MUSLIM CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE

In the year 650, the literature of Egyptian alchemy was translated into the Arabic language.

It had long been thought that the hieroglyphics were first deciphered in 1822. Now it has been found out that Muslims were the first ones to translate Eyptian Hieroglyphics.

In the year 700, an early industrial factory complex for Islamic pottery and glass production was built in Ar-Raqqah, Syria. Extensive experimentation was carried out at the complex, which was two kilometres in length, and a variety of innovative high-purity glass were developed there. Two other similar complexes were also built, and nearly three hundred new chemical recipes for glass were produced at all three sites.

The first apothecary (pharmacist) shops were also opened in the Islamic world.

In 754, the first pharmacy and drugstores were opened in Baghdad.

In 763, The House of Wisdom was founded and the translation

movement was started by the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid. The caliph would pay it’s

weight in gold for every translated book.

Through the translation movement, Muslims traveled to all parts of the world to find and translate knowledge from other civilizations. They translated ancient Egyptian, Hebrew, Persian, Greek, and Roman knowledge into Arabic. This way they became transmitters of knowledge that was almost lost and forgotten. After they had finished gathering and learning all the knowledge they could find in the world, they started critisizing, adding their own ideas and producing original works of their own.

In 763, the first Bimaristan (hospital) opened in Baghdad during the

Caliphate of Harun al-Rashid.

In 780, Jabir ibn Hayyan, a Muslim chemist who is considered by many to be the father of chemistry, introduced the experimental scientific method for chemistry, as well as laboratory apparatus such as the alembic, still and retort, and chemical processes such as pure distillation, liquefaction, crystallisation, and filtration.

He also invented more than twenty types of laboratory apparatus, leading to the discovery of many chemical substances. He also developed recipes for stained glass and described lustre-painting on glass.

• Muhammad bin Musa al-Khwarizmi founded the algorithm. Without algorithms we would not have had computers.

In 796, the first brass astrolabe was built by Muhammad al-Fazari. The astrolabe was a

complicated astronomical devise that served many purposes like telling time, finding the direction of the Qıble and showing the positions of the stars.

In 800, Tin-opacified glazing was developed by Islamic potters.

Tin-glazing is the process of giving ceramic items a tin-based glaze which is white, shiny and opaque.

The first insane asylum (Psychiatric hospital)

in Egypt was erected by Muslim physicians in Cairo.

In the 9th century, the first practical windmill, the vertical axle windmill, was invented in eastern Persia.

In 810, Abbas Ibn Firnas was born. He was the first to make glass from

stones (quartz).He made the earliest recorded attempt at

controlled flight, devised means of manufacturing colorless glass, and

developed a process for cutting rock crystal.

Another invention was an artificial weather simulation room, in which spectators were astonished by artificial thunder and lightning.

In 820, Amr ibn Bahr al-Jahiz wrote a number of works on zoology, Arabic grammar, rhetoric, and lexicography. His most famous work is the Book

of Animals, in which he first discussed food chains.

In 820, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi wrote The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, more briefly referred to al-jabr, or algebra. Algebra gave mathematics a whole new development path so much broader in concept to that which had existed before, and provided a vehicle for future development of the subject.

In 850, the Banu Musa brothers wrote the Book of Ingenious Devices, in which they describe some of their

inventions: the valve, float valve, feedback controller, float chamber, automatic control, Automatic flute

player, Programmable machine, Trick drinking vessels, gas mask, grab, clamshell grab, fail-safe system,

hurricane lamp, self-feeding oil lamp, self-trimming oil lamp, mechanical musical instrument, and

hydropowered organ.

In 850, madrasahs, the forebears of modern universities were

established. They were institutions of higher education

and research which issued academic degrees at all levels

(bachelor, master and doctorate).

The first universities in Europe were influenced in many ways by the madrasahs in Islamic Spain and the Emirate of Sicily at the time, and in the Middle East during the Crusades.

In 850, the basic water turbine was invented by Muslim engineers in the

Islamic world.

In 850 Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi invented the quadrant, the mural instrument, the sine quadrant (also known as the "Sinecal Quadrant"; the Arabic term for it

is "Rubul Mujayyab") which was used for solving trigonometric problems and making astronomical

observations. He also invented the alidade.

THE BASIC ALIDADE

THE MURAL INSTRUMENT

Ulugh Beg's mural sextant, constructed in Samarkand, Uzbekistan during the 15th century.

It is recognized by the Guinness Book of

World Records as the oldest academic degree-granting

university in the world..

In 859 The University of Al Karaouine in Fes, Morocco was founded by Princess Fatima al-Fihri.

He also classified

natural and derivative (artificial) chemical

substances which was the early form of the periodic

table of elements.

In 865 Muhammad ibn Zakariya Razi was born. In his Secretum secretorum, he described a variety of tools for melting substances and the preparation of drugs.

In 875 Abbas Ibn Firnas reportedly

successfully employed an

ornithopter for manned flight.

In 880, Al-Dinawari, the founder of Arabic botany, wrote the Book of Plants, which

describes at least 637 plants; it discusses the phases of plant growth and the production of

flowers and fruit.

In 900, the first public library and

lending library were built in the Islamic world. The library catalog was also

invented in Islamic libraries.

In the 10th century ,the first reference to an "observation tube" is found in the work of Al-Battani, and the first exact

description of the observation tube was given by al-Biruni. Though these early observation tubes did not have lenses,

they "enabled an observer to focus on a part of the sky by eliminating light

interference." These observation tubes were later adopted in Latin-speaking

Europe, where they may have influenced the development of the telescope.

In 900, the first wind powered gristmills and sugar refineries appeared in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. The first geared gristmills and the on/off switch were also invented by Muslim engineers.

In 925, Kerosene was produced from the

distillation of petroleum and was first described by al-Razi

in Baghdad. He also described the first kerosene

lamps (naffatah) used for heating and lighting in his

Kitab al-Asrar (Book of Secrets).

In 930, the cartographic grid was invented in Baghdad.

Graph paper was also invented in the Islamic world.

The earliest historical record of a reservoir fountain pen dates back to 953, when Ma'ād al-Mu'izz, the caliph of Egypt,

demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen

which held ink in a reservoir and delivered it to the nib via gravity and capillary action, as recorded by Qadi al-Nu'man al-Tamimi (d. 974) in his Kitab al-Majalis wa'l-

musayardt.

In 964, Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi wrote the Book of Fixed Stars, a star

catalogue thoroughly illustrated with observations and descriptions of the stars, their positions, their apparent

magnitudes and their colour. He identified the Large Magellanic

Cloud, which is visible from Yemen, though not from Isfahan; it was not seen by Europeans until Magellan's voyage in the 16th century. He also made earliest recorded observation of the Andromeda Galaxy in 964 AD;

describing it as a "small cloud".[

In 1000, Ammar ibn Ali of Mosul wrote the Choice of Eye Diseases, a landmark text on ophthalmology in medieval Islam. In cataract surgery, he attempted the earliest extraction of cataracts using suction. He invented a hollow metallic syringe hypodermic needle, which he applied through the sclerotic and successfully extracted the cataracts through suction.

In 1000 Al-Karaji wrote a book containing the first known proofs

by mathematical induction. He who used it to prove the binomial

theorem, Pascal's triangle, and the sum of integral cubes.

In 1000 in Al-Andalus, Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi invented complex

gearing, Epicyclic gearing, segmental gearing, and the

geared mechanical clock. Muslim engineers also invented the

Weight-driven mechanical clock.

In 1000 Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi published his 30-volume medical encyclopedia, the Al-Tasrif, which remained a standard textbook in

Muslim and European universities until the 16th century.

The book first introduced many surgical instruments and a variety of other instruments. He also invented the plaster cast cotton dressing, oral anaesthesia, inhalational anaesthetic, and anaesthetic sponge.

In 1010, Al-Sijzi invented the Zuraqi, a unique

astrolabe designed for a heliocentric planetary

model in which the Earth is moving rather than the sky.

In 1010, Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni hypothesized that India was once

covered by the Indian Ocean while observing rock formations at the

mouths of rivers, introduced techniques to measure the Earth and

distances on it using triangulation, and measured the radius of the Earth as 6339.6 km, the most accurate up

until the 16th century.

Ibn al-Haytham proved that light travels in straight lines using the scientific method by carrying out various experiments with lenses, mirrors, refraction, and reflection in his Book of Optics (1021). He was considered the father of optics and pioneer of scientific method.

His Book of Optics correctly explains light and vision, and introduces experimental scientific method, laying the foundations for experimental physics.

Ibn al-Haytham also gave the first clear description and correct analysis of the camera obscura and pinhole camera and built the world's first camera obscura.

In 1025 Avicenna published his 14-volume

encyclopedia, The Canon of Medicine, which

remained a standard text at European universities until the 17th century.

Its contributions include the discovery of contagious disease, and introduction of experimental medicine, clinical trials, and clinical pharmacology. It also discusses neuropsychiatry, the idea of a syndrome, and early cancer therapy.

In 1030, Abu Rayhan al-Biruni stated that light has a finite speed, and he was the first to theorize that the speed of light is much faster than the speed of sound.

In the 12th century,, Muhammad al-Idrisi produced a world map and the first known globe. His Tabula Rogeriana was the most

accurate world map in his time and was used extensively for several centuries through to the explorations during the European Age of

Discovery.

In 1110, Ibn Tufayl was born. He wrote Hayy ibn Yaqzan, a

philosophical novel which has a strong influence on the Scientific

Revolution.

• In 1206, Al-Jazari published The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, in which he describes fifty inventions, including mechanical clocks, the elephant clock, camshaft,

crankshaft, suction pipe, reciprocating piston motion,

programmable humanoid robot and castle clock, automatic gate, paper models, sand casting, crank-driven chain pump, water-powered saqiya chain pump, and water-powered astronomical clocks.

• In 1259 The Maragheh observatory was founded by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. It was the first example of the observatory as a research institute.

• In 1260, the first portable hand cannons (midfa) loaded with explosive gunpowder, the first example of a handgun and portable firearm, were used by the Egyptians to repel the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut. The cannons had an explosive gunpowder composition almost identical to the ideal compositions for modern explosive gunpowder. They were also the first to use dissolved talc for fire protection, and they wore fireproof clothing, to which Gunpowder cartridges were attached.

In 1285, The largest hospital of the Middle Ages and pre-modern era was built in Cairo, Egypt, by Sultan Qalaun al-Mansur. Treatment was given for free to patients of all backgrounds, regardless of gender, ethnicity or income.

• In 1300, when the Black Death bubonic plague reached al-Andalus, Ibn Khatima discovered that infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms which enter the human body.

• In 1577, Taqi al-Din built the Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din, the largest astronomical observatory in its time, with the patronage of the Ottoman Sultan Murad III. He produced a zij (titled Unbored Pearl) and astronomical catalogues more accurate than those of Tycho Brahe and Nicolaus Copernicus. Taqi al-Din was able to achieve this with his invention of the "observational clock", a mechanical astronomical clock that can measure time in seconds.

In 1720, the Ottoman dockyard architect Ibrahim Efendi invented a submarine called the tahtelbahir. The Ottoman writer Seyyid Vehbi, in his Surname-i-Humayun, compared this submarine to an alligator.

• The sciences of the Arabic-Islamic world underwent remarkable development during the 8th to 13th centuries C.E., a flowering of knowledge and intellect that later spread throughout Europe and greatly influenced both medical practice and education.

Muslims have had such a great contribution to science that if it weren’t

for them neither the Reneissance nor the Scientific Revolution would have been possible. Despite this, due to a

concious act of ignorance and neglect their names and great inventions have been written out of science and history

books.

Fortunately, now in the 21st century the West and the Muslims

are starting to rediscover this golden age of Islamic Science and many documentaries and books

are being produced on this subject.

Some of those documentaries are:

BBC- Science and Islam:The language of scienceBBC- Science and Islam:The Empire of ReasonBBC- Science and Islam:The Power of DoubtBBC- What the anciens did for us:The Islamic WorldBBC-An Islamic History of EuropeChannel 4- When the Moors ruled in Europe

Some sites you can visit:www.muslimheritage.com www.1001inventions.com

www.wikipedia.org

-List of Muslim scientists -List of inventions in medieval Islam-Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam-History of scientific method-Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe-Timeline of science and engineering in the Islamic world-Medicine in medieval Islam-Medieval Islamic sociology-Arab Agricultural Revolution-Islamic Golden Age-Latin translations of the 12th century-Astronomy in medieval Islam