Everything about Islamic Science totally explained
» This article is about the history of science in the Islamic civilization between the 8th and 15th centuries.:
For information on science in the context of Islam, see The relation between Islam and science.
In the
history of science,
Islamic science refers to the
science developed under the
Islamic civilization between the 8th and 15th centuries, during what is known as the
Islamic Golden Age. It is also known as
Arabic science since most texts during this period were written in
Arabic, the
lingua franca of
Islamic civilization. Despite these names, not all scientists during this period were
Muslim or
Arab, as there were a number of notable non-Arab scientists (most notably Persians), as well as some non-Muslim scientists, contributing to science in the Islamic civilization.
There are several different views on Islamic science among historians of science. The traditional view, as exemplified by
Bertrand Russell, is that Islamic science, while admirable in many technical ways, lacked the intellectual energy required for innovation and was chiefly important as a preserver of ancient knowledge and transmitter to
medieval Europe. The dominant view in recent times, as examplified by Toby E. Huff, is that Islamic science made a number of advances in
experimental science, but that it didn't necessarily lead to a
Scientific Revolution. Other scholars such as
Robert Briffault, and
George Saliba have referred to
medieval Islamic science as a
Muslim scientific revolution, an expression with which scholars such as
Donald Routledge Hill and
Ahmad Y Hassan express the view that Islam was the driving force behind the Muslim achievements, and which shouldn't be confused with the
early modern Scientific Revolution which led to the emergence of
modern science.
Overview
Rise
During the early
Muslim conquests, the
Muslim Arab forces, led primarily by
Khalid ibn al-Walid, conquered the
Sassanid Persian Empire and more than half of the
Byzantine Roman Empire, establishing the
Arab Empire across the
Middle East,
Central Asia, and
North Africa, followed by further expansions across
Pakistan,
southern Italy and the
Iberian Peninsula. As a result, the Islamic governments inherited the knowledge and skills of the ancient
Middle East, of
Greece, of
Persia and of
India
The art of
papermaking was obtained from two
Chinese prisoners at the
Battle of Talas (751), resulting in
paper mills being built in
Samarkand and
Baghdad. The Arabs improved upon the Chinese techniques using
linen rags instead of
mulberry bark.
Most notable
Arab scientists and
Iranian scientists lived and practiced during the Islamic Golden Age, though not all scientists in Islamic civilization were
Arab or
Muslim. Some argue that the term "Arab-Islamic" doesn't appreciate the rich diversity of eastern scholars who have contributed to science in that era.
The number of important and original Arabic works written on the mathematical sciences is much larger than the combined total of
Latin and
Greek works on the mathematical sciences.
Scientific method
Muslim scientists placed a greater emphasis on
experimentation than previous
ancient civilizations (for example,
Greek philosophy placed a greater emphasis on
rationality rather than
empiricism), and the rigorous
historical methods established in the
science of hadith. Muslim scientists thus combined precise observation,
controlled experiment and careful records which he first introduced to
optics and
psychology. Rosanna Gorini writes:
Geber (for
chemistry),
Muhammad al-Bukhari (for
history and the
science of hadith),
Ibn Zuhr (for
surgery) used the scientific method to obtain the results in his
Book of Optics. In particular, he combined observations, experiments and rational arguments to show that his modern intromission theory of
vision, where
rays of
light are emitted from objects rather than from the eyes, is scientifically correct, and that the ancient
emission theory of vision supported by
Ptolemy and
Euclid (where the eyes emit rays of light), and the ancient intromission theory supported by
Aristotle (where objects emit physical particles to the eyes), were both wrong. It is known that
Roger Bacon was familiar with Ibn al-Haytham's work.
Ibn al-Haytham developed rigorous experimental methods of controlled
scientific testing in order to verify theoretical
hypotheses and substantiate
inductive conjectures.
- Observation
- Statement of problem
- Formulation of hypothesis
- Testing of hypothesis using experimentation
- Analysis of experimental results
- Interpretation of data and formulation of conclusion
- Publication of findings
The development of the scientific method is considered to be fundamental to
modern science and some — especially
philosophers of science and practicing scientists — consider earlier inquiries into nature to be
pre-scientific. Some consider Ibn al-Haytham to be the "first
scientist" for this reason.
In
The Model of the Motions, Ibn al-Haytham also describes an early version of
Occam's razor, where he employs only minimal hypotheses regarding the properties that characterize astronomical motions, as he attempts to eliminate from his planetary model the
cosmological hypotheses that can't be observed from
Earth.
Robert Briffault wrote in
The Making of Humanity:
George Sarton wrote in the
Introduction to the History of Science:
Muhammad Iqbal wrote in
The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam:
Scientific institutions
A number of important
institutions previously unknown in the ancient world have their origins in the medieval Islamic world, with the most notable examples being: the
public hospital (which replaced
healing temples and
sleep temples) the
public library and
lending library, the
academic degree-granting
university, the astronomical
observatory as a
research institute (as opposed to a private
observation post as was the case in ancient times), and the
trust (
Waqf).
The first universities which issued
diplomas were the
Bimaristan medical university-hospitals of the medieval Islamic world, where medical diplomas were issued to students of
Islamic medicine who were qualified to be practicing
doctors of medicine from the 9th century. Sir
John Bagot Glubb wrote:
Guinness Book of World Records recognizes the
University of Al Karaouine in
Fez, Morocco as the oldest university in the world with its founding in
859.
Al-Azhar University, founded in
Cairo,
Egypt in the
10th century, offered a variety of
academic degrees, including
postgraduate degrees, and is often considered the first full-fledged university.
A number of distinct features of the modern library were introduced in the Islamic world, where libraries not only served as a collection of manuscripts as was the case in ancient libraries, but also as a public library and lending library, a centre for the instruction and spread of sciences and ideas, a place for meetings and discussions, and sometimes as a
lodging for scholars or
boarding school for pupils. The concept of the
library catalog was also introduced in medieval Islamic libraries, where books were organized into specific
genres and categories.
Another common feature during the Islamic Golden Age was the large number of Muslim
polymaths or "universal geniuses", scholars who contributed to many different fields of
knowledge. Muslim polymaths were known as "Hakeems" and they'd a wide breadth of knowledge in many different fields of religious and secular
learning, comparable to the later "Renaissance Men", such as
Leonardo da Vinci, of the European
Renaissance period. Polymath scholars were so common during the Islamic Golden Age that it was rare to find a scholar who specialized in any single field at the time. Notable Muslim polymaths included
al-Biruni,
al-Jahiz,
al-Kindi, Abu Bakr Muhammad
al-Razi,
Ibn Sina,
al-Idrisi,
Ibn Bajja,
Ibn Zuhr,
Ibn Tufayl,
Ibn Rushd,
al-Suyuti Geber,
al-Khwarizmi, the
Banū Mūsā,
Abbas Ibn Firnas,
al-Farabi,
al-Masudi,
al-Muqaddasi,
Alhacen,
Omar Khayyám,
al-Ghazali,
al-Khazini,
Avempace,
al-Jazari,
Ibn al-Nafis,
Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī,
Ibn al-Shatir,
Ibn Khaldun, and
Taqi al-Din, among many others.
Decline
Islamic science and the numbers of Islamic scientists were traditionally believed to have begun declining from the 12th or 13th centuries. It was believed that, though the Islamic civilization would still produce scientists, that they became the exception, rather than the rule (see
List of Islamic scholars). Recent scholarship, however, has come to question this traditional picture of decline, pointing to continued astronomical activity as a sign of a continuing and creative scientific tradition through to the 16th century, of which the work of
Ibn al-Shatir (1304–1375) in Damascus is considered the most noteworthy example. This was also the case for other areas of Islamic science, such as
medicine, exemplified by the works of
Ibn al-Nafis and
Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu, and the
social sciences, exemplified by
Ibn Khaldun's
Muqaddimah (1370), which itself points out that science was declining in
Iraq,
al-Andalus and
Maghreb but continuing to flourish in
Persia,
Syria and
Egypt.
One reason given for the scientific decline was when the orthodox
Ash'ari school of theology challenged the more rational
Mu'tazili school of theology, with
al-Ghazali's
The Incoherence of the Philosophers(
Tahafut al-falasifa) being the most notable example. This interpretation was introduced by the Hungarian
Orientalist Ignaz Goldziher, who believed that there was an intrinsic antagonism between Islamic orthodoxy and the traditions of Greek science.. Recent scholarship has questioned this traditional view, however, with a number of scholars pointing out that the Ash'ari school supported science but were only opposed to speculative philosophy and that some of the greatest Muslim scientists such as
Alhazen,
Biruni, Ibn al-Nafis and Ibn Khaldun were themselves followers of the Ash'ari school.
From the 13th century, some traditionalist Muslims believed that the Crusades and Mongol invasions may have been a divine punishment from God against Muslims deviating from the
Sunnah, a view that was held even by the famous polymath Ibn al-Nafis. Such traditionalist views as well as numerous wars and conflicts at the time are believed to have created a climate which made Islamic science less successful than before. Another reason given for this decline is the disruption to the cycle of equity based on Ibn Khaldun's famous model of
Asabiyyah (the rise and fall of
civilizations), which points to the decline being mainly due to political and economic factors rather than religious factors.
Influence on European science
Islamic Spain and
Sicily. These scholars translated new scientific and philosophical texts from
Arabic into
Latin.
One of the most productive translators in Spain was
Gerard of Cremona, who translated 87 books from Arabic to Latin,
the
chemical and
medical works of
Razi,
and the works of
Arzachel,
Jabir ibn Aflah, the
Banū Mūsā,
Abū Kāmil Shujā ibn Aslam,
Abu al-Qasim, and
Ibn al-Haytham (including the
Book of Optics).
the works of
Razi and
Avicenna (including
The Book of Healing and
The Canon of Medicine),
the works of
Averroes,
the works of
al-Kindi,
Abraham bar Hiyya's
Liber embadorum, Ibn Sarabi's (
Serapion Junior)
De Simplicibus,
the works of
Maslamah Ibn Ahmad al-Majriti,
Ja'far ibn Muhammad Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi, and
al-Ghazali,
the works of
Nur Ed-Din Al Betrugi, including
On the Motions of the Heavens,
Abu Mashar's
Introduction to Astrology,
the works of
Maimonides, Ibn Zezla (Byngezla),
Masawaiyh,
Serapion, al-Qifti, and Albe'thar.
Abū Kāmil Shujā ibn Aslam's
Algebra,
the
chemical works of
Geber, and the
De Proprietatibus Elementorum, an Arabic work on
geology written by a
pseudo-Aristotle.
Fibonacci presented the first complete European account of the
Hindu-Arabic numeral system from
Arabic sources in his
Liber Abaci (1202).
Al-Khazini's
Zij as-Sanjari was translated into
Greek by
Gregory Choniades in the 13th century and was studied in the
Byzantine Empire. The astronomical corrections to the
Ptolemaic model made by
al-Battani and
Averroes and the non-Ptolemaic models produced by
Mo'ayyeduddin Urdi (Urdi lemma),
Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī (
Tusi-couple) and
Ibn al-Shatir were later adapted into the
Copernican heliocentric model.
Al-Kindi's (Alkindus) law of
terrestrial gravity influenced
Robert Hooke's law of
celestial gravity, which in turn inspired
Newton's law of universal gravitation.
Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī's
Ta'rikh al-Hind and
Kitab al-qanun al-Mas’udi were translated into Latin as
Indica and
Canon Mas’udicus respectively.
Ibn al-Nafis'
Commentary on Compound Drugs was translated into
Latin by Andrea Alpago (d. 1522), who may have also translated Ibn al-Nafis'
Commentary on Anatomy in the Canon of Avicenna, which first described
pulmonary circulation and
coronary circulation, and which may have had an influence on
Michael Servetus,
Realdo Colombo and
William Harvey. Translations of the algebraic and geometrical works of
Ibn al-Haytham,
Omar Khayyám and
Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī were later influential in the development of
non-Euclidean geometry in Europe from the 17th century.
Ibn Tufail's
Hayy ibn Yaqdhan was translated into Latin by
Edward Pococke in 1671 and into English by
Simon Ockley in 1708 and became "one of the most important books that heralded the
Scientific Revolution."
Ibn al-Baitar's
Kitab al-Jami fi al-Adwiya al-Mufrada also had an influence on European
botany after it was translated into Latin in 1758.
In the 13th century,
Ibn al-Baitar published the
Kitab al-Jami fi al-Adwiya al-Mufrada, considered one of the greatest botanical compilations, which contains details on at least 1,400 different
plants, of which 200 of these plants were his own original discoveries.
Applied sciences
Fielding H. Garrison wrote in the
History of Medicine:
applied sciences, a significant number of inventions and technologies were produced by medieval Muslim scientists and engineers such as
Abbas Ibn Firnas,
Taqi al-Din, and particularly
al-Jazari, who is considered a pioneer in modern engineering. Some of the inventions believed to have come from the medieval Islamic world include the
programmable automaton,
coffee,
hang glider,
flight control surfaces,
soap bar,
shampoo, pure
distillation,
liquefaction,
crystallisation,
purification,
oxidisation,
evaporation,
filtration,
distilled alcohol,
uric acid,
nitric acid,
alembic,
crankshaft,
valve,
reciprocating suction piston pump,
mechanical clocks driven by
water and
weights,
combination lock,
quilting, pointed
arch,
scalpel, bone
saw,
forceps, surgical
catgut,
windmill,
inoculation,
fountain pen,
cryptanalysis,
frequency analysis, three-course
meal,
stained glass and
quartz glass,
Persian carpet, modern
cheque,
celestial globe,
explosive rockets and
incendiary devices,
torpedo, and artificial
pleasure gardens.
Astrology
Islamic astrology, in
Arabic ilm al-nujum is the study of the heavens by early
Muslims. In early Arabic sources,
ilm al-nujum was used to refer to both
astronomy and
astrology. In
medieval sources, however, a clear distinction was made between
ilm al-nujum (science of the stars) or
ilm al-falak (science of the celestial orbs), referring to astrology, and
ilm al-haya (science of the figure of the heavens), referring to astronomy. Both fields were rooted in
Greek,
Persian, and
Indian traditions. Despite consistent critiques of astrology by scientists and religious scholars, astrological prognostications required a fair amount of exact scientific knowledge and thus gave partial incentive for the study and development of astronomy.
The first
semantic distinction between astronomy and
astrology was given by
al-Biruni in the 11th century, though he himself refuted the study of astrology. The study of astrology was also refuted by other Muslim astronomers at the time, including
al-Farabi,
Ibn al-Haytham,
Avicenna and
Averroes. Their reasons for refuting astrology were both due to the methods used by astrologers being
conjectural rather than
empirical and also due to the views of astrologers conflicting with orthodox
Islam.
Astronomy
astronomy, the works of
Egyptian/
Greek astronomer
Ptolemy, particularly the
Almagest, and the
Indian work of
Brahmagupta, were significantly refined over the years by
Muslim astronomers. The astronomical tables of
Al-Khwarizmi and of
Maslamah Ibn Ahmad al-Majriti served as important sources of information for
Latinized European thinkers rediscovering the works of astronomy, where extensive interest in astrology was discouraged.
In the 11th century, Muslim astronomers began questioning the
Ptolemaic system, beginning with
Ibn al-Haytham, and they were the first to conduct elaborate
experiments related to astronomical phenomena, beginning with
Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī's introduction of the
experimental method into astronomy. Many of them made changes and corrections to the Ptolemaic model and proposed alternative non-
Ptolemaic models within a
geocentric framework. In particular, the corrections and critiques of
al-Battani,
Ibn al-Haytham, and
Averroes, and the non-Ptolemaic models of the
Maragha astronomers,
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (
Tusi-couple),
Mo'ayyeduddin Urdi (Urdi lemma), and
Ibn al-Shatir, were later adapted into the
heliocentric Copernican model, and that
Copernicus' arguments for the
Earth's rotation were similar to those of al-Tusi and
Ali al-Qushji. the optical writings of Ibn al-Haytham having laid the foundations for the later European development of
telescopic astronomy,
the development of universal
astrolabes, the invention of numerous other astronomical instruments, continuation of inquiry into the motion of the planets,
Ja'far Muhammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir's discovery that the
heavenly bodies and
celestial spheres are subject to the same
physical laws as
Earth,
the first elaborate
experiments related to astronomical phenomena and the first
semantic distinction between astronomy and
astrology by
Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,
the discovery that the
celestial spheres are not
solid and that the heavens are less dense than the air by Ibn al-Haytham,
the separation of
natural philosophy from astronomy by Ibn al-Haytham and al-Qushji, Several Muslim astronomers also discussed the possibility of a
heliocentric model with
elliptical orbits, such as
Ja'far ibn Muhammad Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi,
Ibn al-Haytham,
Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,
al-Sijzi, 'Umar al-Katibi al-
Qazwini, and
Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi.
Chemistry
The 9th century
chemist,
Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan), is considered a pioneer of
chemistry, followed by
Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,
Avicenna, and
Ibn Khaldun. Avicenna also invented
steam distillation and produced the first
essential oils, which led to the development of
aromatherapy.
Razi first distilled
petroleum, invented
kerosene and
kerosene lamps,
soap bars and modern recipes for
soap, and
antiseptics. In his
Doubts about Galen, al-Razi was also the first to prove both
Aristotle's theory of
classical elements and
Galen's theory of
humorism wrong using an experimental method.
Will Durant wrote in
The Story of Civilization IV: The Age of Faith:
George Sarton wrote in the
Introduction to the History of Science:
Earth sciences
» Further information: Islamic geography and Muslim agricultural sciences
Muslim scientists made a number of contributions to the
Earth sciences.
Alkindus was the first to introduce
experimentation into the Earth sciences.
Biruni is considered a pioneer of
geodesy for his important contributions to the field, along with his significant contributions to
geography and
geology.
Among his writings on geology, Biruni wrote the following on the
geology of India:
John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson write in the
MacTutor History of Mathematics archive:
John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson wrote in the
MacTutor History of Mathematics archive:
Al-Khwarizmi (780-850), from whose name the word
algorithm derives, contributed significantly to
algebra, which is named after his book,
Kitab al-Jabr, the first book on
elementary algebra. He also introduced what is now known as
Arabic numerals, which originally came from
India, though Muslim mathematicians did make several refinements to the number system, such as the introduction of
decimal point notation.
Al-Kindi (801-873) was a pioneer in
cryptanalysis and
cryptology. He gave the first known recorded explanations of
cryptanalysis and
frequency analysis in
A Manuscript on Deciphering Cryptographic Messages.
The first known
proof by
mathematical induction appears in a book written by
Al-Karaji around 1000 AD, who used it to prove the
binomial theorem,
Pascal's triangle, and the sum of
integral cubes. The
historian of mathematics, F. Woepcke, praised Al-Karaji for being "the first who introduced the
theory of
algebraic
calculus."
Ibn al-Haytham was the first mathematician to derive the formula for the sum of the
fourth powers, and using the method of induction, he developed a method for determining the general formula for the sum of any integral
powers, which was fundamental to the development of integral calculus. The 11th century
poet-mathematician
Omar Khayyám was the first to find general
geometric solutions of
cubic equations and laid the foundations for the development of
analytic geometry,
algebraic geometry and
non-Euclidean geometry.
Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi (1135-1213) found algebraic and
numerical solutions to cubic equations and was the first to discover the
derivative of
cubic polynomials, an important result in differential calculus.
Other achievements of Muslim mathematicians include the invention of
spherical trigonometry, the discovery of all the
trigonometric functions besides sine and cosine, early inquiry which aided the development of
analytic geometry by
Ibn al-Haytham, the first refutations of
Euclidean geometry and the
parallel postulate by
Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī, the first attempt at a
non-Euclidean geometry by Sadr al-Din, the development of
symbolic algebra by
Abū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī, and numerous other advances in algebra,
arithmetic, calculus,
cryptography,
geometry,
number theory and
trigonometry.
Mechanics
In the
mechanics field of
physics,
Ja'far Muhammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir (800-873) of the
Banū Mūsā hypothesized that
heavenly bodies and
celestial spheres were subject to the same
laws of physics as
Earth, unlike the ancients who believed that the celestial spheres followed their own set of physical laws different from that of Earth. which
Robert Briffault views as a precursor to
Newton's law of universal gravitation.
Thābit ibn Qurra (836-901) rejected the
Peripatetic and
Aristotelian notions of a "natural place" for each
element. He instead proposed a theory of
motion in which both the upward and downward motions are caused by
weight, and that the order of the universe is a result of two competing
attractions (
jadhb): one of these being "between the and
celestial elements", and the other being "between all parts of each element separately".
Ibn al-Haytham (965-1039) discussed the theory of
attraction between
masses, and it seems that he was aware of the
magnitude of
acceleration due to
gravity and he stated that the heavenly bodies "were accountable to the
laws of physics". Ibn al-Haytham also enunciated the law of
inertia, later known as
Newton's first law of motion, when he stated that a body moves
perpetually unless an external force stops it or changes its direction of motion. He also developed the concept of
momentum, though he didn't quantify this concept mathematically.
Nobel Prize winning physicist
Abdus Salam wrote the following on
Ibn al-Haytham:
Avicenna (980-1037) developed the concept of
momentum, referring to
impetus as being proportional to
weight times
velocity. He is thus considered a pioneer of the concept of momentum. His theory of motion was also consistent with the concept of
inertia in
classical mechanics.
In 1121,
al-Khazini, in
The Book of the Balance of Wisdom, proposed that the
gravity and
gravitational potential energy of a body varies depending on its distance from the centre of the Earth. In
statics, al-Khazini clearly differentiated between
force,
mass, and
weight, and he showed awareness of the weight of the air and of its decrease in
density with
altitude, and discovered that there was greater density of water when nearer to the Earth's centre.
Ibn Bajjah (Avempace) (d. 1138) argued that there's always a
reaction force for every force exerted, which
Shlomo Pines views as "a precursor to the
Leibnizian idea of force" which "underlies
Newton's third law of motion", though he didn't refer to the reaction force as being equal to the exerted force. His theory of motion had an important influence on later physicists like
Galileo Galilei.
Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi (1080-1165) wrote a critique of
Aristotelian physics entitled
al-Mu'tabar, where he was the first to negate
Aristotle's idea that a constant
force produces uniform motion, as he realized that a force applied continuously produces
acceleration, considered "the fundamental law of
classical mechanics" and an early foreshadowing of
Newton's second law of motion. He also described acceleration as the rate of change of
velocity.
Averroes (1126–1198) defined and measured
force as "the rate at which
work is done in changing the
kinetic condition of a material
body" and correctly argued "that the effect and measure of force is change in the kinetic condition of a materially
resistant mass." In the early 16th century,
al-Birjandi developed a hypothesis similar to Galileo's notion of "circular inertia."
Medicine
Muslim
physicians made many significant advances and contributions to
medicine, including
anatomy,
ophthalmology,
pathology, the
pharmaceutical sciences (including
pharmacy and
pharmacology),
physiology, and
surgery. Muslim physicians set up some of the earliest dedicated
hospitals, which later spread to Europe during the
Crusades, inspired by the hospitals in the Middle East.
Al-Kindi wrote
De Gradibus, in which he first demonstrated the application of
quantification and mathematics to medicine, particularly in the field of pharmacology. This includes the development of a mathematical scale to quantify the strength of
drugs, and a system that would allow a doctor to determine in advance the most critical days of a patient's illness.
Razi (Rhazes) (865-925), a pioneer of
pediatrics, recorded
clinical cases of his own experience and provided very useful recordings of various
diseases. His
Comprehensive Book of Medicine, which introduced
measles and
smallpox, was very influential in Europe. In his
Doubts about Galen, al-Razi was also the first to prove both
Galen's theory of
humorism and
Aristotle's theory of
classical elements false using experimentation. He also introduced
urinalysis and
stool tests.
Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis), considered a pioneer of modern
surgery, wrote the
Al-Tasrif (
1000), a 30-volume medical
encyclopedia which was taught at Muslim and European
medical schools until the 17th century. He invented numerous
surgical instruments, including the first instruments unique to women, as well as the surgical uses of
catgut and
forceps, the
ligature,
surgical needle,
scalpel,
curette,
retractor, surgical
spoon,
sound, surgical
hook, surgical
rod, and
specula, bone
saw, In 1021,
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen) made important advances in
eye surgery, as he studied and correctly explained the process of
sight and
visual perception for the first time in his
Book of Optics (1021). the discovery of the contagious nature of
infectious diseases, the introduction of
quarantine to limit the spread of contagious diseases, the introduction of
experimental medicine,
evidence-based medicine,
clinical trials,
randomized controlled trials,
efficacy tests,
and
clinical pharmacology,
the importance of dietetics and the influence of climate and environment on health, the distinction of
mediastinitis from
pleurisy, the contagious nature of
phthisis and
tuberculosis, the distribution of
diseases by
water and
soil, and the first careful descriptions of
skin troubles,
sexually transmitted diseases,
perversions, and
nervous ailments, for introducing the experimental method into surgery in the 12th century, as he was the first to employ
animal testing in order to experiment with surgical procedures before applying them to human patients. He also performed the first
dissections and postmortem
autopsies on humans as well as animals.
In 1242,
Ibn al-Nafis, considered a pioneer of
circulatory physiology, was the first to describe
pulmonary circulation and
coronary circulation, which form the basis of the
circulatory system, for which he's considered one of the greatest
physiologists in history. He also described the earliest concept of
metabolism, and developed new systems of
physiology and
psychology to replace the
Avicennian and
Galenic systems, while discrediting many of their erroneous theories on the
four humours,
pulsation,
bones,
muscles,
intestines,
sensory organs,
bilious canals,
esophagus,
stomach, etc. Ibn al-Lubudi (1210-1267) rejected the theory of four
humours supported by
Galen and
Hippocrates, discovered that the
body and its preservation depend exclusively upon
blood, rejected Galen's idea that women can produce
sperm, and discovered that the movement of
arteries are not dependent upon the movement of the
heart, that the heart is the first organ to form in a
fetus' body (rather than the
brain as claimed by Hippocrates), and that the
bones forming the
skull can grow into
tumors.
The
Tashrih al-badan (
Anatomy of the body) of
Mansur ibn Ilyas (c. 1390) contained comprehensive diagrams of the body's structural,
nervous and
circulatory systems. During the
Black Death bubonic plague in 14th century
al-Andalus, Ibn Khatima and Ibn al-Khatib hypothesized that infectious diseases are caused by "contagious entities" which enter the human body. Other medical innovations first introduced by Muslim physicians include the discovery of the
immune system, the use of
animal testing, and the combination of medicine with other
sciences (including
agriculture,
botany,
chemistry, and
pharmacology),
Optics
optics field of
physics,
Ibn Sahl (c. 940-1000), a mathematician and physicist connected with the court of
Baghdad, wrote a treatise
On Burning Mirrors and Lenses in 984 in which he set out his understanding of how
curved mirrors and
lenses bend and focus
light. Ibn Sahl is now credited with first discovering the law of
refraction, usually called
Snell's law. He used this law to work out the shapes of lenses that focus light with no geometric aberrations, known as
anaclastic lenses.
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen) (965-1039), who is considered a pioneer of
optics and the
scientific method, developed a broad theory of
light and
optics in his
Book of Optics which explained
vision, using
geometry and
anatomy, and stated that each point on an illuminated area or object radiates
light rays in every direction, but that only one ray from each point, which strikes the eye perpendicularly, can be seen. The other rays strike at different angles and are not seen. He used the example of the
camera obscura and
pinhole camera, which produces an inverted image, to support his argument. This contradicted Ptolemy's theory of vision that objects are seen by rays of light emanating from the eyes. Alhacen held light rays to be streams of minute particles that travelled at a
finite speed. He improved accurately described the
refraction of light, and discovered the laws of
refraction.
He also carried out the first experiments on the dispersion of light into its constituent colours. His major work
Kitab al-Manazir was translated into
Latin in the
Middle Ages, as well as his book dealing with the colors of sunset. He dealt at length with the theory of various physical phenomena like
shadows,
eclipses, and the
rainbow. He also attempted to explain
binocular vision and the
moon illusion. Through these extensive researches on optics, he's considered a pioneer of modern
optics. Ibn al-Haytham also correctly argued that we see objects because the sun's rays of light, which he believed to be streams of tiny particles traveling in straight lines, are reflected from objects into our eyes. He understood that light must travel at a large but finite velocity, and that refraction is caused by the velocity being different in different substances. He also studied spherical and parabolic mirrors, and understood how refraction by a lens will allow images to be focused and magnification to take place. He understood mathematically why a spherical mirror produces aberration. His
Book of Optics has been ranked alongside
Isaac Newton's
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica as one of the most influential books in the
history of physics, for initiating a
scientific revolution in
optics and
visual perception.
Robert S. Elliot wrote the following on
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen):
Avicenna (980-1037) agreed that the
speed of light is finite, as he "observed that if the perception of light is due to the emission of some sort of particles by a luminous source, the speed of light must be finite."
Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (973-1048) also agreed that light has a finite speed, and he was the first to discover that the speed of light is much faster than the
speed of sound.
Psychology
psychology" or
Ilm-al Nafsiat Al-Kindi (Alkindus) was the first to experiment with music therapy, and Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari was the first to practice 'al-‘ilaj al-nafs ("
psychotherapy"). The concepts of
al-tibb al-ruhani ("
spiritual health") and "mental hygiene" were introduced by
Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi, who was "probably the first
cognitive and
medical psychologist to clearly differentiate between
neuroses and
psychoses, to classify neurotic disorders, and to show in detail how rational and spiritual
cognitive therapies can be used to treat each one of his classified disorders."
Al-Farabi wrote the first treatises on
social psychology and dealt with
consciousness studies.
Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi discussed "the relationship between certain psychological events to the physiological changes in the body", and described the first
thought experiments on
self-awareness and
self-consciousness.
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) is considered by some a forerunner of
experimental psychology, for his experimental work on the psychology of
visual perception in the
Book of Optics, He was also the first to combine physics and psychology to form psychophysics, and his investigations and experiments on psychology and visual perception included
sensation, variations in
sensitivity, sensation of
touch,
perception of colours, perception of
darkness, the psychological explanation of the
moon illusion, and
binocular vision.
Social sciences
social sciences in the Islamic civilization.
Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (973-1048) has been described as "the first
anthropologist". He wrote detailed comparative studies on the
anthropology of peoples, religions and cultures in the
Middle East,
Mediterranean and
South Asia. Biruni's anthropology of religion was only possible for a scholar deeply immersed in the lore of other nations.
Biruni has also been praised by several scholars for his
Islamic anthropology. Biruni is also considered a pioneer of
Indology.
Al-Saghani (d. 990) wrote some of the earliest comments on the
history of science, which included a comparison between the "ancients" (including the ancient
Babylonians,
Egyptians,
Greeks and
Indians) and the "modern scholars" (the Muslim scientists of his time).
Al-Muqaddasi (b. 945) also made contributions to the social sciences.
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) is considered a forerunner of several
social sciences such as
demography,
cultural history,
historiography, the
philosophy of history,
sociology, He is best known for his
Muqaddimah (
Latinized as
Prolegomenon). Some of the ideas he introduced in the
Muqaddimah include
social philosophy,
social conflict theories,
social cohesion,
social capital,
social networks,
dialectics, the
Laffer curve, the
historical method,
systemic bias, the rise and fall of
civilizations,
feedback loops,
systems theory, and
corporate social responsibility. He also introduced the scientific method into the social sciences.
Franz Rosenthal wrote in the
History of Muslim Historiography:
Zoology
In the
zoology field of
biology, Muslim biologists developed theories on
evolution which were widely taught in medieval Islamic schools.
John William Draper, a contemporary of
Charles Darwin, considered the "Mohammedan theory of evolution" to be developed "much farther than we're disposed to do, extending them even to
inorganic or
mineral things." According to
al-Khazini, ideas on evolution were widespread among "common people" in the Islamic world by the 12th century.
The first Muslim biologist to develop a theory on evolution was
al-Jahiz (781-869). He wrote on the effects of the environment on the likelihood of an animal to survive, and he first described the
struggle for existence. Al-Jahiz was also the first to discuss
food chains,
and was also an early adherent of
environmental determinism, arguing that the environment can determine the physical characteristics of the inhabitants of a certain community and that the origins of different
human skin colors is the result of the environment.
Ibn al-Haytham wrote a book in which he argued for
evolutionism (although not natural selection), and numerous other Islamic scholars and scientists, such as
Ibn Miskawayh, the
Brethren of Purity,
al-Khazini,
Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,
Nasir al-Din Tusi, and
Ibn Khaldun, discussed and developed these ideas. Translated into Latin, these works began to appear in the West after the
Renaissance and appear to have had an impact on Western science.
Ibn Miskawayh's
al-Fawz al-Asghar and the
Brethren of Purity's
Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity (
The Epistles of Ikhwan al-Safa) expressed evolutionary ideas on how species evolved from
matter, into
vapor, and then
water, then
minerals, then
plants, then
animals, then
apes, and then
humans. These works were known in Europe and likely had an influence on
Darwinism.
Historiography
The history of science in the Islamic world, like all history, is filled with questions of interpretation. Historians of science generally consider that the study of Islamic science, like all history, must be seen within the particular circumstances of time and place.
A. I. Sabra opened a recent overview of Arabic science by noting, "I trust no one would wish to contest the proposition that all of history is local history ... and the history of science is no exception."
Some scholars avoid such local historical approaches and seek to identify essential
relations between Islam and science that apply at all times and places. The Persian philosopher and historian of science, Seyyed
Hossein Nasr saw a more positive connection in "an Islamic science that was spiritual and antisecular" which "point[ed] the way to a new 'Islamic science' that would avoid the dehumanizing and despiritualizing mistakes of Western science." Some historians of science, however, question the value of drawing boundaries that label the sciences, and the scientists who practice them, in specific cultural, civilizational, or linguistic terms.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Islamic Science'.
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