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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.Sabra, A. I. (1996). "Situating Arabic Science: Locality versus Essence". Isis 87: 654-670.
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.Bernard Lewis, What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response:
"Let us begin with a neutral and innocent definition of Arabic, or what also may be called Islamic, science in terms of time and space: the term Arabic (or Islamic) science the scientific activities of individuals who lived in a region that might extended chronologically from the eighth century A.D. to the beginning of the modern era, and geographically from the Iberian Peninsula and north Africa to the Indus valley and from the Southern Arabia to the Caspian Sea—that is, the region covered for most of that period by what we call Islamic Civilization, and in which the results of the activities referred to were for the most part expressed in the Arabic Language. We need not be concerned over the refinements that obviously need to be introduced over this seemingly neutral definition."
"There have been many civilizations in human history, almost all of which were local, in the sense that they were defined by a region and an ethnic group. This applied to all the ancient civilizations of the Middle East—Egypt, Babylon, Persia; to the great civilizations of Asia—India, China; and to the civilizations of Pre-Columbian America. There are two exceptions: Christendom and Islam. These are two civilizations defined by religion, in which religion is the primary defining force, not, as in India or China, a secondary aspect among others of an essentially regional and ethnically defined civilization. Here, again, another word of explanation is necessary."
"In English we use the word “Islam” with two distinct meanings, and the distinction is often blurred and lost and gives rise to considerable confusion. In the one sense, Islam is the counterpart of Christianity; that is to say, a religion in the strict sense of the word: a system of belief and worship. In the other sense, Islam is the counterpart of Christendom; that is to say, a civilization shaped and defined by a religion, but containing many elements apart from and even hostile to that religion, yet arising within that civilization."
The traditional view of Islamic science, as exemplified by Bertrand Russell,Bertrand Russell (1945), History of Western Philosophy, book 2, part 2, chapter X was 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. A number of scholars such as Robert Briffault, Will Durant, Fielding H. Garrison, Muhammad Iqbal and Hossein Nasr have sought to revise this view and consider Muslim scientists to have laid the foundations for modern science with their introduction of the scientific method and a modern empirical, experimental and quantitative approach to scientific inquiry. Some scholars such as Abdus SalamAbdus Salam, H. R. Dalafi, Mohamed Hassan (1994). Renaissance of Sciences in Islamic Countries, p. 162. World Scientific, ISBN 9971507137. and George Saliba(Saliba 1994, pp. 245, 250, 256-257) have referred to medieval Islamic science as a Muslim scientific revolution,Abid Ullah Jan (2006), After Fascism: Muslims and the struggle for self-determination, "Islam, the West, and the Question of Dominance", Pragmatic Publishings, ISBN 978-0-9733687-5-8.Salah Zaimeche (2003), An Introduction to Muslim Science, FSTC. 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,Ahmad Y Hassan and Donald Routledge Hill (1986), Islamic Technology: An Illustrated History, p. 282, Cambridge University Press. and which should not be confused with the early modern Scientific Revolution which led to the emergence of modern science.Thomas Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution, (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Pr., 1957), p. 142.Herbert Butterfield, The Origins of Modern Science, 1300-1800. Edward Grant argues that modern science was due to the cumulative efforts of the Hellenic, Islamic and Latin civilizations.Edward Grant (1996), The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional, and Intellectual Contexts, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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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 Bernard Lewis, What Went Wrong?
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" does not appreciate the rich diversity of eastern scholars who have contributed to science in that era.Behrooz Broumand, The contribution of Iranian scientists to world civilization, Archives of Iranian Medicine 2006; 9 (3): 288 – 290
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.N. M. Swerdlow (1993). "Montucla\'s Legacy: The History of the Exact Sciences", Journal of the History of Ideas 54 (2), p. 299-328 [320].
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) was a polymath who was a pioneer of modern optics and the 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), which was due to the emphasis on empirical observation found in the Qur\'an and Sunnah,(cf. C. A. Qadir (1990), Philosophy and Science in the lslumic World, Routledge, London)
"Observe nature and reflect over it."
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Other early experimental methods were developed by Geber (for chemistry), Muhammad al-Bukhari (for history and the science of hadith), al-Kindi (for the Earth sciences), Avicenna (for medicine), Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (for astronomy and mechanics),O\'Connor, John J; Edmund F. Robertson "Al-Biruni". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. Ibn Zuhr (for surgery) and Ibn Khaldun (for the social sciences). The most important development of the scientific method, the use of experimentation and quantification to distinguish between competing scientific theories set within a generally empirical orientation, was introduced by Muslim scientists.
Ibn al-Haytham, a pioneer of modern optics,R. L. Verma "Al-Hazen: father of modern optics", Al-Arabi, 8 (1969): 12-13. 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.D. C. Lindberg, Theories of Vision from al-Kindi to Kepler, (Chicago, Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1976), pp. 60-7. 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. Ibn al-Haytham\'s scientific method was similar to the modern scientific method in that it consisted of the following procedures:Bradley Steffens (2006). Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, Morgan Reynolds Publishing, ISBN 1599350246. (cf. Bradley Steffens, "Who Was the First Scientist?", Ezine Articles.)
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.Bradley Steffens (2006). Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, Morgan Reynolds Publishing, ISBN 1599350246.
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 cannot be observed from Earth.Roshdi Rashed (2007). "The Celestial Kinematics of Ibn al-Haytham", Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 17, p. 7-55 [35-36]. Cambridge University Press.
Robert Briffault wrote in The Making of Humanity:
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Science is the most momentous contribution of Arab civilization to the modern world, but its fruits were slow in ripening. Not until long after Moorish culture had sunk back into darkness did the giant to which it had given birth, rise in his might. It was not science only which brought Europe back to life. Other and manifold influences from the civilization of Islam communicated its first glow to European life."Robert Briffault (1928). The Making of Humanity, p. 202. G. Allen & Unwin Ltd.
George Sarton wrote in the Introduction to the History of Science:
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Oliver Joseph Lodge wrote in the Pioneers of Science:
"The only effective link between the old and the new science is afforded by the Arabs. The dark ages come as an utter gap in the scientific history of Europe, and for more than a thousand years there was not a scientific man of note except in Arabia."Oliver Joseph Lodge, Pioneers of Science, p. 9.
Muhammad Iqbal wrote in The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam:
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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) and psychiatric hospital,Ibrahim B. Syed PhD, "Islamic Medicine: 1000 years ahead of its times", Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine, 2002 (2), p. 2-9 [7-8]. the public library and lending library, the academic degree-granting university, the astronomical observatory as a research institutePeter Barrett (2004), Science and Theology Since Copernicus: The Search for Understanding, p. 18, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 056708969X. (as opposed to a private observation post as was the case in ancient times),Micheau, Francoise, "The Scientific Institutions in the Medieval Near East", pp. 992-3, in (Morelon & Rashed 1996, pp. 985-1007) and the trust (Waqf).(Gaudiosi 1988)(Hudson 2003, p. 32)
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:John Bagot Glubb (cf. Quotations on Islamic Civilization)
"By Mamun\'s time medical schools were extremely active in Baghdad. The first free public hospital was opened in Baghdad during the Caliphate of Haroon-ar-Rashid. As the system developed, physicians and surgeons were appointed who gave lectures to medical students and issued diplomas to those who were considered qualified to practice. The first hospital in Egypt was opened in 872 AD and thereafter public hospitals sprang up all over the empire from Spain and the Maghrib to Persia."
The 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.The Guinness Book Of Records, Published 1998, ISBN 0-5535-7895-2, P.242 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.Micheau, Francoise, "The Scientific Institutions in the Medieval Near East", pp. 988-991 in (Morelon & Rashed 1996, pp. 985-1007)
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 had 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.Karima Alavi, Tapestry of Travel, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University. 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-SuyutiSardar, Ziauddin (1998), "Science in Islamic philosophy", Islamic Philosophy, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, <http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H016.htm>. Retrieved on 3 February 2008 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.
The first documented description of a peer review process is found in the Ethics of the Physician written by Ishaq bin Ali al-Rahwi (854–931) of al-Raha, Syria, who describes the first medical peer review process. His work, as well as later Arabic medical manuals, state that a visiting physician must always make duplicate notes of a patient\'s condition on every visit. When the patient was cured or had died, the notes of the physician were examined by a local medical council of other physicians, who would review the practising physician\'s notes to decide whether his/her performance have met the required standards of medical care. If their reviews were negative, the practicing physician could face a lawsuit from a maltreated patient.Ray Spier (2002), "The history of the peer-review process", Trends in Biotechnology 20 (8), p. 357-358 [357].
David A. King, "The Astronomy of the Mamluks", Isis, 74 (1983):531-555 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.Ahmad Y Hassan, Factors Behind the Decline of Islamic Science After the Sixteenth Century
"The main thesis, for which this collection of articles came be used as evidence, is the one claiming that the period often called a period of decline in Islamic intellectual history was, scientifically speaking from the point of view of astronomy, a very productive period in which astronomical thories of the highest order were produced."
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.Ignaz Goldziher, Stellung der alten islamischen Orthodoxie zu den antiken Wissenschaften(1915). 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. Other reasons for the decline of Islamic science include conflicts between the Sunni and Shia Muslims, and invasions by Crusaders and Mongols on Islamic lands between the 11th and 13th centuries, especially the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. The Mongols destroyed Muslim libraries, observatories, hospitals, and universities, culminating in the destruction of Baghdad, the Abbasid capital and intellectual centre, in 1258, which marked the end of the Islamic Golden Age.Erica Fraser. The Islamic World to 1600, University of Calgary.
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.Nahyan A. G. Fancy (2006), "Pulmonary Transit and Bodily Resurrection: The Interaction of Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in the Works of Ibn al-Nafīs (d. 1288)", p. 49 & 59, Electronic Theses and Dissertations, University of Notre Dame.[1] 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. With the fall of Islamic Spain in 1492, the scientific and technological initiative of the Islamic world was inherited by Europeans and laid the foundations for Europe\'s Renaissance and Scientific Revolution.
Contributing to the growth of European science was the major search by European scholars for new learning which they could only find among Muslims, especially in 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, including Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī\'s On Algebra and Almucabala, Jabir ibn Aflah\'s Elementa astronomica, al-Kindi\'s On Optics, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī\'s On Elements of Astronomy on the Celestial Motions, al-Farabi\'s On the Classification of the Sciences,For a list of Gerard of Cremona\'s translations see: Edward Grant (1974) A Source Book in Medieval Science, (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Pr.), pp. 35-8 or Charles Burnett, "The Coherence of the Arabic-Latin Translation Program in Toledo in the Twelfth Century," Science in Context, 14 (2001): at 249-288, at pp. 275-281. the chemical and medical works of Razi, the works of Thabit ibn Qurra and Hunayn ibn Ishaq,D. Campbell, Arabian Medicine and Its Influence on the Middle Ages, p. 6. 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).
Other Arabic works translated into Latin during the 12th century include the works of Muhammad ibn Jābir al-Harrānī al-Battānī and Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (including The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing), the works of Abu al-Qasim (including the al-Tasrif),D. Campbell, Arabian Medicine and Its Influence on the Middle Ages, p. 3. Muhammad al-Fazari\'s Great Sindhind (based on the Surya Siddhanta and the works of Brahmagupta),G. G. Joseph, The Crest of the Peacock, p. 306. the works of Razi and Avicenna (including The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine),M.-T. d\'Alverny, "Translations and Translators," pp. 444-6, 451 the works of Averroes, the works of Thabit ibn Qurra, al-Farabi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, and his nephew Hubaysh ibn al-Hasan,D. Campbell, Arabian Medicine and Its Influence on the Middle Ages, p. 4-5. the works of al-Kindi, Abraham bar Hiyya\'s Liber embadorum, Ibn Sarabi\'s (Serapion Junior) De Simplicibus, the works of Qusta ibn Luqa,D. Campbell, Arabian Medicine and Its Influence on the Middle Ages, p. 5. the works of Maslamah Ibn Ahmad al-Majriti, Ja\'far ibn Muhammad Abu Ma\'shar al-Balkhi, and al-Ghazali,Salah Zaimeche (2003). Aspects of the Islamic Influence on Science and Learning in the Christian West, p. 10. Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation. the works of Nur Ed-Din Al Betrugi, including On the Motions of the Heavens,Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexicon Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi\'s medical encyclopedia, The Complete Book of the Medical Art,Jerome B. Bieber. Medieval Translation Table 2: Arabic Sources, Santa Fe Community College. Abu Mashar\'s Introduction to Astrology,Charles Burnett, ed. Adelard of Bath, Conversations with His Nephew, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. xi. the works of Maimonides, Ibn Zezla (Byngezla), Masawaiyh, Serapion, al-Qifti, and Albe\'thar.D. Campbell, Arabian Medicine and Its Influence on the Middle Ages, p. 4. Abū Kāmil Shujā ibn Aslam\'s Algebra,V. J. Katz, A History of Mathematics: An Introduction, p. 291. the chemical works of Geber, and the De Proprietatibus Elementorum, an Arabic work on geology written by a pseudo-Aristotle. By the beginning of the 13th century, Mark of Toledo translated the Qur\'an and various medical works.M.-T. d\'Alverny, "Translations and Translators," pp. 429, 455
Fibonacci presented the first complete European account of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system from Arabic sources in his Liber Abaci (1202).Jerome B. Bieber. Medieval Translation Table 2: Arabic Sources, Santa Fe Community College. Al-Khazini\'s Zij as-Sanjari was translated into Greek by Gregory Choniades in the 13th century and was studied in the Byzantine Empire.David Pingree (1964), "Gregory Chioniades and Palaeologan Astronomy", Dumbarton Oaks Papers 18, p. 135-160. 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.Anatomy and Physiology, Islamic Medical Manuscripts, United States National Library of Medicine. 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.D. S. Kasir (1931). The Algebra of Omar Khayyam, p. 6-7. Teacher\'s College Press, Columbia University, New York.Boris A. Rosenfeld and Adolf P. Youschkevitch (1996), "Geometry", p. 469, in (Morelon & Rashed 1996, pp. 447-494) 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."Samar Attar, The Vital Roots of European Enlightenment: Ibn Tufayl\'s Influence on Modern Western Thought, Lexington Books, ISBN 0739119893. 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 Middle Ages, especially during the Islamic Golden Age, Muslim scholars made significant advances in science, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, engineering, and many other fields. During this time, early Islamic philosophy developed and was often pivotal in scientific debates — key figures were usually scientists and philosophers.
During the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, Muslim scientists made significant advances in botany and laid the foundations of agricultural science. Muslim botanists and agriculturists demonstrated advanced agronomical, agrotechnical and economic knowledge in areas such as meteorology, climatology, hydrology, soil occupation, and the economy and management of agricultural enterprises. They also demosntrated agricultural knowledge in areas such as pedology, agricultural ecology, irrigation, preparation of soil, planting, spreading of manure, killing herbs, sowing, cutting trees, grafting, pruning vine, prophylaxis, phytotherapy, the care and improvement of cultures and plants, and the harvest and storage of crops.Toufic Fahd (1996), "Botany and agriculture", p. 849, in (Morelon & Rashed 1996, pp. 813-852)
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.Russell McNeil, Ibn al-Baitar, Malaspina University-College.
Fielding H. Garrison wrote in the History of Medicine:
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In the 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.1000 Years of Knowledge Rediscovered at Ibn Battuta Mall, MTE Studios. Some of the inventions believed to have come from the medieval Islamic world include the programmable automaton,Teun Koetsier (2001), "On the prehistory of programmable machines: musical automata, looms, calculators", Mechanism and Machine theory 36: 590-591 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.Paul Vallely, How Islamic Inventors Changed the World, The Independent, 11 March 2006.
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.S. Pines (September 1964). "The Semantic Distinction between the Terms Astronomy and Astrology according to al-Biruni", Isis 55 (3), p. 343-349. 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.(Saliba 1994, pp. 60 & 67-69)
Nasir al-Din Tusi was a polymath who resolved significant problems in the Ptolemaic system with the Tusi-couple, which played an important role in Copernican heliocentrism.
In 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.Dr. A. Zahoor (1997), Abu Raihan Muhammad al-Biruni, Hasanuddin University. 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,M. Gill (2005). Was Muslim Astronomy the Harbinger of Copernicanism?Richard Covington (May-June 2007). "Rediscovering Arabic science", Saudi Aramco World, p. 2-16. and that Copernicus\' arguments for the Earth\'s rotation were similar to those of al-Tusi and Ali al-Qushji. Some have referred to the achievements of the Maragha school as a "Maragha Revolution", "Maragha School Revolution", or "Scientific Revolution before the Renaissance".
Other contributions from Muslim astronomers include Biruni speculating that the Milky Way galaxy is a collection of numerous nebulous stars, the development of a planetary model without any epicycles by Ibn Bajjah (Avempace),Bernard R. Goldstein (March 1972). "Theory and Observation in Medieval Astronomy", Isis 63 (1), p. 39-47 [40-41]. the optical writings of Ibn al-Haytham having laid the foundations for the later European development of telescopic astronomy,O. S. Marshall (1950). "Alhazen and the Telescope", Astronomical Society of the Pacific Leaflets 6, pp. 4-11. the development of universal astrolabes,Krebs, Robert E. (2004). Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Greenwood Press, 196. ISBN 0-3133-2433-6. 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,George Saliba (1994). "Early Arabic Critique of Ptolemaic Cosmology: A Ninth-Century Text on the Motion of the Celestial Spheres", Journal for the History of Astronomy 25, p. 115-141 [116]. the first elaborate experiments related to astronomical phenomena and the first semantic distinction between astronomy and astrology by Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,S. Pines (September 1964). "The Semantic Distinction between the Terms Astronomy and Astrology according to al-Biruni", Isis 55 (3), p. 343-349. the use of exacting empirical observations and experimental techniques,Toby Huff, The Rise of Early Modern Science, p. 326. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521529948. the discovery that the celestial spheres are not solid and that the heavens are less dense than the air by Ibn al-Haytham,Edward Rosen (1985), "The Dissolution of the Solid Celestial Spheres", Journal of the History of Ideas 46 (1), p. 13-31 [19-20, 21]. the separation of natural philosophy from astronomy by Ibn al-HaythamRoshdi Rashed (2007). "The Celestial Kinematics of Ibn al-Haytham", Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 17, p. 7-55. Cambridge University Press. and al-Qushji, the rejection of the Ptolemaic model on empirical rather than philosophical grounds by Ibn al-Shatir, and the first empirical observational evidence of the Earth\'s rotation by al-Tusi and al-Qushji.F. Jamil Ragep (2001), "Tusi and Copernicus: The Earth\'s Motion in Context", Science in Context 14 (1-2), p. 145–163. Cambridge University Press. Several Muslim astronomers also discussed the possibility of a heliocentric model with elliptical orbits,Seyyed Hossein Nasr (1964), An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines, (Cambridge: Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press), p. 135-136 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.A. Baker and L. Chapter (2002), "Part 4: The Sciences". In M. M. Sharif, "A History of Muslim Philosophy", Philosophia Islamica.
Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) was a polymath who is considered a pioneer of chemistry and perfumery.
The 9th century chemist, Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan), is considered a pioneer of chemistry,Derewenda, Zygmunt S. (2007), "On wine, chirality and crystallography", Acta Crystallographica Section A: Foundations of Crystallography 64: 246-258 [247]John Warren (2005). "War and the Cultural Heritage of Iraq: a sadly mismanaged affair", Third World Quarterly, Volume 26, Issue 4 & 5, p. 815-830. for introducing an early experimental method for chemistry, as well as the alembic, still, retort, pure distillation, liquefaction, crystallisation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation, and filtration.
Al-Kindi was the first to refute the study of traditional alchemy and the theory of the transmutation of metals,Felix Klein-Frank (2001), "Al-Kindi", in Oliver Leaman & Hossein Nasr, History of Islamic Philosophy, p. 174. London: Routledge. followed by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,Michael E. Marmura (1965). "An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines. Conceptions of Nature and Methods Used for Its Study by the Ikhwan Al-Safa\'an, Al-Biruni, and Ibn Sina by Seyyed Hossein Nasr", Speculum 40 (4), p. 744-746. Avicenna,Robert Briffault (1938). The Making of Humanity, p. 196-197. 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. In the 13th century, Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī stated an early version of the law of conservation of mass, noting that a body of matter is able to change, but is not able to disappear.Farid Alakbarov (Summer 2001). A 13th-Century Darwin? Tusi\'s Views on Evolution, Azerbaijan International 9 (2).
Will Durant wrote in The Story of Civilization IV: The Age of Faith:
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George Sarton wrote in the Introduction to the History of Science:
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Muslim scientists made a number of contributions to the Earth sciences. Alkindus was the first to introduce experimentation into the Earth sciences.Plinio Prioreschi, "Al-Kindi, A Precursor Of The Scientific Revolution", Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine, 2002 (2): 17-19. Biruni is considered a pioneer of geodesy for his important contributions to the field,H. Mowlana (2001). "Information in the Arab World", Cooperation South Journal 1. along with his significant contributions to geography and geology.
Among his writings on geology, Biruni wrote the following on the geology of India:
"But if you see the soil of India with your own eyes and meditate on its nature, if you consider the rounded stones found in earth however deeply you dig, stones that are huge near the mountains and where the rivers have a violent current: stones that are of smaller size at a greater distance from the mountains and where the streams flow more slowly: stones that appear pulverised in the shape of sand where the streams begin to stagnate near their mouths and near the sea - if you consider all this you can scarcely help thinking that India was once a sea, which by degrees has been filled up by the alluvium of the streams."A. Salam (1984), "Islam and Science". In C. H. Lai (1987), Ideals and Realities: Selected Essays of Abdus Salam, 2nd ed., World Scientific, Singapore, p. 179-213.
John J. O\'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson write in the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive:
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Fielding H. Garrison wrote in the History of Medicine:
"The Saracens themselves were the originators not only of algebra, chemistry, and geology, but of many of the so-called improvements or refinements of civilization..."
George Sarton wrote in the Introduction to the History of Science:
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In geology, Avicenna hypothesized on two causes of mountains in The Book of Healing. In cartography, the Piri Reis map drawn by the Ottoman cartographer Piri Reis in 1513, was one of the earliest world maps to include the Americas, and perhaps the first to include Antarctica. His map of the world was considered the most accurate in the 16th century.
The earliest known treatises dealing with environmentalism and environmental science, especially pollution, were Arabic treatises written by al-Kindi, al-Razi, Ibn Al-Jazzar, al-Tamimi, al-Masihi, Avicenna, Ali ibn Ridwan, Abd-el-latif, and Ibn al-Nafis. Their works covered a number of subjects related to pollution such as air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination, municipal solid waste mishandling, and environmental impact assessments of certain localities.L. Gari (2002), "Arabic Treatises on Environmental Pollution up to the End of the Thirteenth Century", Environment and History 8 (4), pp. 475-488. Cordoba, al-Andalus also had the first waste containers and waste disposal facilities for litter collection.S. P. Scott (1904), History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, 3 vols, J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and London.
F. B. Artz (1980), The Mind of the Middle Ages, Third edition revised, University of Chicago Press, pp 148-50.
(cf. References, 1001 Inventions)
Al-Khwarizmi, a pioneer of algebra and algorithms.
John J. O\'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson wrote in the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive:
"Recent research paints a new picture of the debt that we owe to Islamic mathematics. Certainly many of the ideas which were previously thought to have been brilliant new conceptions due to European mathematicians of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are now known to have been developed by Arabic/Islamic mathematicians around four centuries earlier."John J. O\'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson (1999). Arabic mathematics: forgotten brilliance? MacTutor History
