Uzbekistan. The astronomical observatory built by Ulan-Beg, grandson of Tamerlane, is set ablaze by a mob incited by fundamentalist mullahs. Ulan-Beg is captured and beheaded with a scimitar. Fortunately, one of his students, Mohamed Taragi, saves nearly all of his writings and takes them to Turkey. From there, they are transported to Oxford, England, where they are translated into Latin in 1665. In 1908, the observatory is rediscovered by a Russian archaeologist under Tsarist Russia. His tomb still lies beneath two fir trees in front of the entrance to the gigantic sextant.
