1. Lived in the desert
1.1. Therefore no particular landmarks and the Muslims needed to navigate. But why?
1.1.1. Religious purposes
1.1.1.1. Qibla-They needed to pray towards Mecca where the Kaba is
1.1.1.2. Salah-They must pray five times a day and certain times a day
1.1.1.3. Although they had sundials and waterclocks they wanted something more accurate
2. Extra acheivemants
2.1. One astronomer helped answer a question of a Greek astronomer
2.1.1. Took the idea that the tilt of the earth causes seasons
2.1.1.1. But the Greek astronomer didn't know what degree of the tilt was
2.1.1.2. The Muslim astronomer then used the highest elevation of the sun and the lowest elevation of the sun in midwinter. Take the degree between the two elevations and divide it by two. The answer was =23 degress
2.1.2. Seasons
2.2. Inspired a famous western astronomer
2.2.1. Galileo Galilei
3. Greek influences
3.1. Ptolemy
3.1.1. Ptolemic model
3.1.1.1. This model in summary said that the earth was in the center and other objects orbit it -a geocentric model
3.1.2. Improvements or alternatives
3.1.2.1. Muslim schools of thoughts revolted against the Ptolemic model
3.1.2.1.1. came up with the idea of a HELIOCENTRIC MODEL meaning the sun being in the center and the planets revolving around it.
3.2. Aristotle
3.3. Hipparchus
3.3.1. developed TRIGONOMETRY to calculate and solved many problems of spherical trig.
3.3.1.1. he used trigonometry to form accurate models of the sun and moon's motions
3.3.1.1.1. DISCOVERED PRECESSION
4. Muslims are eclectic
4.1. Muslims preserved Greek Manuscripts
4.1.1. The mistake of Ptolemic model
4.1.1.1. The model according to Averreos was against nature it was just not right.
4.1.1.1.1. After trial and error and many schools revolting (revolutionizing) the idea of the Ptolemic model by improving it or finding alternatives to it.
4.1.2. Observational influence of Aristotle
4.1.2.1. The Muslims observed the stars and many astronomers were the first observers of the Magallenic Cloud and the Andromeda Galaxy
4.1.2.1.1. Also with this idea of observing many other astronomers like al-Sufi named 480 stars and published the book of Book of Fixed Stars using Ptolemy's book of stars and al-Sufi correcting the book of Ptolemy.
4.1.3. The Astronomical and Mathematical Tools from Hipparchus
4.1.3.1. Obviously they used the astrolabe and the spherical astrolabe as well in improving it
4.1.3.1.1. With this the Muslims answered their questions and with the astrolabe they were able to use it for many uses.
4.1.3.2. They used Trig. Tables, Geometry, Algebra.
4.1.3.2.1. (extra fact) used sine and tangent formulas