An astrolabe (Greek: ἀστρολάβον astrolabon, "star-taker") is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and vice-versa, surveying, triangulation, and to cast horoscopes. It was used in classical antiquity, through the Islamic Golden Age, the European Middle Ages and Renaissance for all these purposes. In the Islamic world, it was also used to calculate the Qibla and to find the times for Salah, prayers.

There is often confusion between the astrolabe and the mariner's astrolabe. While the astrolabe could be useful for determining latitude on land, it was an awkward instrument for use on the heaving deck of a ship or in wind. The mariner's astrolabe was developed to address these issues.

OED gives the translation "star-taker" for the English word "astrolabe" and traces it, through medieval Latin, to a Greek word astrolabos. In the medieval Islamic world the word "asturlab" (i.e. astrolabe) was given various etymologies. In Arabic texts the word is translated as "akhdh al-kawakib" (lit. "taking the stars") which corresponds to an interpretation of the Greek word . al-Biruni quotes and criticizes the medieval scientist Hamza al-Isfahani who had stated " asturlab is an arabization of this Persian phrase" : sitara yab meaning "taker of the stars" In medieval Islamic sources there is also a "fictional" and popular etymology of the words as "lines of lab". In this popular etymology "Lab" is a certain son of Idris (=Enoch). This etymology is mentioned by a 10th-century scientist called al-Qummi but rejected by al-Khwarizmi.

Bear McCreary (born 17 February 1979) is an American composer and musician living in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for his work on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series.

McCreary was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and spent most of his formative years in Bellingham, Washington. He is the son of author Laura Kalpakian and professor Jay McCreary of University of Hawaii. He is of Irish and Armenian descent. He studied under the renowned film score composer Elmer Bernstein at the USC Thornton School of Music, during which time he reconstructed and re-orchestrated Bernstein's 1963 score for Kings of the Sun. Their collaboration allowed for the complete score to be available as a soundtrack album for the first time in forty years.

From 1998 until 2005, McCreary built up a body of work scoring short films. McCreary is a pianist and a self-taught accordionist, and plays in the avant-jazz band 17 Billion Miles of DNA.

McCreary is married to singer/songwriter Raya Yarbrough, with whom he worked on the music of Battlestar Galactica.