Museum of Science and Technology - Tehran
Water Clock
The Museum of Science and Technology in Tehran is located at 30 Tir Street. A door from a small courtyard brings visitors to a ground floor room but the exhibitions are displayed on the upper floor of the building. A model of 19th century boom is on display inside the museum. These ships with dhows could carry between 20-300 tonnes of cargo in and out of the Persian Gulf.
A model of the peacock water clock, these water clocks were built over the fountains. In the past, these clocks were a handy tool to determine the hours of the day, sometimes these clocks were designed to produce the peacock’s chicks noise.
The Parthian Battery & Watermills
In 1936, in a village close to Baghdad (Iraq) a Parthian era (247BC – 224AD) battery was discovered. The battery was made of a clay pot, an iron rod and a copper cylinder.
Windmills go back to 2800 years in the history of mankind, in Persia, these watermills were a main tool to crush the grains in order to make flour. In the Muslim world, these mills were very popular and they could be found as far as Cordoba in Spain.
ines & Azimuths and Astrolabe
Sines and Azimuths instrument was constructed by Muayyad al-Din al-Urdi al-Dimashqi in the Maragha Observatory. This instrument was used to calculate the sines of altitude angle to the star. Astrolabe is an instrument, used to track the stars. Ancient Greece invented this instrument but further developed by the Muslim scientists during the Islamic Golden Age. A model of the 9th century Kas al-Adl is from the Ahmad Ibn Musa Ibn Shakir al-Khorasani’s description.
Muslim Scientists
A poster inside the museum showed information about Nasir al-Din Tusi (1201-1274). Tusi was a famous astronomer, biologist, chemist, philosopher, mathematician, physician, physicist and a scientist. Another one is about Abu Ali Ibn Sina, who was born in Bukhara in 980 AD. He is known for having great scientific work in the field of medicine. Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (903-986AD) was an Iranian, famous for bin an excellent astronomer.
There are some photos of the Muslim scientists are displayed along with their achievements. Ibn Musa Ibn Shakar al-Khorasani is shown with his brothers, known as Banu Musa – all three of them were scientists and scholars.
Modern Communication Devices
To my surprise, there was a room dedicated to modern technologies as well. It had radios, typewriters and telephones on display. One room was dedicated to the mobile phone as well. Some of these models I had used myself in the past.
Water Raising Machine
In the courtyard of the museum, a model of the water raising machine from the Ottoman period in Turkey is built. Taqi al-Din al-Rashid was a 10th century scientist and engineer and he had developed this machine. The machine was in use around 1526-1585 during the Ottoman era.
