Editing Carsten Niebuhr (section)

==Early life and education==
[[File:Niebuhr.jpg|thumb|left|Carsten Niebuhr in the attire of a distinguished Arab in Yemen, gift from al-Mahdi Abbas, Imam of Yemen]]

Niebuhr was born in Lüdingworth (now a part of [[Cuxhaven]], [[Lower Saxony]]) in what was then [[Bremen-Verden]]. His father Barthold Niebuhr (1704-1749) was a successful [[farmer]] and owned his own property. Carsten and his sister were educated at home by a local school teacher, then he attended the Latin School in [[Otterndorf]], near [[Cuxhaven]].

Originally Niebuhr had intended to become a [[Surveying|surveyor]], but in 1757 he went to the ''Georgia Augusta'' [[University of Göttingen]], at this time Germany's most progressive institution of higher education. Niebuhr was probably a bright student because in 1760 [[Johann David Michaelis]] (1717-1791) recommended him as a participant in the [[Danish Arabia expedition (1761–1767)|Danish Arabia expedition]] (1761-1767), mounted by [[Frederick V of Denmark]] (1722–1766). For a year and a half before the expedition Niebuhr studied mathematics, cartography and navigational astronomy under [[Tobias Mayer]] (1723–1762), one of the premier astronomers of the 18th century, and the author of the [[Lunar distance (navigation)|Lunar Distance Method]] for determining longitude. Niebuhr's observations during the Arabia Expedition proved the accuracy and the practicality of this method for use by mariners at sea.