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Al-Khazini

Wikipedia's first sentence called it “among the greatest of any time”. Today it says “one of the few islamic astronomers to be known for doing original observations”.
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The opening as it read in 2025

Persian astronomer and mechanician (1100–1200) This article is about the 12th century scientist. Abū al-Fath Abd al-Rahman Mansūr al-Khāzini or simply al-Khāzini ( أبوالفتح عبدالرحمن منصور الخازنی ( Persian ) , flourished 1115–1130) was an Iranian astronomer , mechanician and physicist of Byzantine Greek origin who lived during the Seljuk Empire . His astronomical tables , written under the patronage of Sultan Sanjar ( Zīj al-Sanjarī , 1115), are considered to be one of the major works in mathematical astronomy of the medieval period. He is considered to have been one of the greatest scientists of his era, among the greatest makers of scientific instruments of any time, and as "the physicist of all physicists". Al-Khazini is one of the few Islamic astronomers to be known for doing original observations. He provided the positions of fixed stars, and for oblique ascensions and time-equations for the latitude of Marv in which he was based. He also wrote extensively on various calendrical systems and on the various manipulations of the calendars. He also devised the world's most precise instrument for weighing ordinary objects, determining specific gravities, and even examining the composition of alloys. On the basis of his detailed description, it has been possible to reconstruct his complex mechanism, which he dubbed "The Comprehensive Balance". Modern study affirms his claim to its extraordinary accuracy of 1:60,000. Al-Khazini was the author of an encyclopedia on scales and water-balances called The Book of the Balance of Wisdom ( Kitab Mizan al-Hikmah, 1121 ), which explored theories of density, specific gravities of metals, precious stones, and liquids, as well as principles of equilibrium. The book is thought to have been "one of the most sophisticated and advanced balances to be designed and manufactured in the medieval Islamic world", and "the most comprehensive work on [ weighing ] in the Middle Ages , from any cultural area". Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition . The Story of Civilization: The Age of Faith . History of Civilizations of Central Asia . "Al-Khazini", Dictionary of Scientific Biography , Vol. (1948). 'Alī al-Bayhaqī's Tatimmat Siwān al-Hikma: A Biographical Work on Learned Men of the Islam.

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1295153274.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “among the greatest of any time”. Today it says “one of the few islamic astronomers to be known for doing original observations”. Read the current article and compare.
201020152020Oct '232025
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What Wikipedia says this is

Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.

Then

among the greatest of any time

Now

one of the few islamic astronomers to be known for doing original observations

Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.

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