Muslim Inventions : How they changed the world

[God is love]

I notice what Muslims have contributed.

This thread originated with Muslim/Arab inventions and I want to bring this thread around to the originator's intention which is to bring to light those inventions. Therefore I am adding to the list with these:

1. Abul Hasan invented the telescope

2. Ibn Yunus who lived during the time of the "Fatimid Monarchs" of Egypt invented the pendulem which led to the measure of time by it's oscillations.

3. the first watch was made by Kutbi

4. Invention of the Mariner's compass
In the article found at this website "Islam contributions to science and math"
It reads and I quote "essentially a contribution of the Muslims to the world of science."
It didn't say Arabs, it said Muslims.
The article also says "The compass was probably invented for the purpose of finding out the Qibla for prayers." I don't know what "Qibla" is but would be interested in knowing, perhapps some of you know. However it was thought to be designed for a religious reason therefore as regarding the compass, the practice of the religeon was the cause of the invention.

5. the windmill was invented by a Muslim {that is how it is written}

6. invented spherical trigonometry, discovered the tangent

7. Ibn Firnas was credited with making glass with stones.

In defense of a belief in God, as being advantageous, in our know how of science or our progress in making inventions, I want to add this comment, but not lead away from this thread.

Religeon, faith in the true God, enlightens. As we have faith our ability to receive inspiration from God increases.There was an age of enlightenment that occurred at the same time as there was more interest In God and recommitment to God.

The very fact there were Inventors that were religious in their belief in God, {practice what they believe}, proves that those who had faith in God were able to invent and that would involve having to think to evaluate evidence. This is also proof that their faith in God did not retard the progress of their invention which eventually progressed society.

Inventions build on each other. Inventors have used past theories and added their own. Rocket scientists may apply some of the mathematical theorums designed by Muslims/Arabs to design better rockets. {an example}

God wants us to understand the world, the earth and the creations He has placed on it. He created them so what better source of information about the world. Rhetorical question. God would want us to use the materials He has provided on earth to make our own creations to improve each other's lives and society {civilization} as a whole.

I believe the principle of loving thy neighbor" motivated people to care about others' problems. For example the Arab/Muslim who invented the cataract remover most likely didn't have cataracts himself. If he did, he probably wouldn't be able to see to invent. {Helen Keller notable exception} What motivated him? Perhapps to help some unfortunate in the future who had cataracts. He obviously had sympathy for those who would suffer. What a nice guy. He wasn't thinking of himself. He must have been thinking of others. A religeon that embrace that golden rule of loving others may have motivated him and God rewarded him for his desire to help others with the inspiration for the creation.

A religeon that promotes love motivates people to want to improve others lives and that improves society for future generations.

Scientists have to have faith in their theories and then they test them to see what results.

Columbus believed the earth was round before he sailed on it to have evidence of it. Columbus had to have faith in his theory {faith in himself} before he would have evidence. He sailed on an earth he BELIEVED to be round. He wouldn't KNOW he was correct until after sailing a considerable distance and not falling off the globe.

Strange as it may seem those who don't believe in God are BELIEVING in the nonexistence of God which is really believing in the theory that "if I don't see it, it doesn't exist" They perhapps don't realise that in believing that theory they are exercising a type of faith, that is, a faith in that theory. I call it faith because they don't know there isn't a God, they just believe that He doesn't exist.
Nobody will have a complete knowledge of God until the wrap up scene when He reveals Himself. Then as "Judgement Day" says, "all that are in the book" or all that are on earth and those who have passed on "will KNOW" God.

Some choose not to test God to see if He exists which is possible through prayer. God wants to be known and appreciated. He certainly would respond to an honest seeker. He would give them some kind of sign.

I was surprised that your religeon's part in inventions would be in need of defense, having been posted in the "Islam" Forum {designed for Muslims to share their faith}, especially when the subject is inventions. However that being said, at least Michael and myself, both Christians, felt a desire to do defend your post. I believe that is how Jesus would want us to represent "LOVE THY NEIGHBOR"

Biblically we are all family through Abraham or Adam and when one of our brothers or sisters is in need of defense, we should defend. I believe it to be a moral obligation.

Again, to bring this around to the Muslim/Arab contributions, I am grateful to their contributions that have improved society. They should be given recognition.

 

[Cordoba]

Excellent post, GiL, I totally agree with what you said.

Thank you both.

 

[Cordoba]

To continue with the city of Cordoba:

Cordoba: European Jewel of the Middle Ages

Cordoba used to be the jewel of Europe, which dazzled visitors from the North.
Scholars and booksellers used to flock there, and made it the intellectual centre of the West by the 10th century A.D.

It was according to Trend ‘the most civilised city in Europe, the wonder and admiration of the world, a Vienna among Balkan states.’

Its streets were paved and well lit. One could travel for ten miles by the light of street lamps, and along an uninterrupted series of buildings

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=355

 

[Cordoba]

Physicist - Al khazini (12th. century)

Al khazini was a key character of Merv's scientific community. He specialised in developing extremely precise scientific measurements and this helped him explore various concepts in physics. ...

His accomplishments in astronomy can be summed up with his description of his construction of a 24 h water clock designed for astronomical purposes and for his treatise Al-Zij al-Mutabar al-Sinjari, (The esteemed Sinjaric tables), giving the positions of the stars for the year 1115/16, at the latitude of Merv.

Al-Khazini is, however, better known for his book, Kitab Mizan al-Hikma (the book of the Balance of Wisdom, was completed in 1121, and has remained one central piece of Muslim physics. The treatise of Kitab Mizane al-Hikma was written in 1121-1122 for Sultan Sanjar's treasury by Al-Khazini, and has survived in four manuscripts, of which three are independent. It studies the hydrostatic balance, its construction and uses and the theories of statics and hydrostatics that lie behind it and other topics. It was partly translated and edited by the Russian envoy Khanikoff in the mid nineteenth century.

Without too much elaboration, it is important to mention that the first of its eight chapters deals with his predecessors' theories of centres of gravity, including al-Biruni, Al-Razi and Omar al-Khayam. Al-Khazini most particularly draws attention to the Greeks' failure to differentiate clearly between force, mass and weight, and shows awareness of the weight of the air, and of its decrease in density with altitude.

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=493

 

[Cordoba]

The Impact of Islamic Science and Learning on England: Adelard of Bath and Daniel of Morley

Adelard of Bath and Daniel of Morley are the two most influential English scientists, not just because they were amongst the very first, but also because they brought in some fundamental elements into English, and Western, intellectual life.

Most certainly the first English scientist ever was Adelard of Bath. He could be said to have championed Islamic learning more than any other early scientist, being the most `Arabist' of all scientists.

He was born in Bath, studied at Tours (France) and taught at Laon (France). After leaving Laon he spent seven years in study and travel, and can be traced in Cicilia and Syria. He might have visited Spain and Sicily before 1116 and probably before 1109 and was in Palestine by 1115. By 1126 he was back in the West, busy making the astronomy and geometry of the Muslims available to the Western Christian world.

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=22&TaxonomySubTypeID=112&TaxonomyThirdLevelID=-1&ArticleID=444

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Gardens of Islam[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Early Muslims were pioneers in establishing botanical gardens and plant collections. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Below is a quotation from A. Watson, Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World; Cambridge Uni. Press 1983; pp. 117-8:[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]"The inhabitants of the early Islamic world were, to a degree that is difficult for us to comprehend, enchanted by greenery. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]This love of plants is clearly shown in a genre of poetry, the rawdiya or garden poem, probably of Persian origin, which came to be one of the main poetic forms in the Abbasid orient from the eighth to the tenth century.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]In the garden poem, the author exclaimed at the coolness of the shade, the heaviness of the perfume, the music of the running water, the lushness of the foliage and so forth - in short at all the features of the artificially contrived environment which contrasted so strongly with the arid natural world. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]By the ninth century the genre had arrived in Spain where it was to reach its greatest heights in the eleven century; gardens became… probably the most common of all Arabigo-Andalus poetic themes.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]These were not mere words; they corresponded to a reality. Early Muslims everywhere made earthly gardens that gave glimpses of the heavenly garden to come. Long indeed would be the list of early Islamic cities which could boast huge expanses of gardens.[/FONT]

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=105&TaxonomySubTypeID=8&TaxonomyThirdLevelID=-1&ArticleID=309

 

[gnostic]

Sorry. The word algebra may have been a word coined in the Islamic world/history, but the basic theory of algebra had existed long before Muhammad's time and that of your founder Mohammed Al-Khawarizmi.

Universal Algebra was first used by the Greeks during post-Pythagoras' school, which involved rational numbers and geometry. It was Pythagoras and his school that lay the foundation of algebra.

Although, "Universal Algebra is modern name, algebra was expanded and progressed from this point, century by century. Eudoxus of Cnidus (4th century BC) made the next step. The steps or progresses were done in small increments, and many were involved in making algebra as it is today, over centuries of development.

I don't deny the importance of Muslim's involvement and great contribution in the history of mathematics, but their mathematics was also based upon ancient works of the Greeks and that of Hindu mathematicians. The Muslims had translated a lot of works from Greek and Hindu mathematicians, so you really can't justify that all these works were solely from Muslim mathematicians. I just think it is misleading to say that Muslims invented algebra, when it existed in several forms before Muslim mathematicians became involved in it.

Modern algebra which are all familiar with in school was derived largely from elementary algebra, by Évariste Galois.

 

[Nehustan]

I just posted this in another thread....was told to stay on topic....noticed it fits in nicely here so will post. (mods sorry for double post...same content)

I think you will find that the number symbols we use today originate in what today is called India, Al-Hind at the time the symbols came to Arabia, then through them to the West. The Arabs are well aware of this fact as they call the numbers 'Indian', they are slightly different to the numbers we have, but you can still see they source from the same origin...

'The term "Arabic numerals" is used here to refer to a numerical system employing numerals of a style still current throughout the Arabic and Persian-speaking worlds. These numerals were ultimately derived from an early Indian system and came to form the basis of the numerals used today in Europe and throughout most of the Western world. The shape of many of the numerals differs from what in Europe are usually called "Arabic numerals". The numerals are used in a place-notational system, so that the numbers 1 through 21 and 99-105 have the following appearance in true Arabic numerals:

Prior to this, as with the Jews, numbers were represented by the letters of the alphabet, and it was almost certainly this feature that lead to Algebra. The Oral tradition (beit Hebrew or Sufi) and thus 'science' of 'Gematria' or the 'Abjad' system certainly may be considered a form of prtotypical Algebra and certainly explains its origins....​

Abjad letter-numerals are the letters of the Arabic alphabet given numerical values. They could thus be used in various combinations to represent any number from 1 to 1999. It is not a place-notational system, for their value does not depend upon their position relative to one another. Thus the number 652 would be represented by the letters kha', [= 600], nun [= 50], and ba' [= 2], no matter in what order the letters were arranged. The name abjad comes from the first four letters in the sequence to which values 1, 2, 3, and 4 were assigned, that is, letters, alif, ba', jim, and dal. The symbol for zero was derived from Greek astronomical and mathematical manuscripts where a symbol was often used as an abbreviation for the Greek word ouden, meaning "nothing". The letter-numerals for numbers 1 through 50 were the same throughout the Islamic lands, but there were differences between the Western areas and the Eastern when it came to assigning letters to the remaining values.

The most hotly contested symbol throughout the ages has been the cyper...the zero....and by extension the concept of infinity.

 

[mehrosh]

This awareness started the scientific rise of Islamic civilization, and it then embarked upon a scientific journey like none ever seen before that time. Its powerhouse was Baghdad, capital of the Abbasid Empire and the Islamic world. Scientists, thinkers, researchers, and other scholars from all over the Islamic world came together in Baghdad's famous Dar al-Hikmah ("House of Wisdom") to research and investigate the secrets of God's universe.
This awareness that Muslim scientists acquired by adhering to the Qur'an's morality enabled history's most rapid leap in scientific progress until that time. Open-mindedness, a wisdom Muslims are taught by the Qur'an, enabled them to analyze and then develop further the scientific achievements of other civilizations without prejudice. Muslim scientific records were full of observations, experiments, calculations, and research on various subjects. In the schools of science, women were entitled to the same education as men and made their own scientific contributions.
Muslim mathematicians developed the decimal number system and invented algebra and trigonometry. Muslim scientists were very keen on astronomical observations, and thus discovered and established the principles of modern astronomy. Muslim scholars calculated the moon's orbit around Earth and recorded the formulas. The spectacular works of architecture throughout the Islamic world were made possible only by the scientific infrastructure put in place by the Muslims.



While Muslims treated their patients in extremely clean and well-kept hospitals, patients in Europe were abandoned to death. Muslim scholars in the field of medicine had a high level of knowledge. Their works became basic reference books throughout Europe.



Drawings of Muslim scholars showing human anatomy and the digestion and circulation system

1. Apparatus designed by al-Haskafi to measure changing water levels.
2. The drawings used by Muslim scientists to calculate solar and lunar eclipses.
3. Ibn Sina's notebook in the National Musuem of Damascus.
4. The apparatus designed by Muslim scientists to measure blood pressure.
5. Al- Mutadibih's work on the eye's anatomy. Some of the Muslims' greatest achievements were in the field of medicine. Back then, ignorant Europeans considered illnesses to be a curse of evil spirits and so did not even have the concept of treating or actually curing the afflicted people. Muslim scientists, however, reached the research-based conclusion that illnesses were caused by tiny creatures invisible to the naked eye and that patients needed to be isolated from healthy people during their treatment. The world's first modern hospitals were conceived in this way. Muslim hospitals had different wards for different illnesses, and Muslim doctors had scientifically developed methods of treatment. Muslims treated mental illnesses with music and therapy, while Europeans believed that the mentally ill were Satan's slaves and so burned them at the stake. Muslim reference works on the human anatomy were so accurate that they were used for 600 years in Europe's faculties of medicine.
A documentary about the world of Islam, prepared for the BBC by the commentator Terry Jones, says the following on the high scientific standards of Islam:

One philosopher from the town of Harran for example had already correctly calculated the distance from the earth to the moon. Well another had suggested that if you could divide the atom, you'd release enough power to destroy city the size of Baghdad. In this medical school built here in Damascus in 1154, doctors were already teaching anatomy, inventive medicine, hygiene surgery, the circulation of the blood, centuries before Harvey.
​

Centuries before their European counterparts, Muslim physicians knew about blood circulation and took their patients' pulses during their examinations. Childbirth took place under the most hygienic conditions possible at the time. Surgical instruments, as depicted in medical books of the era, are evidence of advanced medical knowledge.
Muslim scientists made important discoveries in optics and the nature of light. The first person to reveal the eye's structure in detail was Ibn al-Haytham, whose extraordinary research on lenses cleared the way for the camera's invention. Muslim physicians discovered the reasons behind sight impairments and performed successful cataract surgery 1,000 years before any European physician.
The great scientific heritage of the Islamic world made the European Renaissance possible. Christian scientists established European schools of science with the knowledge and methods acquired from Muslims. The light of Islam also illuminated them

 

[gnostic]

How come when some people mentioned anything bad that happened when Muslims are involved, Muslims point the finger at culture or politics, and has nothing to do with Islam, but good things like scientific discoveries are fully credited to the religion Islam, and not to the teachers, philosophers or scientists?

It seemed whenever problems arise in the West, Muslims always blame it on Christianity, and not to individual or politics. This seemed double standard.

Take the Danish cartoons for instance. Muslims immediately blamed the Danish government for the publication of those cartoons, when the government was not in any way involved. They blamed Christianity. They immediately destroy anything (buildings) that might represents the West or of Christian properties.

 

[mehrosh]

How come when some people mentioned anything bad that happened when Muslims are involved, Muslims point the finger at culture or politics, and has nothing to do with Islam, but good things like scientific discoveries are fully credited to the religion Islam, and not to the teachers, philosophers or scientists?

This because the Muslims believe that they can only be succesful when they hold fast to the Quran and Sunnah, which they did back then, when they were the leaders of the world.

Now, they don't, as it was prophisied by Muhammed

Thauban reported that the messenger of Allah said: "It is near that the nations will call one another against you just as the eaters call one another to their dishes." Somebody asked: "Is this because we will be few in numbers that day?" He said: "Nay, but that day you shall be numerous, but you will be like the foam of the sea, and Allah will take the fear of you away from your enemies and will place weakness into your hearts." Somebody asked: "What is this weakness?" He said: "The love of the world and the dislike of death." (Abu Dawud)


If you want to discuss more on it, there is a thread for that purpose in General Debates.


Thanks and regards

 

[gnostic]

Sorry, I forgot such questions should be in debate forum, instead of here.

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Al-Azhar University - 1000 Years of Scholarship[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Al-Azhar is today the most important religious university in the Muslim world with as many as 90,000 students studying there at any one time. It is arguably the oldest university in the world. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]When Jawhar the Sicilian, commander of the troops sent by the Fatimid Caliph Almuiz to conquer Egypt, founded Cairo in 358 AH / 969 AD he built Al-Azhar originally as a mosque. The mosque was completed within two years and opened for it's first prayers on 7th Ramadan 361 A.H/ June 22, 972 AD. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Historians differ as to how the mosque got its name. Some hold that it is called as such because it was surrounded by flourishing mansions at the time when Cairo was founded. Others believe that it was named after "Fatima Al-Zahraa" the daughter of Prophet Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him) to glorify her name. This last explanation sounds the most likely as the Fatimids named themselves after her.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Al-Azhar University is a natural expansion of the great mosque of Al-Azhar. It is the oldest and most celebrated of all Islamic academic institutions and Universities all over the world without exception. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]For over one thousand years Al-Azhar has produced thousands of eminent scholars, distinguished educationalists, preserving Islamic heritage and strengthening Islamic identity.[/FONT]

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=161

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Scholars of Seville: Artists, Architects and Government[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Seville was a key centre of Islamic Civilisation in Spain. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Here you can read about the architect of the famous Giralda tower of Seville's cathedral, which is originally the main tower of the mosque. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Also read how women scholars flourished there and how rigorous experimental approach was used to build the science of Botany.[/FONT]

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=2&TaxonomySubTypeID=-1&TaxonomyThirdLevelID=-1&ArticleID=532

 

[Booko]

The article also says "The compass was probably invented for the purpose of finding out the Qibla for prayers." I don't know what "Qibla" is but would be interested in knowing, perhapps some of you know. However it was thought to be designed for a religious reason therefore as regarding the compass, the practice of the religeon was the cause of the invention.

The "qibla" is the direction one faces for prayers.

In the case of Jews, they face Jerusalem.

Muslims originally faced Jerusalem, but Muhammad changed the direction to Mecca later on. Apparently that was quite a test for some of the early followers of Muhammad, but it eventually got sorted out.

 

[Cordoba]

1000 Years of Missing Astronomy !

http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=233

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Muslim Observatories[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The observatory as a distinct scientific institution for observation, and where astronomy and allied subjects were taught, also owes its origin to Islam. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The first to be set up was the Shammasiyah observatory, which Caliph Al-Mamun had built in Baghdad around 828. It was associated with the scientific academy of Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom) (also set up by Al-Mamun.) [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The astronomers made observations of the sun, the moon and planets, and results were presented in a book called the 'Mumtahan (Validated or Tested) Zij, see Yahya Ibn Abi Mansour above. In the same century more observations were made by the Banu Musa brothers mostly in Baghdad. Their accomplishments included the study of The Ursa Major (or the Great Bear). They also measured maximum and minimum altitudes of the sun, and observed lunar eclipses. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Ibn Sina, Al-Battani, Al-Fargani, and scores more also devoted much of their attention and focus to observation and study of the sky. In the eleventh century, the Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah (ruled 1072-1092) built a more advanced observatory, which functioned for almost 20 years. Two centuries later, approximately, was built the Maragha Observatory in Azerbaidjan. It was fitted with a large library (over 400,000 books) and also with instruments capable of greater performance (hence of large size). Maragha was managed by no less than Nasir Al-Din Al-Tusi (d. 1274) and Qutb Al-Din Al-Shirazi. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Al-Tusi was the author of the IL-Khani Tables and the catalogue of fixed stars that were to rule for several centuries throughout the world. Maragha also became an institution for research, and an academy for scientific contacts and teaching. It lasted until at least the beginning of the fourteenth century. Today, however, all that remain are the foundations.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Further advance in the construction of observatories is observed at Samarqand, in 1424, the work of Uluh Beg. It was a `monumental' building equipped with a huge meridian, made of masonry, symbol of the observatory as a long lasting institution.[/FONT]

http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=235

 

[Cordoba]

Al-Bairuni: A True Scholar
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Abul-Rayhan Al-Biruni (973-1050AD), from Haran.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]His production exceeds 146 titles in more than 20 different disciplines, ranging from astronomy to mathematics, mathematical geography, chronology, mechanics, pharmacology, mineralogy, history, literature, religion, and philosophy. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]But the bulk of his work lies in mathematics and related disciplines (96 titles). Only 22 works have survived the ravages of time; and only 13 of these have been published. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]His work Chronology (Al-Athar) combines literary and historical sources of medieval sects and nations with the astronomical lore about their calendars, feasts, and astronomical parameters used in their rituals. His (Tahdid, the demarcation of the coordinates of cities) was written so as to determine the Qibla. Biruni also determined the local meridian and the coordinates of any locality. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]His al-Qanun Al-Mas'udi is a most extensive astronomical encyclopaedia, slightly short of 1,500 pages. In it he determines the motion of the solar apogee, corrects Ptolemy's findings, and is able to state for the first time that the motion is not identical to that of precession, but comes very close to it. In this book, too, Biruni employs mathematical techniques unknown to his predecessors that involve analysis of instantaneous motion and acceleration, described in terminology that can best be understood if we assume that he had "mathematical functions" in mind.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Six hundred years before Galileo, Al-Biruni discussed the theory of the earth rotating about is own axis. Using the astrolabe and the presence of a mountain near a sea or flat plain, he calculated the earth circumference by solving a highly complex geodesic equation. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]With the aid of mathematics, he also enabled the direction of the Qibla to be determined from anywhere in the world. Max Meyerhof observed earlier this century that most of al-Biruni's mathematical works and many other writings have not been published yet.[/FONT]

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=362

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Al-Kindi: Encyclopaedic Scholar of the 'House of Wisdom'[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Al-Kindi General Hospital, one of the biggest medical centres in present day Baghdad was named after his tremendous contributions in medical and pharmaceutical. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Al-Kindi was best known as a philosopher, but he was also a physician, pharmacist, ophthalmologist, physicist, mathematician, geographer, astronomer, and chemist. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]He was also concerned with music, logogriphs, the manufacture of swords and even the art of cookery. He wrote about 270 publications. [/FONT]

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=370

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Ibn Rushd: Harmony of Theological & Philosophical (Scientific) Truth[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The most famous intellectual of Cordoba was Ibn Rushd. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The "heresies" of iconoclasts, such as Ibn Rushd, generated unprecedented intellectual turmoil which for ever transformed social thought in both medieval Islam and Latin-Christendom.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Abul Walid Mohammad Ibn Rushd (known as Averroes in Latin-West) was the ultimate rationalist, the Aristotelian heretic of the medieval Islam and Christianity. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]His singular influence in stimulating the Western Renaissance is acknowledged "as the landmark in the history of Western civilization" (Gilson, 1938, 30). [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Along with Ibn Sina, he is "the greatest name in Arabian [Islamic] philosophy .... whose influence spread, in many directions, through the duration of the middle ages, then in the epoch of the Renaissance up to the very threshold of modern times" (Gilson, 1955, 217). [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Indeed, "he was the greatest Muslim philosophers of the West, and one of the greatest of medieval times" (Sarton, II-1, 356). Roger Bacon ranked Ibn Rushd next to Aristotle and Ibn Sina (Durant, 338).[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Ibn Rushd came from a family of Cordoban scholars; his father was a local qadi, as was his grandfather (also the imam of the Cordoba mosque). Trained as a lawyer and a physician, his role as Caliph's advisor initiated him into philosophy. He wrote extensive commentaries on Aristotle, and others. He also wrote a 7-volume medical encyclopedia, Kitab al-Kulliyat fil-Tibb (hence the Latin name Colliget, a corruption of the word "kulliyat," meaning "generalities"), used at European universities until the eighteenth century. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Though his scholarship in medicine has been eclipsed by his fame as a philosopher, he was "one of the greatest physicians of the time" (Sarton, II-1, 305).[/FONT]

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