Abu Rayhan al-Biruni · Science

Experiment Against Authority

Al-Biruni’s scientific temper at full strength: his letters challenging Aristotle’s physics point by point against Ibn Sina, his treatment of the earth’s rotation as a legitimate testable question, and his exquisitely precise measurements of specific gravity - observation and experiment set above the word of authority.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that al-Biruni pressed empirical objections against Aristotle in his correspondence with Ibn Sina, held that the earth’s rotation was a question astronomy alone could not settle (and left it to the physicist), and measured specific gravities with near-modern accuracy. Explain how these show experimen…

Leads to Ibn Sina.

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