Islam went beyond simply establishing the direction. Starting around 1200 AD, astronomers built and sold qibla tools, remarkably elegant mapping devices. A pocket-sized GPS for finding Mecca.
Beautifully written, I'd never considered the difference between geodesic and straight line distances. Will pay more attention when I fly overseas next.
Islam went beyond simply establishing the direction. Starting around 1200 AD, astronomers built and sold qibla tools, remarkably elegant mapping devices. A pocket-sized GPS for finding Mecca.
http://polistrasmill.blogspot.com/2021/06/astrometeorology-5-qibla.html
Beautifully written, I'd never considered the difference between geodesic and straight line distances. Will pay more attention when I fly overseas next.
Thank you!