Abu Rayhan al-Biruni · Science

The Chronology of Ancient Nations: A Science of Time

Al-Biruni&rsquo;s early masterpiece <em>al-Athar al-baqiya</em> - a comparative science of calendars, eras, and festivals across the civilizations, and a manual of how to sift contradictory traditions, weighing eyewitness against hearsay to reckon time itself critically.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that in the Chronology al-Biruni compared the calendars and eras of many nations and confronted the problem of contradictory sources, arguing that hearsay does not equal eyewitness and that the numerous lies mixed into tradition must be critically sifted. Explain his method and why calendars became a scien…

Leads to Francis Bacon.

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