The Timbuktu Astronomer Who Measured the Stars

Long before European observatories, scholars in Timbuktu were calculating the width of the Red Sea, predicting lunar eclipses, and mapping the heavens with astonishing accuracy. This episode follows the work of Muhammad al-Wangari, a 17th-century astronomer and mathematician of the Songhai Empire, who composed the Mir'at al-'Alam (Mirror of the World), a compendium of astronomy, astrology, and geography. Drawing on the Toledan Tables of al-Zarqali and the Almagest of Ptolemy, al-Wangari corrected earlier calculations and applied practical geometry to everyday life — from prayer times to desert navigation. Lucas and Luna explore the tools he used: the astrolabe, the water clock, the gnomon. They discuss how Timbuktu's scholars corresponded with peers in Cairo, Fez, and Granada, sharing knowledge across the Sahara. They also touch on the religious debates around astronomy — whether studying the stars was science or sorcery — and how al-Wangari navigated those tensions within the Maliki tradition. This episode sheds light on a forgotten chapter of global science, where Africa was not a passive recipient of knowledge but an active contributor. #Timbuktu #MuhammadAlWangari #MiratAlAlam #SonghaiEmpire #IslamicAstronomy #Sankore #ToledanTables #AlZarqali #Almagest #Astrolabe #WaterClock #MalikiFiqh #SaharanTrade #17thCentury #HistoryOfScience #AfricanScholarship #WestAfrica #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo