Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973-1048 AD) was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, traveler, and teacher, who studied map projections (describing the projection of a hemisphere onto a plane) and, also,Indian literature.
Al-Biruni was invited by Mahmud Ghaznavi to study and to initiate the Indian doctrines to the Muslims. For that purpose he came to India and contacted the Indian thinkers. To his other attainments he added the knowledge of Sanskrit and translated some of the Sanskrit treatise into Arabic.
Al-Biruni traveled extensively and made contribution in the field of mathematical, physical and regional geography. He prepared the latitudes and longitudes of the different places, towns and cities. His measurements of latitudes and longitudes were most exact, and the maps of Iran and Transoxiana prepared on the basis of these observations were most accurate.
He also stated that Agricultural operations and outputs of crops depend on success of summer monsoons. The general physical structure, the culture landscape and the socio-economic institutions of India were also described by him. Almost all the important rivers of India were discussed by him in his book. The major rivers described in Kitab-al-Hind are Ganges, Sindh (Indus), Narmada (Narbada), Kudacarid (Godavari), Jamuna, Irawa (Ravi), Biyatta (Beas), Chandraha (Chenab) and Jailam (Jhelum).
AI-Idrisi. AI-Idrisi got the education at the University of Cardova (Spain). At the invitation of Roger II, the ruler of Sicily, he reached and stayed at Palermo, where he wrote a new geography. In 1154 he completed a book with the title 'Amusements for him who desires to Travel Around the World'.
In the short, in the early 9th century Caliph-Al-Mamum of Baghdad encouraged geographical studies. Mohammed Ben Musa compiled a description of the earth. Al Idrisi (1099-1154) substituted projections by dividing the inhabited world into seven climates or zones between the equatorial line and the arctic region, each of which was further divided into eleven equal parts by perpendicular lines. Ibu Khaldun (1332-1406), the great Muslim scholar, wrote a remarkable historical-geography, which was his cultural interpretation of the physical environment and analysis of the role of the city in the regional economy. At the end of the 13th century, trade relations of the Christians and the Muslims became widespread and established, and the knowledge of an individual about the world was much enlarged compared to that of the Greeks.
Locals hypothesize that the legacy of Italian blood and culture in Cologne, colonized by the Romans more than 1500 years ago, makes the people more jovial and lighthearted. Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine.
Kolsch is not only the dialect spoken here but, also the name of their own top-fermented beer. There are more than 4,000 pubs, restaurant's and brewery taverns in Cologne.
Unlike many of the world's large cities, Cologne, with a population of over a million, gets better every day, there are more things to do and see, more new and innovative buildings... more
Travel is an opportunity to learn, whether geography, languages, history or other subjects.
Cologne is situated on the beautiful Rhine River.