Guest Presentation: Medieval Arabic Astronomical Instruments

Discover Medieval Arabic Astronomical Instruments with Pierre Paquette

How did people tell time, navigate, plan agricultural activities, and keep track of important religious dates before modern clocks, GPS, and smartphones? For centuries, astronomy played an important role in everyday life, and people developed ingenious instruments to help them understand and measure the night sky.

Join the Champlain Library at the Creating Centre on September 24 at 6:30 p.m. for a special presentation on Medieval Arabic Astronomical Instruments.

You may have heard of the astrolabe, one of the best-known astronomical instruments of the medieval world. But what could you actually do with one? Imagine that it is nighttime. You see a particular star in the sky. How could you use an instrument to work out where you are or what time it is? Instruments such as the astrolabe could help answer questions like these.

Our presenter, Pierre Paquette, has been an amateur astronomer for more than 40 years. He has held leadership roles with several astronomy organizations, including the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and has given astronomy lectures and workshops across Canada and internationally. He is also the editor and publisher of Astronomie-Québec and has translated Ptolemy’s Almagest into French. Asteroid 727524 (2010 HF₅₄) was named in his honour.

Whether you already enjoy astronomy or simply have a curiosity about how people understood the stars long before modern technology, this talk offers a chance to see the night sky from a very different perspective.

Join us for an evening of astronomy, history, and remarkable instruments! Please register online or by calling us at 613-678-2216, emailing us at library@bc-cl.ca or in person at 94 Main Street East in Vankleek Hill.