coloured water
Hamadan
11th Century
Source: Fuat Sezgin, Science and Technology in Islam, Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science.
Recipe Details
Ingredients
water, colorant
Preparation Steps
Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) recommends using a basin filled with coloured water to ensure the ground under the observational instrument (ala rasadiya) is absolutely horizontal. The liquid serves as a precise leveling medium for a device that determined both altitude and azimuth through trigonometric ratios (p. 27).
Original Recipe Text
Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) recommends using a basin filled with coloured water to ensure the ground under the observational instrument (ala rasadiya) is absolutely horizontal. The liquid serves as a precise leveling medium for a device that determined both altitude and azimuth through trigonometric ratios (p. 27).
Evidence
"For levelling, he recommends the use of a basin filled with coloured water"
Remarks
The device was developed for the observatory of ‘Alā’addaula in Hamadān around 414/1023 (p. 26). The use of colored water is mentioned in Avicenna's special treatise regarding a newly invented observational instrument designed to achieve angular measurements in minutes and seconds (p. 26-27).
Scientific Analysis
Analytical Techniques
Historical source analysis
Certainty Level
Inferred
Instrumentally Verified
Not Verified
Metadata
Material Type
pigment
ColorRed
RegionHamadan
Approx. Year1050
Source Information
AuthorFuat Sezgin, Science and Technology in Islam, Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science.
Collectionobservatory of ‘Alā’addaula in Hamadān
Language
N/A
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