works contain coordinates for around 600 cities. For the reconstruction, 150 settlements were plotted on the globe, a project carried out in collaboration with international partners, said Bahrom Abdukhalimov, Vice-President of the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences.

“The Biruni globe was not an abstract theoretical model but a practical scientific tool, developed using precise geodesy and astronomy calculations,” the Center noted.

In his “Mas’ud Canon,” al-Biruni emphasized that Earth’s overall shape is close to a sphere, with mountains and depressions negligible compared to its size. He argued that if Earth were flat, balance would be disrupted, and land would be flooded.

The exhibition also features fragments of al-Biruni’s works on Earth’s shape, methods for calculating latitude and longitude, and the comparison of data from different sources, showcasing his lasting impact on geography and astronomy.