• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Muslim Inventions : How they changed the world

Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]An overview of Muslim Astronomers[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Al-Battani discovered the notions of trigonometrical ratios used today. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Al-Biruni claimed the earth rotated around its own axis. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Jabir Ibn Aflah made the first portable celestial sphere to measure and explain the movements of celestial objects.[/FONT]

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=232
 
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
Al-Razi: The Medical Scholar (865-925)

The majority of the works by Al-Razi have been translated into Latin and printed many times, principally in Venice in 1509 and in Paris in 1528 and 1548; his treatise on small verole, for instance, was reprinted in 1745.

Courses in medical schools and universities of Europe have always relied on his works; along with those of Ibn Sina, they were the foundation of teaching in Louvain up to the seventeenth century as seen by the 1617 settlement hence the need for some works to be re-printed until the 18th century.

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=11&TaxonomySubTypeID=44&TaxonomyThirdLevelID=-1&ArticleID=511
 
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,Serif]Ibn Al-Haitham the Muslim physicist[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,Serif]Abu Ali Al-Hasan Ibn Al-Hasan (or al-Husain) Ibn Al-Haitham. Born c. 965 in Basra (Iraq), he flourished in Egypt under Al-Hakim (996 to 1020) and died in Cairo in 1039 or soon after. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,Serif]He was arguably the greatest Muslim physicist and one of the greatest students of optics of all time. He was also an astronomer, a mathematician, a physician, and he wrote commentaries on Aristotle and Galen. He wrote about 70 manuscripts and he had propounded the famous Snell's law about 600 years before Snell.[/FONT]

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=18&TaxonomySubTypeID=76&TaxonomyThirdLevelID=196&ArticleID=163
 
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
Introduction of Wind Power (from the 7th. Century)

During the reign of Caliph Ummar (634-44) began the use of wind as a source of power in Islam. A Persian came to the Caliph and said he could build a mill operated by wind, so the Caliph ordered him to have one built.

Wind-power became widely used in Islam to run mill stones for grinding corn, and also to draw up water for irrigation. Descriptions and drawings of Islamic windmills exist in a large abundance.

A millstone is attached to the end of a wooden cylinder, half a metre wide, and 3.5 to 4 metres high, standing vertically in a tower open on the north east side to catch the wind blowing from this direction. The cylinder has sails made of bundles of ush or palm leaves (which reminds of the modern European windmill), attached to the shaft of the axle. The wind, blowing into the tower, exerts strong pressure on the sails, so turning the shaft and millstone.'

The windmills were erected on substructures built for the purpose, or on the tower of castles or on hilltops. Early windmills for grinding corn were, indeed, two storey buildings; in the upper storey were placed the millstones, and in the lower one, a wheel driven by the sails-six or twelve in number and covered with fabric-which turned the upper millstone. The walls of the lower chamber were pierced by four vents with the narrower end towards the interior, like the loopholes of a fortress so as to direct the wind on to the sails, and increase its speed.

In Europe, the oldest text in relation to windmills is a French act of 1105 granting a religious community the right to establish one of these apparatuses, called molendinam ad ventum (moulin a vent in French: windmill in English).

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=103&TaxonomySubTypeID=26&TaxonomyThirdLevelID=-1&ArticleID=328
 
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
Al-Jazari: Mechanical Engineering Genius (12th. Century)

"It is impossible to over emphasise the importance of Al-Jazari's work in the history of engineering, it provides a wealth of instructions for design, manufacture and assembly of machines."

50 mechanical devices, including Water Clocks & Pumps.

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=188

In 1976, The Science Museum in London paid tribute to Al-Jazari by reconstructing a working model of his famous Water Clock.
 
Matt88

Matt88

Member
i respect the muslims for the fact that they were able to create one of the most boring facets of mathematics, al gebra. Hats off to them.
 
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
One of the motivations for Muslim mathematicians to develop algebra is actually related to the rules on inheritance.

An estate is divided among heirs according to The Qur'an in fractions (i.e. 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, 2/3, ...)

It seems that once they started they kept on going into more complex issues like alghorithms, ... etc.
 
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
Pharmacology in the Making

Advances in Muslim chemistry led to the development of Muslim pharmacology, Al-Razi, for instance, acting to promote the medical uses of chemical compounds.

Sabur Ibn Sahl (d 869), it was, however, who was the first physician to initiate pharmacopoeia, describing a large variety of drugs and remedies for ailments.

Al-Biruni (d 1051) wrote one of the most valuable Islamic works on pharmacology entitled Kitab al-Saydalah (The Book of Drugs), where he gave detailed knowledge of the properties of drugs and outlined the role of pharmacy and the functions and duties of the pharmacist.

Ibn Sina, too, described no less than 700 preparations, their properties, mode of action and their indications. He devoted in fact a whole volume to simple drugs in his Canon.

Of great impact were also the works by Massawayh al-Maridini of Baghdad and Cairo, and Ibn al-Wafid of Spain, both of which were printed in Latin more than fifty times, appearing as De Medicinis universalibus et particularibus by `Mesue' the younger, and the Medicamentis simplicibus by `Abenguefit
'
http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=226
 
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
Gardens, Nature and Conservation in Islam:

For the Muslim, nature is a blessed gift of God's bounty, granted to man to use and to enjoy, to transform in any way with the aim of achieving ethical value. Nature is not man's to possess or to destroy, or to use in any way detrimental to himself and to humanity, or to itself as God's creation.

Since nature is God's work, his ayah, or sign, and the instrument of His purpose which is the absolute good, nature enjoys in the Muslim's eye a tremendous dignity. The Muslim treats nature with respect and deep gratitude to its beneficial Creator and Bestower. Any transformation of it must have a purpose clearly beneficial to all before it can be declared legitimate.

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=105&TaxonomySubTypeID=8&TaxonomyThirdLevelID=-1&ArticleID=313
 
EiNsTeiN

EiNsTeiN

Boo-h!
well, brother Cordoba...I dont know what to tell u, but thank u very much for these articles..

I knew little about muslim inventions, thanx again :)
 
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
You're welcome.

This is a lecture related to this topic today (27 April) at the Library of Congress:

Library of Congress Lecture:

"Islamic Science and the Making of Renaissance Europe" - April 27

George Saliba, senior distinguished visiting scholar in the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, will discuss “Islamic Science and The Making of Renaissance Europe” at the Library at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 27, in Room 119 of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C.

The event, sponsored by the Kluge Center, is free and open to the public; no reservations are required.

Saliba’s illustrated talk will explore the scientific ideas that passed from the Islamic world to the European Renaissance during the 15th and 16th centuries. He will show the connection between mathematical innovations produced in the Islamic world and mathematical astronomy during the Renaissance. Saliba will rely on evidence that was culled from copies of original Arabic scientific manuscripts and their Latin counterparts.

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington named Saliba to a 10-month post as a Kluge scholar last July. Saliba is professor of Arabic and Islamic science in the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University. He received a master’s degree in Semitic languages and a doctorate in Islamic sciences from the University of California at Berkeley. Saliba has been a professor at Columbia since 1979.

Saliba has received numerous awards, fellowships and honors, including the History of Science Prize given by the Third World Academy of Science in 1993, and the History of Astronomy Prize in 1996 from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science. Among his publications are “Rethinking the Roots of Modern Science: The Role of Arabic Manuscripts in European Libraries” (1999) and “The Origins and Development of Arabic Scientific Thought” (1998).

http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2006/06-074.html
 
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
The Begining of the Islamic Hospitals

Both Caliphs Harun al-Rashid and Al-Mansur had hospitals built in Baghdad.' In Cairo, the first hospital was established at al-Fustat by Ibn Tulun, governor of the city in 872.

By the 12th century, the hospital had become a very advanced institution, witness al-Nuri hospital, built in 1156 by Nur al-Din Zangi, a hospital where patients were well fed, and cared for, and where there was a large library for teaching. In Cairo, in 1285, Sultan Qalaun al-Mansur built the largest of all hospitals, described by Durant:

`Within a spacious quadrangular enclosure four buildings rose around a courtyard adorned with arcades and cooled with fountains and brooks. There were separate wards for diverse diseases and for convalescents; laboratories, a dispensary, out-patient clinics, diet kitchens, baths, a library, a chapel, a lecture hall, and particularly pleasant accommodations for the insane.


Treatment was given gratis to men and women, rich and poor, slave and free; and a sum of money was: disbursed to each convalescent on his departure, so that he need not at once return to work. The sleepless were provided with soft music, professional story-tellers, and perhaps books of history.’

http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=11&TaxonomySubTypeID=51&TaxonomyThirdLevelID=-1&ArticleID=327
 
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
The Legacy of Cordoba

pic07b.jpg


The Great Mosque of Cordoba stands as a symbolic testament of Muslim Cordoba (or Qurtuba in Arabic) which once contained 250,000 buildings and 3,000 mosques, palaces, and baths (Gedal). Cordoba was the birthplace of the Roman stoic Seneca, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes), and the Jewish physician and philosopher Maimonides (Abu 'Imran Musa ibn Maymun ibn 'Ubayd Allah).

Andalusia gave birth to others like Ibn Sina (Avicenna). Gerbert of Aurillac (955–1003 CE), who later became Pope Sylvester II, was sent to Catalunya to study mathematics, he benefited from close contact with Cordoba'sfountain of knowledge that contained over 400,000 books. In Europe, books were mainly kept in private collections and the Church had forbidden any investigation that was deemed to go against the Bible (Phyun5).

Cordoba's fame for its knowledge of the sciences, arts, and commerce led to communication and dialogue between the Catholic Church and Muslim Cordoba. All the works of Aristotle, Archimedes, Apollonius, Euclid, Hippocrates, and Galen survived through Arabic translation into Latin to become valuable tools that led to the reanimation of civilization in Europe through the Renaissance.

Through the medium of the Arabic language, Europe was reintroduced to part of its heritage. ...​
It shouldn't be ironicthat a seminar entitled Peace and Human Rights in Europe and the Middle East should take place in Cordoba. In Ken Coates' summary of the goals of the seminar he wrote, "All the known works of Aristotle had survived in the Arabic language, but not in Europe, so that Cordoba could be said to have provided a vital link not only between the monotheistic faiths, but also between the ancient world and the dawning of modern times."

http://www.islamonline.net/English/ArtCulture/2006/04/article07.shtml##4
 
Cordoba

Cordoba

Well-Known Member
The Influence of Islamic Philosophy and Ethics on The Development of Medicine During the Islamic Renaissance

pic01.jpg


Although Islamic philosophy is of great diversity and richness, it is characterized by certain features that are of special significance for both an understanding of it and for an appraisal of its impact on the world at large.

One must remember that this philosophy existed at a time in which strict obedience to the Islamic religion was customary.

Islamic philosophy was also concerned with the basic issue of the relation between human reasoning and the revelations provided to the Muslims in the holy Qur’an. As a result, all sorts of sciences were studied in order to determine that relation between the universe and the human being on one hand, and the creator of that universe, Allah Most High, on the other hand.

The impact of Islamic philosophy on the Renaissance was enormous.

First and foremost, Islamic philosophy originates from a time when Islam had a great influence on everyday life. The mere fact that Islamic philosophy was able to operate in such a fundamentalist environment greatly affected the Renaissance. It served as an example to the thinkers of that time on how to present new, radical ideas without angering religious fundamentalists—at that time, the Church.

Without Islam's example, the Renaissance thinkers may have presented their ideas in a much more provocative form, setting them back hundreds of years due to widespread hate, distrust, and non-acceptance of what people would perceive to be overly radical ideas.

Secondly, in general, Islamic philosophy
always leads to one main conclusion, that the power of Allah Most High is supreme and that His words are the absolute truth (although through different understandings).

Thirdly, many of the ideas of Renaissance philosophy are based on ancient Greek, Persian, and Indian texts—which the Muslims translated—as well as the philosophy of the Muslims themselves. The Muslims were responsible for creating the foundation for the “building” of philosophy that the Renaissance thinkers would later “construct.”

Finally, Islamic philosophy greatly encouraged science, particularly mathematics and medicine. Without philosophy’s constant encouraging of scientific development, the large number of discoveries made by the Muslims may never have taken place.

I will take medicine as an example and I will highlight the reasons for the excellent success of those Muslims in the field of medicine. Medical ethics is one of the hottest issues in medicine these days. Ethics can be described as a sub-branch of applied philosophy, where one seeks the right and the wrong (the good and the bad) set of behaviors in any given circumstance. I will try to shed light on the influence of Islamic medical ethics on the advancement of medicine during that Islamic golden era.

Therefore, what were the factors behind the success of the Muslim scientists? How did Islamic philosophy encourage them to be leaders in many branches of science, especially in the medical sciences?

I. Islam and the Promotion of Science

II. The Attitude and Contribution of the State

III. Islamic Physicians

IV. Medical Ethics in Islam

http://islamonline.net/english/Contemporary/2005/01/Article01.shtml#top​
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top