you people apparently dont do research a lot of things that are
traditonally acredited to greece in the west were discovered by the
islamic world. for example trigonometry was a mere theory in greece
they were not abgle to actualy put it in practice while islamic
scholars were able to long before than western ones. furthermore,
algebra is a invention of the islamic world, as is the introduction of
arabic numerals that had been adopted from india. before these
were introduced in the west, people were calculating with letters which
made any large calculations virtually imposiblee.
http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/Introl1.html
Western
writers have often used the word Arabs or Muhammadans for Muslims and
Arabic civilization for Islamic Civilization. In other instances, the
words Saracen(ic) and Moor(ish) are also used for Muslims (Arabs and
non-Arabs) from various parts of Europe, Africa, Arabia and Asia.
According to a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) anyone whose
primary language is Arabic is an Arab despite his ethnic origin, place
of birth, or national origin. Arabic was the medium of communication
throughout the Muslim world until a couple of centuries ago, regardless
of the type of activity whether religious, social or scientific. During
800-1500 C.E. essentially all scientific works were written in Arabic.
It is only after colonization of Muslim lands that this practice became
less prevalent and in many instances was eliminated.
George Sarton's Tribute to Muslim Scientists in the "Introduction to the History of Science," I
"It will suffice here to evoke a few glorious names without contemporary equivalents in the West:
Jabir ibn Haiyan, al-Kindi, al-Khwarizmi, al-Fargani, al-Razi, Thabit
ibn Qurra, al-Battani, Hunain ibn Ishaq, al-Farabi, Ibrahim ibn Sinan,
al-Masudi, al-Tabari, Abul Wafa, 'Ali ibn Abbas, Abul Qasim, Ibn
al-Jazzar, al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Ibn Yunus, al-Kashi, Ibn al-Haitham,
'Ali Ibn 'Isa
al-Ghazali, al-zarqab, Omar Khayyam. A magnificent array of names which
it would not be difficult to extend. If
anyone tells you that the Middle Ages were scientifically sterile, just
quote these men to him, all of whom flourished within a short period,
750 to 1100 A.D."
John William Draper in the "Intellectual Development of Europe"
"I have to deplore the systematic
manner in which the literature of Europe has continued to put out of
sight our obligations to the Muhammadans. Surely they cannot be much
longer hidden. Injustice founded on religious rancour and national
conceit cannot be perpetuated forever. The Arab has left his
intellectual impress on Europe. He has indelibly written it on the
heavens as any one may see who reads the names of the stars on a common
celestial globe."
Robert Briffault in the "Making of Humanity"
"It was under the influence of the arabs and Moorish revival of culture and not in the 15th century, that a real renaissance took place.
Spain, not Italy, was the cradle of the rebirth of Europe. After
steadily sinking lower and lower into barbarism, it had reached the
darkest depths of ignorance and degradation when cities of the
Saracenic world, Baghdad, Cairo, Cordova, and Toledo, were growing
centers of civilization and intellectual activity. It was there that
the new life arose which was to grow into new phase of human evolution.
From the time when the influence of their culture made itself felt,
began the stirring of new life.
"It was under their successors at Oxford School (that is, successors to the Muslims of Spain) that Roger Bacon
learned Arabic and Arabic Sciences. Neither Roger Bacon nor later
namesake has any title to be credited with having introduced the
experimental method. Roger Bacon was no more than one of apostles of Muslim Science and Method to Christian Europe;
and he never wearied of declaring that knowledge of Arabic and Arabic
Sciences was for his contemporaries the only way to true knowledge.
Discussion as to who was the originator of the experimental
method....are part of the colossal misinterpretation of the origins of
European civilization. The experimental method of Arabs was by Bacon's time widespread and eagerly cultivated throughout Europe.
"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, which it had given birth to,
rise in his might. It was not science only which brought Europe back to
life. Other and manifold influence from the civilization of Islam communicated its first glow to European Life.
"For Although there is not a single aspect of European growth in which the decisive influence of Islamic Culture is not traceable,
nowhere is it so clear and momentous as in the genesis of that power
which constitutes the permanent distinctive force of the modern world,
and the supreme source of its victory, natural science and the
scientific spirit.
"The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary theories, science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence.
The Astronomy and Mathematics of the Greeks were a foreign importation
never thoroughly acclimatized in Greek culture. The Greeks
systematized, generalized and theorized, but the patient ways of
investigation, the accumulation of positive knowledge, the minute
method of science, detailed and prolonged observation and experimental inquiry were altogether alien to the Greek temperament.
Only in Hellenistic Alexandria was any approach to scientific work
conducted in the ancient classical world. What we call science arose in
Europe as a result of new
spirit of enquiry, of new methods of experiment, observation,
measurement, of the development of mathematics, in a form unknown to
the Greeks. That spirit and those methods were introduced into the
European world by the Arabs.
"It is highly probable that but for the Arabs, modern European civilization would never have arisen at all;
it is absolutely certain that but for them, it would not have assumed
that character which has enabled it to transcend all previous phases of
evolution."
Arnold and Guillaume in "Lagacy of Islam" on Islamic science and medicine
"Looking back we may say that Islamic medicine and science
reflected the light of the Hellenic sun, when its day had fled, and
that they shone like a moon, illuminating the darkest night of the
European middle Ages; that some bright stars lent their own light, and
that moon and stars alike faded at the dawn of a new day - the
Renaissance. Since they had their share in the direction and
introduction of that great movement, it may reasonably be claimed that
they are with us yet."
George Sarton in the "Introduction to the History of Science"
"During the reign of Caliph Al-Mamun
(813-33 A.D.), the new learning reached its climax. The monarch created
in Baghdad a regular school for translation. It was equipped with a
library, one of the translators there was Hunayn Ibn Ishaq (809-77) a
particularly gifted philosopher and physician of wide erudition, the
dominating figure of this century of translators. We know from his own
recently published Memoir that he translated practically the whole
immense corpus of Galenic writings."
"Besides the translation of Greek works and their extracts, the
translators made manuals of which one form, that of the 'pandects,' is
typical of the period of Arabic learning. These are recapitulations of
the whole medicine, discussing the affections of the body,
systematically
beginning at the head and working down to the feet."
"The Muslim ideal was, it goes without saying, not
visual beauty but God in His plentitude; that is God with all his
manifestations, the stars and the heavens, the earth and all nature.
The Muslim ideal is thus infinite. But in dealing with the infinite as
conceived by the Muslims, we cannot limit ourselves to the space alone,
but must equally consider time.
"The first mathematical step from the Greek conception of a static universe to the Islamic one of a dynamic universe
was made by Al-Khwarizmi (780-850), the founder of modern Algebra. He
enhanced the purely arithmetical character of numbers as finite
magnitudes by demonstrating their possibilities as elements of infinite
manipulations and investigations of properties and relations.
"In Greek mathematics, the numbers could expand only by the laborious process of addition and multiplication. Khwarizmi's algebraic symbols
for numbers contain within themselves the potentialities of the
infinite. So we might say that the advance from arithmetic to algebra
implies a step from being to 'becoming' from the Greek universe to the
living universe of Islam. The importance of Khwarizmi's algebra was
recognized, in the twelfth century, by the West, - when Girard of
Cremona translated
his theses into Latin. Until the sixteenth century this version was
used in European universities as the principal mathematical text book.
But Khwarizmi's influence reached far beyond the universities. We find
it reflected in the mathematical works of Leonardo Fibinacci of Pissa,
Master Jacob of Florence, and even of Leonardo da Vinci."
"Through their medical investigations they not merely
widened the horizons of medicine, but enlarged humanistic concepts
generally. And once again they brought this about because of their
over riding spiritual convictions. Thus it can hardly have been
accidental that those researches should have led them that were
inevitably beyond the reach of Greek masters. If it is regarded as
symbolic that the most spectacular achievement of the mid-twentieth
century is atomic fission and
the nuclear bomb, likewise it would not seem fortuitous that the early
Muslim's medical endeavor should have led to a discovery that was quite
as revolutionary though possibly more beneficent."
"A philosophy of self-centredness, under whatever disguise,
would be both incomprehensible and reprehensible to the Muslim mind.
That mind was incapable of viewing man, whether in health or sickness
as isolated from God, from fellow men, and from the world around him.
It was probably inevitable that the Muslims should have discovered that
disease need not be born within the patient himself but may reach from
outside, in other words, that they should have been the first to
establish clearly the existence of contagion."
"One of the most famous exponents of Muslim universalism and an eminent figure in Islamic learning was Ibn Sina,
known in the West as Avicenna (981-1037). For a thousand years he has
retained his original renown as one of the greatest thinkers and
medical scholars in history. His most important medical works are the
Qanun (Canon) and a treatise on Cardiac drugs. The 'Qanun fi-l-Tibb' is
an immense encyclopedia of medicine. It contains some of the most
illuminating thoughts pertaining to distinction of mediastinitis from
pleurisy; contagious nature of phthisis; distribution of diseases by
water and soil; careful description of skin troubles; of sexual
diseases and perversions; of nervous ailments."
"We have reason to believe that when, during the crusades,
Europe at last began to establish hospitals, they were inspired by the
Arabs of near East....The first hospital in Paris, Les Quinze-vingt, was founded by Louis IX after his return from the crusade 1254-1260."
"We find in his (Jabir, Geber)
writings remarkably sound views on methods of chemical research, a
theory on the geologic formation of metals (the six metals differ
essentially because of different proportions of sulphur and mercury in
them); preparation of various substances (e.g., basic lead carbonatic,
arsenic and antimony from their sulphides)."
Ibn Haytham's
writings reveal his fine development of the experimental faculty. His
tables of corresponding angles of incidence and refraction of light
passing from one medium to another show how closely he had approached
discovering the law of constancy of ratio of sines, later
attributed to snell. He accounted correctly for twilight as due to
atmospheric refraction, estimating the sun's depression to be 19
degrees below the horizon, at the commencement of the phenomenon in the
mornings or at its termination in the evenings."
"A great deal of geographical as well as historical and scientific knowledge
is contained in the thirty volume meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems by
one of the leading Muslim Historians, the tenth century al Mas'udi. A
more strictly geographical work is the dictionary 'Mujam al-Buldan' by
al-Hamami (1179-1229). This is a veritable encyclopedia that, in going
far beyond the confines of geography, incorporates also a great deal of
scientific lore."
"They studied, collected and described plants that might
have some utilitarian purpose, whether in agriculture or in medicine.
These excellent tendencies, without equivalent in Christendom, were
continued during the first half of the thirteenth century by an
admirable group of four botanists. One of these Ibn al-Baitar
compiled the most elaborate Arabic work on the subject (Botany), in
fact the most important for the whole period extending from Dioscorides
down to the sixteenth century. It was a true encyclopedia on the
subject, incorporating the whole Greek and Arabic experience."
"'Abd al-Malik ibn Quraib al-Asmai (739-831) was a pious Arab who wrote some valuable books on human anatomy.
Al-Jawaliqi who flourished in the first half of the twelfth century and
'Abd al-Mumin who flourished in the second half of the thirteenth
century in Egypt, wrote treatises on horses. The greatest zoologist
amongst the Arabs was al-Damiri (1405) of Egypt whose book on animal
life, 'Hayat al-Hayawan' has been translated into English by A.S.G.
Jayakar (London 1906, 1908)."
"The weight of venerable authority, for example that of Ptolemy, seldom intimidated them. They were always eager to put a theory to tests, and they never tired of experimentation.
Though motivated and permeated by the spirit of their religion, they
would not allow dogma as interpreted by the orthodox to stand in the
way of their scientific research."
References:
1. George Sarton, "Introduction to
the History of Science, Vol. I-IV," Carnegie Institute of Washington,
Baltimore, 1927-31; Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1950-53.
2. Robert Briffault, "The Making of Humanity," London, 1938.
3. T. Arnold and A. Guillaume, "The Legacy of Islam," Oxford University Press, 1931.
4. E. Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of Roman Empire," London, 1900.
---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/Introl3.html
By the tenth century, the intellectual superiority of the Arabs
(Muslims) was recognized in Europe. The first Christian to take up the
torch of learning was Pope Sylvester II (Gerbert, d. 1003 AD).
He introduced the Arab astronomy and mathematics, and Arabic numerals
in place of the clumsy Roman ones. He was followed by many, especially
Constantinus Africanus in the eleventh century, and Bishop Raymond
(Raimundo) in the twelfth century. As early as eleventh century Toledo
became a center for the transmission of Arabic (Islamic) culture and
science to Europe. A number of translators flourished there. Among the
scholars, who flocked to it from all over Europe, were Gerard of
Cremona (1117- 1187) and John of Seville. Other famous translators were
Adelard of Bath, Robert of Chester, Michael Scot, Stephenson of
Saragossa, William of Lunis and Philip of Tripoli. The early
translations were primarily into Latin and some into Hebrew. Subsequent
translations were done from Latin or Hebrew into vernacular languages
of Europe.
Many translators at Toledo had neither command over the Arabic language nor sufficient knowledge of the subject matter. They translated word for word and, where they failed to understand, Latinized the Arabic words. Under the supervision of Archdeacon Domenico Gundisalvi, and with the cooperation of the Hebrew Johannes ben David, the school of the Archbishop of Toledo rendered into Latin a large number of Arabic works on science and philosophy.
Gerard, who reminded Hunayn ibn Ishaq of Toledo,
translated into Latin more than seventy Arabic books on different
subjects. He was born in 1114 in Cremona, Italy. He went to Toledo,
Spain to learn Arabic so he could translate available Arabic works into
Latin. Gerard remained there for the rest of his life and died in 1187
in Toledo, Spain (Andalusia).
Gerard's name is sometimes written as Gherard. Among his translations
were the surgical part of Al-Tasrif of Al-zahravi (Albucasis), the
Kitab al-Mansuri of AL-Razi (Rhazes) and the Qanun of Ibn Sina
(Avicenna), Banu Musa's works, Al-Biruni's commentry on Al-Khawarizmi
(after whom concept "Algorithm" is named), the tables of Jabir b. Aflah
and Zarqali. John of Seville under the patronage of Raymond translated
several works of Avicenna, Qusta Ibn Luqa and Al-Faraghni.
More in the E-Book
The E-book article contains references to Gundisalvi, Michael
Scotus, Robert of Chester, Hermanus Allemanus (Teutonicus), Adelard of
Bath, King Henry II, Sicily and Spain, two baptized Sultans of
Sicily, Roger II and Frederick II, Hohenstaufen, Mirabilis,
Constantine, Toledo, Narbonne, Naples, Balogna and Paris.
References:
1. George Sarton, "Introduction to the History of Science, Vol. I-III," Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1927-31, also 1950.
2. Robert Briffault, "The Making of Humanity," London, 1938.
3. Thomas Arnold, "The Legacy of Islam," Oxford University Press, 1960.
4. T. Arnold and A. Guillaume, "The Legacy of Islam," Oxford University Press, 1931.
5. E.G. Brown, "Arabian Medicine," Cambridge, 1921.
6. D. Campbell, "Arabian Medicine and its influence on the Middle Ages," London, 1926.
7. P.K. Hitti, "History of Arabs," London, MacMillan, 1956.
8. De Lacy O'Leary, "Arabic Thought in History."
---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/ghazi1.html
While the "occidental-oriental" dichotomy of recent centuries
identifies the World of Islam as separate and `Eastern,' that world, is
inextricably linked with the West. In general, however, "Westerners -
Europeans - have great difficulty in considering the possibility that
they are in some way seriously indebted to the Arab [Islamic] world, or
that the Arabs [Muslims] were central to the making of medieval Europe"
(Maria Menocal, The Arabic Role in Medieval Literary History; 1987;
p.xiii). Two notable contemporary exceptions are: Carl Sagan,
the Nobel laureate astronomer (Princeton University) and John Esposito,
Director, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown
University. Both have candidly talked of West's
Judeo-Christian-and-Islamic heritage. Esposito talked of this heritage
recently, and added, "Nobody ever told me that," and that he "was
always taught the linkages between Judaism and Chistianity..." (CNN,
12/15/95).
This thesis may be corroborated by merely presenting a
few quotations from eminent past and present scholars (interested
readers may wish to consult the references for greater detail):
1. "No historical student of the culture of
Western Europe can ever reconstruct for himself the intellectual values
of the later Middle Ages unless he possesses a vivid awareness of Islam
looming in the background." (Pierce Butler, "Fifteenth Century of Arabic Authors in Latin Translation, in the McDonald Presentation Volume; Freeport, N.Y., 1933; p.63)
2. "The Arab has left his intellectual impress on
Europe, as, before long, Christendom will have to confess; he has
indelibly written it on the heavens, as anyone may see who reads the
names of the stars on a common celestial globe." (John W. Draper, History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Harper & Row; Vol.2, 1876 & 1904; p.42)
3. "Because Europe was reacting against Islam it
belittled the influence of Saracens [Muslims] and exaggerated its
dependence on its Greek and Roman heritage. So today an important task
for us is to correct this false emphasis and to acknowledge fully our
debt to the Arab and Islamic world" (W. Montgomery Watt, Islamic Surveys: The Influence of Islam on Medieval Europe; Edinburgh, England; 1972; p.84).
4. "One of the hallmarks of civilized man is
knowledge of the past - [including]the past of others with whom one's
own culture has had repeated and fruitful contact; or the past of any
group that has contributed to the ascent of man. The Arabs fit
profoundly into both of the latter two categories. But in the West the
Arabs are not well known. Victims of ignorance as well as
misinformation, they and their culture have often been stigmatized from
afar" (John Hayes, The Genius of Arab Civilization: Source of Renaissance; MIT Press, 1983; p. 2)
5. "Too often science in Arabia has been seen as
nothing more than a holding operation. The area has been viewed as a
giant storehouse for previously discovered scientific results, keeping
them until they could be passed on for use in the West. But this is, of
course, a travesty of the truth. Certainly the Arabs did inherit Greek
science - and some Indian and Chinese science too, for that matter -
and later passed it on to the West. But this is far from being all they
did" (Colin Ronan, Science: Its History and Development Among World's Cultures; New York; 1982; p.203).
6. An eminent mid-20th century scholar, George
Sarton (Harvard Univ.),
traces the "roots" of Western intellectual development to the Arab
tradition, which was "the outstanding stream, and remained until 14th
century one of the largest streams of medieval thought." Further, "The
Arabs were standing on the shoulders of their Greek forerunners, just
as
the Americans are standing on the shoulders of their European ones.
There is nothing wrong in that." Then Sarton criticizes those who "will
glibly say `The Arabs simply translated Greek writings, they were
industrious imitators...' This is not absolutely untrue, but is such a
small part of the truth, that when it is allowed to stand alone, it is
worse than a lie" (George Sarton, A Guide to the History of Science; Mass.; 1952; pp.27-28).
WHO WERE SOME OF THE MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN SCHOLARS INFLUENCED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY BY THE WRITINGS OF ISLAMIC SCHOLARS?
The list is almost endless, but here are a few prominent names:
Adelard of Bath, Peter Abelard, Robert Grossetteste,
Alexander of Hales,
Albertus Magnus, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventura, Duns Scotus,
Roger
Bacon, Marsilius of Padua, Richard of Middleton, Nicholas Oresme,
Joannes Buridanus, Siger of Brabant, John Peckham, Henry of Gant,
Williams of Occham, Walter Burley, William of Auvergne, Dante Algheri,
Blaise Pascal, and numerous others.
The well-known early 12th century Englishman, Adelard of
Bath, often proudly acknowledged his debt to the Arabs - "trained (as
he says) by Arab scientists....I was taught by my Arab masters to be
led only by reason, whereas you were taught to follow the halter of the
captured image of ancient authority [i.e., authority of the Church]" (Tina Stiefel, The Intellectual Revolution in Twelfth Century Europe; St. Martin's Press, N.Y., 1989; pp.71, 80).
---------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/sciencehistory.htm
The concept that the sciences are exclusively the products of
Western minds remains unquestioned by most individuals. A review of any
of the standard texts or encyclopedias regarding the history of science
would support this view. As these books are perused, it becomes evident
that the only contributors given significant mention are Europeans
and/or Americans. It is hardly necessary to repeat the oft-mentioned
names: Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, Bacon, Newton, Da Vinci, Benjamin
Franklin, etc. The unavoidable conclusion is that major contributions
to the development of the modern sciences by other cultures is minimal.
Most texts give little or no mention of the advancements made by
ancient Indian, Chinese or, particularly, Muslim scholars.
Western civilization has made invaluable contributions to the
development of the sciences. However, so have numerous other cultures.
Unfortunately, Westerners have long been credited with discoveries made
many centuries before by Islamic scholars. Thus, many of the basic
sciences were invented by non-Europeans. For instance, George Sarton
states that modern Western medicine did not originate from Europe and
that it actually arose from the (Islamic) orient.
The data in this section concerning dates, names and topics of
Western advances has been derived from three main sources: World Book
Encyclopedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica and Isaac Asimov's 700 page
book, Chronology of Science and Discovery. Supportive data for the
accomplishments of Islamic scholars is derived from the miscellaneous
references listed in the bibliography of this book.
What is Taught: The first mention of man in flight was by Roger Bacon, who drew a flying apparatus. Leonardo da Vinci also conceived of airborne transport and drew several prototypes.
What Should be Taught: Ibn
Firnas of Islamic Spain invented, constructed and tested a flying
machine in the 800's A.D. Roger Bacon learned of flying machines from
Arabic references to Ibn Firnas' machine. The latter's invention
antedates Bacon by 500 years and Da Vinci by some 700 years.
What is Taught: Glass mirrors were first produced in 1291 in Venice.
What Should be Taught: Glass
mirrors were in use in Islamic Spain as early as the 11th century. The
Venetians learned of the art of fine glass production from Syrian
artisans during the 9th and 10th centuries.
What is Taught: Until the 14th century, the only type of clock
available was the water clock. In 1335, a large mechanical clock was
erected in Milan, Italy. This was possibly the first weight-driven
clock.
What Should be Taught: A
variety of mechanical clocks were produced by Spanish Muslim engineers,
both large and small, and this knowledge was transmitted to Europe
through Latin translations of Islamic books on mechanics. These clocks
were weight-driven. Designs and illustrations of epi-cyclic and
segmental gears were provided. One such clock included a mercury
escapement. The latter type was directly copied by Europeans during the
15th century. In addition, during the 9th century, Ibn Firnas
of Islamic Spain, according to Will Durant, invented a watch-like
device which kept accurate time. The Muslims also constructed a variety
of highly accurate astronomical clocks for use in their observatories.
What is Taught: In the 17th century, the pendulum
was developed by Galileo during his teenage years. He noticed a
chandelier swaying as it was being blown by the wind. As a result, he
went home and invented the pendulum.
What Should be Taught: The pendulum was discovered by Ibn Yunus al-Masri
during the 10th century, who was the first to study and document its
oscillatory motion. Its value for use in clocks was introduced by
Muslim physicists during the 15th century.
What is Taught: Movable type and the printing press was invented in the West by Johannes Gutenberg of Germany during the 15th century.
What Should be Taught: In
1454, Gutenberg developed the most sophisticated printing press of the
Middle Ages. However, movable brass type was in use in Islamic Spain
100 years prior, and that is where the West's first printing devices
were made.
What is Taught: Isaac Newton's 17th century study of lenses, light and prisms forms the foundation of the modern science of optics.
What Should be Taught: In the 1lth century al-Haytham
determined virtually everything that Newton advanced regarding optics
centuries prior and is regarded by numerous authorities as the "founder
of optics. " There is little doubt that Newton was influenced by him.
Al-Haytham was the most quoted physicist of the Middle Ages. His works
were utilized and quoted by a greater number of European scholars
during the 16th and 17th centuries than those of Newton and Galileo
combined.
What is Taught: Isaac Newton, during the 17th century, discovered that white light consists of various rays of colored light.
What Should be Taught: This discovery was made in its entirety by al-Haytham (1lth century) and Kamal ad-Din (14th century). Newton did make original discoveries, but this was not one of
them.
What is Taught: The concept of the finite nature of matter
was first introduced by Antione Lavoisier during the 18th century. He
discovered that, although matter may change its form or shape, its mass
always remains the same. Thus, for instance, if water is heated to
steam, if salt is dissolved in water or if a piece of wood is burned to
ashes, the total mass remains unchanged.
What Should be Taught: The
principles of this discovery were elaborated centuries before by
Islamic Persia's great scholar, al-Biruni (d. 1050). Lavoisier was a
disciple of the Muslim chemists and physicists and referred to their
books frequently.
What is Taught: The Greeks were the developers of trigonometry.
What Should be Taught:
Trigonometry remained largely a theoretical science among the Greeks.
It was developed to a level of modern perfection by Muslim scholars,
although the weight of the credit must be given to al-Battani. The
words describing the basic functions of this science, sine, cosine and
tangent, are all derived from Arabic terms. Thus, original
contributions by the Greeks in trigonometry were minimal.
What is Taught: The use of decimal fractions
in mathematics was first developed by a Dutchman, Simon Stevin, in
1589. He helped advance the mathematical sciences by replacing the
cumbersome fractions, for instance, 1/2, with decimal fractions, for
example, 0.5.
What Should be Taught: Muslim mathematicians were the first to utilize decimals instead of fractions on a large scale. Al-Kashi's book, Key to Arithmetic,
was written at the beginning of the 15th century and was the stimulus
for the systematic application of decimals to whole numbers and
fractions thereof. It is highly probably that Stevin imported the idea
to Europe from al-Kashi's work.
What is Taught: The first man to utilize algebraic symbols
was the French mathematician, Francois Vieta. In 1591, he wrote an
algebra book describing equations with letters such as the now familiar
x and y's. Asimov says that this discovery had an impact similar to the
progression from Roman numerals to Arabic numbers.
What Should be Taught:
Muslim mathematicians, the inventors of algebra, introduced the concept
of using letters for unknown variables in equations as early as the 9th
century A.D. Through this system, they solved a variety of complex
equations, including quadratic and cubic equations. They used symbols
to develop and perfect the binomial theorem.
What is Taught: The difficult cubic equations (x to the third power) remained unsolved until the 16th century when Niccolo Tartaglia, an Italian mathematician, solved them.
What Should be Taught: Cubic
equations as well as numerous equations of even higher degrees were
solved with ease by Muslim mathematicians as early as the 10th century.
What is Taught: The concept that numbers could be less than zero, that is negative numbers, was unknown until 1545 when Geronimo Cardano introduced the idea.
What Should he Taught:
Muslim mathematicians introduced negative numbers for use in a variety
of arithmetic functions at least 400 years prior to Cardano.
What is Taught: In 1614, John Napier invented logarithms and logarithmic tables.
What Should be Taught:
Muslim mathematicians invented logarithms and produced logarithmic
tables several centuries prior. Such tables were common in the Islamic
world as early as the 13th century.
What is Taught: During the 17th century Rene Descartes made the discovery that algebra could be used to solve geometrical problems. By this, he greatly advanced the science of geometry.
What Should be Taught:
Mathematicians of the Islamic Empire accomplished precisely this as
early as the 9th century A.D. Thabit bin Qurrah was the first to do so,
and he was followed by Abu'l Wafa, whose 10th century book utilized
algebra to advance geometry into an exact and simplified science.
What is Taught: Isaac Newton, during the 17th century, developed the binomial theorem, which is a crucial component for the study of algebra.
What Should be Taught:
Hundreds of Muslim mathematicians utilized and perfected the binomial
theorem. They initiated its use for the systematic solution of
algebraic problems during the 10th century (or prior).
What is Taught: No
improvement had been made in the astronomy of the ancients during the
Middle Ages regarding the motion of planets until the 13th century.
Then Alphonso the Wise of Castile (Middle Spain) invented the Aphonsine Tables, which were more accurate than Ptolemy's.
What Should be Taught: Muslim astronomers made numerous improvements upon Ptolemy's findings as early as the 9th
century. They were the first astronomers to dispute his archaic ideas.
In their critic of the Greeks, they synthesized proof that the sun is
the center of the solar system and that the orbits of the earth and
other planets might be elliptical. They produced hundreds of highly
accurate astronomical tables and star charts. Many of their
calculations are so precise that they are regarded as contemporary. The
AlphonsineTables are little more than copies of works on astronomy
transmitted to Europe via Islamic Spain, i.e. the Toledo Tables.
What is Taught: The English scholar Roger Bacon (d. 1292) first mentioned glass lenses for improving vision. At nearly the same time, eyeglasses could be found in use both in China and Europe.
What Should be Taught: Ibn
Firnas of Islamic Spain invented eyeglasses during the 9th century, and
they were manufactured and sold throughout Spain for over two
centuries. Any mention of eyeglasses by Roger Bacon was simply a
regurgitation of the work of al-Haytham (d. 1039), whose research Bacon
frequently referred to.
What is Taught: Gunpowder
was developed in the Western world as a result of Roger Bacon's work in
1242. The first usage of gunpowder in weapons was when the Chinese
fired it from bamboo shoots in attempt to frighten Mongol conquerors.
They produced it by adding sulfur and charcoal to saltpeter.
What Should be Taught: The
Chinese developed saltpeter for use in fireworks and knew of no
tactical military use for gunpowder, nor did they invent its formula.
Research by Reinuad and Fave have clearly shown that gunpowder was
formulated initially by Muslim chemists. Further, these historians
claim that the Muslims developed the first fire-arms. Notably, Muslim
armies used grenades and other weapons in their defence of Algericus
against the Franks during the 14th century. Jean Mathes indicates that the Muslim rulers had stock-piles of grenades, rifles, crude cannons, incendiary devices, sulfur bombs and pistols decades before such devices were used in Europe. The first mention of a cannon
was in an Arabic text around 1300 A.D. Roger Bacon learned of the
formula for gunpowder from Latin translations of Arabic books. He
brought forth nothing original in this regard.
What is Taught: The compass
was invented by the Chinese who may have been the first to use it for
navigational purposes sometime between 1000 and 1100 A.D. The earliest
reference to its use in navigation was by the Englishman, Alexander
Neckam (1157-1217).
What Should be Taught:
Muslim geographers and navigators learned of the magnetic needle,
possibly from the Chinese, and were the first to use magnetic needles
in navigation. They invented the compass and passed the knowledge of
its use in navigation to the West. European navigators relied on Muslim
pilots and their instruments when exploring unknown territories. Gustav
Le Bon claims that the magnetic needle and compass were entirely
invented by the Muslims and that the Chinese had little to do with it.
Neckam, as well as the Chinese, probably learned of it from Muslim
traders. It is noteworthy that the Chinese improved their navigational
expertise after they began interacting with the Muslims during the 8th
century.
What is Taught: The first man to classify the races was the German Johann F. Blumenbach, who divided mankind into white, yellow, brown, black and red peoples.
What Should be Taught:
Muslim scholars of the 9th through 14th centuries invented the science
of ethnography. A number of Muslim geographers classified the races,
writing detailed explanations of their unique cultural habits and
physical appearances. They wrote thousands of pages on this subject.
Blumenbach's works were insignificant in comparison.
What is Taught: The science of geography
was revived during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries when the ancient
works of Ptolemy were discovered. The Crusades and the
Portuguese/Spanish expeditions also contributed to this reawakening.
The first scientifically-based treatise on geography were produced
during this period by Europe's scholars.
What Should be Taught:
Muslim geographers produced untold volumes of books on the geography of
Africa, Asia, India, China and the Indies during the 8th through 15th
centuries. These writings included the world's first geographical
encyclopedias, almanacs and road maps. Ibn Battutah's 14thth through 15th centuries far exceeded the output by
Europeans regarding the geography of these regions well into the 18th century. The Crusades led to the destruction of educational institutions, their scholars and books. They brought nothing
substantive regarding geography to the Western world.
century masterpieces provide a detailed view of the geography of the ancient world. The Muslim geographers of the 10
What is Taught: Robert Boyle, in the 17th century, originated the science of chemistry.
What Should be Taught: A
variety of Muslim chemists, including ar-Razi, al-Jabr, al-Biruni and
al-Kindi, performed scientific experiments in chemistry some 700 years
prior to Boyle. Durant writes that the Muslims introduced the
experimental method to this science. Humboldt regards the Muslims as
the founders of chemistry.
What is Taught: Leonardo da Vinci (16th century) fathered the science of geology when he noted that fossils found on mountains indicated a watery origin of the earth.
What Should be Taught:
Al-Biruni (1lth century) made precisely this observation and added much
to it, including a huge book on geology, hundreds of years before Da
Vinci was born. Ibn Sina noted this as well (see pages 100-101). it is
probable that Da Vinci first learned of this concept from Latin
translations of Islamic books. He added nothing original to their
findings.
What is Taught: The first mention of the geological formation of valleys was in 1756, when Nicolas Desmarest proposed that they were formed over a long periods of time by streams.
What Should be Taught: Ibn Sina and al-Biruni made precisely this discovery during the 11th century (see pages 102 and 103), fully 700 years prior to Desmarest.
What is Taught: Galileo (17th century) was the world's first great experimenter.
What Should be Taught: Al-Biruni (d. 1050) was the world's first great experimenter. He wrote over 200 books, many of which discuss his precise experiments. His
literary output in the sciences amounts to some 13,000 pages, far
exceeding that written by Galileo or, for that matter, Galileo and
Newton combined.
What is Taught: The Italian Giovanni Morgagni is regarded as the father of pathology because he was the first to correctly describe the nature of disease.
What Should be Taught:
Islam's surgeons were the first pathologists. They fully realized the
nature of disease and described a variety of diseases to modern detail.
Ibn Zuhr correctly described the nature of pleurisy, tuberculosis and
pericarditis. Az-Zahrawi accurately documented the pathology of
hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and other congenital diseases. Ibn
al-Quff and Ibn an-Nafs gave perfect descriptions of the diseases of
circulation. Other Muslim surgeons gave the first accurate descriptions
of certain malignancies, including cancer of the stomach, bowel and
esophagus. These surgeons were the originators of pathology, not
Giovanni Morgagni.
What is Taught: Paul Ehrlich (19th century) is the originator of drug chemotherapy, that is the use of specific drugs to kill microbes.
What Should be Taught:
Muslim physicians used a variety of specific substances to destroy
microbes. They applied sulfur topically specifically to kill the
scabies mite. Ar-Razi (10th century) used mercurial compounds as topical antiseptics.
What is Taught: Purified alcohol, made through distillation, was first produced by Arnau de Villanova, a Spanish alchemist, in 1300 A.D.
What Should be Taught: Numerous Muslim chemists produced medicinal-grade alcohol through distillation as early as the 10th
century and manufactured on a large scale the first distillation
devices for use in chemistry. They used alcohol as a solvent and
antiseptic.
What is Taught: The first surgery performed under inhalation anesthesia was conducted by C.W. Long, an American, in 1845.
What Should be Taught: Six
hundred years prior to Long, Islamic Spain's Az-Zahrawi and Ibn Zuhr,
among other Muslim surgeons, performed hundreds of surgeries under
inhalation anesthesia with the use of narcotic-soaked sponges which
were placed over the face.
What is Taught: During the 16th century Paracelsus invented the use of opium extracts for anesthesia.
What Should be Taught:
Muslim physicians introduced the anesthetic value of opium derivatives
during the Middle Ages. Opium was originally used as an anesthetic
agent by the Greeks. Paracelus was a student of Ibn Sina's works from
which it is almost assured that he derived this idea.
What is Taught: Modern anesthesia was invented in the 19th century by Humphrey Davy and Horace Wells.
What Should be Taught:
Modern anesthesia was discovered, mastered and perfected by Muslim
anesthetists 900 years before the advent of Davy and Wells. They
utilized oral as well as inhalant anesthetics.
What is Taught: The concept of quarantine
was first developed in 1403. In Venice, a law was passed preventing
strangers from entering the city until a certain waiting period had
passed. If, by then, no sign of illness could be found, they were
allowed in.
What Should be Taught: The
concept of quarantine was first introduced in the 7th century A.D. by
the prophet Muhammad, who wisely warned against entering or leaving a
region suffering from plague. As early as the 10th century, Muslim
physicians innovated the use of isolation wards for individuals
suffering with communicable diseases.
What is Taught: The scientific use of antiseptics in surgery was discovered by the British surgeon Joseph Lister in 1865.
What Should be Taught: As
early as the 10th century, Muslim physicians and surgeons were applying
purified alcohol to wounds as an antiseptic agent. Surgeons in Islamic
Spain utilized special methods for maintaining antisepsis prior to and
during surgery. They also originated specific protocols for maintaining
hygiene during the post-operative period. Their success rate was so
high that dignitaries throughout Europe came to Cordova, Spain, to be
treated at what was comparably the "Mayo Clinic" of the Middle Ages.
What is Taught: In 1545, the scientific use of surgery
was advanced by the French surgeon Ambroise Pare. Prior to him,
surgeons attempted to stop bleeding through the gruesome procedure of
searing the wound with boiling oil. Pare stopped the use of boiling
oils and began ligating arteries. He is considered the "father of
rational surgery." Pare was also one of the first Europeans to condemn
such grotesque "surgical" procedures as trepanning (see reference #6,
pg. 110).
What Should be Taught: Islamic Spain's illustrious surgeon, az-Zahrawi
(d. 1013), began ligating arteries with fine sutures over 500 years
prior to Pare. He perfected the use of Catgut, that is suture made from
animal intestines. Additionally, he instituted the use of cotton plus
wax to plug bleeding wounds. The full details of his works were made
available to Europeans through Latin translations.
Despite this, barbers and herdsmen continued be the primary
individuals practicing the "art" of surgery for nearly six centuries
after az-Zahrawi's death. Pare himself was a barber, albeit more
skilled and conscientious than the average ones.
Included in az-Zahrawi's legacy are dozens of books. His most
famous work is a 30 volume treatise on medicine and surgery. His books
contain sections on preventive medicine, nutrition, cosmetics, drug
therapy, surgical technique, anesthesia, pre and post-operative care as
well as drawings of some 200 surgical devices, many of which he
invented. The refined and scholarly az-Zahrawi must be regarded as the
father and founder of rational surgery, not the uneducated Pare.
What is Taught: William Harvey, during the early 17th
century, discovered that blood circulates. He was the first to
correctly describe the function of the heart, arteries and veins.
Rome's Galen had presented erroneous ideas regarding the circulatory system,
and Harvey was the first to determine that blood is pumped throughout
the body via the action of the heart and the venous valves. Therefore,
he is regarded as the founder of human physiology.
What Should be Taught: In the 10th century, Islam's ar-Razi wrote an in-depth treatise on the venous system, accurately describing the function of the veins and their valves. Ibn an-Nafs and Ibn al-Quff
(13th century) provided full documentation that the blood circulates
and correctly described the physiology of the heart and the function of
its valves 300 years before Harvey. William Harvey was a graduate of
Italy's famous Padua University at a time when the majority of its
curriculum was based upon Ibn Sina's and ar-Razi's textbooks.
What is Taught: The first pharmacopeia
(book of medicines) was published by a German scholar in 1542.
According to World Book Encyclopedia, the science of pharmacology was
begun in the 1900's as an off-shoot of chemistry due to the analysis of
crude plant materials. Chemists, after isolating the active ingredients
from plants, realized their medicinal value.
What Should be Taught:
According to the eminent scholar of Arab history, Phillip Hitti, the
Muslims, not the Greeks or Europeans, wrote the first "modern"
pharmacopeia. The science of pharmacology was originated by Muslim
physicians during the 9th century. They developed it into a highly
refined and exact science. Muslim chemists, pharmacists and physicians
produced thousands of drugs and/or crude herbal extracts one thousand
years prior to the supposed birth of pharmacology. During the 14th
century Ibn Baytar wrote a monumental pharmacopeia listing some
1400 different drugs. Hundreds of other pharmacopeias were published
during the Islamic Era. It is likely that the German work is an
offshoot of that by Ibn Baytar, which was widely circulated in Europe.
What is Taught: The discovery of the scientific use of drugs
in the treatment of specific diseases was made by Paracelsus, the
Swiss-born physician, during the 16th century. He is also credited with
being the first to use practical experience as a determining factor in
the treatment of patients rather than relying exclusively on the works
of the ancients.
What Should be Taught: Ar-Razi,
Ibn Sina, al-Kindi, Ibn Rushd, az-Zahrawi, Ibn Zuhr, Ibn Baytar, Ibn
al-Jazzar, Ibn Juljul, Ibn al-Quff, Ibn an-Nafs, al-Biruni, Ibn Sahl
and hundreds of other Muslim physicians mastered the science of
drug therapy for the treatment of specific symptoms and diseases. In
fact, this concept was entirely their invention. The word "drug" is derived from Arabic. Their use of practical experience and careful observation was extensive.
Muslim physicians were the first to criticize ancient medical
theories and practices. Ar-Razi devoted an entire book as a critique of
Galen's anatomy. The works of Paracelsus are insignificant compared to
the vast volumes of medical writings and original findings accomplished
by the medical giants of Islam.
What is Taught: The first sound approach to the treatment of disease was made by a German, Johann Weger, in the 1500's.
What Should be Taught:
Harvard's George Sarton says that modern medicine is entirely an
Islamic development and that Setting the Record Straight the Muslim
physicians of the 9th through 12th centuries were precise, scientific,
rational and sound in their approach. Johann Weger was among thousands
of Europeans physicians during the 15th through 17th centuries who were
taught the medicine of ar-Razi and Ibn Sina. He contributed nothing
original.
What is Taught: Medical treatment for the insane was modernized by Philippe Pinel when in 1793 he operated France's first insane asylum.
What Should be Taught: As
early as the 1lth century, Islamic hospitals maintained special wards
for the insane. They treated them kindly and presumed their disease was
real at a time when the insane were routinely burned alive in Europe as
witches and sorcerers. A curative approach was taken for mental illness
and, for the first time in history, the mentally ill were treated with
supportive care, drugs and psychotherapy. Every major Islamic city
maintained an insane asylum where patients were treated at no charge.
In fact, the Islamic system for the treatment of the insane excels in
comparison to the current model, as it was more humane and was highly
effective as well.
What is Taught: Kerosine was first produced by the an Englishman, Abraham Gesner, in 1853. He distilled it from asphalt.
What Should be Taught:
Muslim chemists produced kerosine as a distillate from petroleum
products over 1,000 years prior to Gesner (see Encyclopaedia Britannica
under the heading, Petroleum).