Al Biruni on TV tonight

1
Science and Islam, 9pm, BBC4

"Jim Al-Khalili [the presenter] uses an astrolabe to show how Al Biruni accurately calculated the size of the Earth, 500 years ahead of his European counterparts. This is riveting stuff, giving us a view of the present-day Middle East, as well as revealing Islam's scientific achievements."

This is the second programme in a 3-part series. I watched the first one last week and found it fascinating. The focus is on maths and science so I'm not sure whether we'll get much (if any) astrology but you never know. I think it will be worth watching anyway. After all, it's not every day our chum Al Biruni gets mentioned on the telly! :)