Astronomical instruments.
Astrolabes.
-Brass astrolabe by Muhammad al-Fazari in the 8th century.
-Earliest surviving astrolabe in 315 AH (927-928 CE).
-Mechanical geared astrolabe by Ibn Samh (c. 1020).
-Navigational astrolabe was invented in the Islamic world. It employed the use of a polar projection system.
-Orthographical astrolabe by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī in the 11th century.
-Saphaea, a universal astrolabe for all latitudes, by Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Arzachel) in 11th century Islamic Spain.
-Linear astrolabe ("staff of al-Tusi") by Sharaf al-Dīn al-Tūsī in the 12th century.
-In the 10th century, al-Sufi first described over 1000 different uses of an astrolabe, including uses in astronomy, astrology, horoscopes, navigation, surveying, timekeeping, Qibla, Salah, etc.
Analog computers.
-Equatorium by Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Arzachel) in Islamic Spain circa 1015.
-Planisphere by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī in the 11th century.
-Mechanical lunisolar calendar computer with gear train and gear-wheels by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.
-Fixed-wired knowledge processing machine by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.
-Mechanical astrolabe with calendar computer and gear-wheels by Abi Bakr of Isfahan in 1235.
-Oldest surviving complete mechanical geared machine by Abi Bakr of Isfahan in 1235.
-The Plate of Conjunctions, a computing instrument used to determine the time of day at which planetary conjunctions will occur, and for performing linear interpolation, invented by al-Kashi in the 15th century.
-A mechanical planetary computer called the Plate of Zones, which could graphically solve a number of planetary problems, invented by al-Kashi in the 15th century. It could predict the true positions in longitude of the Sun and Moon, and the planets in terms of elliptical orbits; the latitudes of the Sun, Moon, and planets; and the ecliptic of the Sun. The instrument also incorporated an alhidade and ruler.
Armillary spheres.
-Several different types of armillary spheres.
-Celestial globes which could calculate the altitude of the Sun and the right ascension and declination of the stars in the 11th century.
-The spherical astrolabe was first produced in the Islamic world by the 14th century.
Cartographic instruments.
-Cartographic grids in 10th century Baghdad.
-Cartographic Qibla instruments, which were brass instruments with Mecca-centred world maps and cartographic grids engraved on them in the 17th century.
-Cartographic Qibla instrument with a sundial and compass attached to it, by Muhammad Husayn in the 17th century.
Mural instruments.
-The first quadrants and mural instruments by al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad, Iraq.
-Sine quadrant for astronomical calculations by al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad.
-Horary quadrant for specific latitudes by al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad.
-The Quadrans Vetus, a universal horary quadrant which could be used for any latitude and at any time of the year to determine the time, as well as the times of Salah, invented by al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad. This was the second most widely used astronomical instrument during the Middle Ages after the astrolabe.
-The Quadrans Novus, an astrolabic quadrant invented in Egypt in the 11th century or 12th century, and later known in Europe as the "Quadrans Vetus" (New Quadrant).
-Almucantar quadrant, invented in the medieval Islamic world. It emplyed the use of trigonometry. The term "almucantar" is itself derived from Arabic.
-Sextant by Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi in Ray, Iran in 994.
Other instruments.
-Alhidade (the term "alhidade" is itself derived from Arabic).
-Shadow square, an instrument used to determine the linear height of an object, in conjunction with the alidade for angular observations, invented by Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 9th century Baghdad.
-Highly accurate astronomical clocks.
-Astrometric device in Islamic Spain around 1015.
-Star chart by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni in the 11th century.
Aviation technology.
Parachute.
-In 9th century Islamic Spain, Abbas Ibn Firnas (Armen Firnas) invented a primitive version of the parachute. John H. Lienhard described it in The Engines of Our Ingenuity as follows:
"In 852, a new Caliph and a bizarre experiment: A daredevil named Armen Firman decided to fly off a tower in Cordova. He glided back to earth, using a huge winglike cloak to break his fall. He survived with minor injuries, and the young Ibn Firnas was there to see it."
Hang glider.
-Shortly afterwards, Abbas Ibn Firnas built the first hang glider, which may have also been the first manned glider. Knowledge of Firman and Firnas' flying machines spread to other parts of Europe from Arabic references.
-According to Philip Hitti in History of the Arabs:
"Ibn Firnas was the first man in history to make a scientific attempt at flying."
Artificial wings.
-Ibn Firnas' hang glider was the first to have artificial wings, though the flight was eventually unsuccessful. According to Evliya Çelebi in the 17th century, Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi was the first aviator to have made a successful flight with artificial wings between 1630-1632.
Manned rocket.
According to Evliya Çelebi in the 17th century, Lagari Hasan Çelebi launched himself in the air in a rocket, which was composed of a large cage with a conical top filled with gunpowder. The flight was accomplished as a part of celebrations performed for the birth of Ottoman Emperor Murad IV's daughter in 1633. He is said to have made a soft landing in the Bosporus by using the wings attached to his body after the gunpowder was consumed and was rewarded by the sultan with a valuable military position in the Ottoman army. The flight was estimated to have lasted about twenty seconds and the maximum height reached around 300 metres.
Camera technology.
-Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), the "father of optics" and pioneer of the modern scientific method, invented the camera obscura and pinhole camera.In ancient times, Euclid and Ptolemy believed that the eyes emitted rays which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that rays of light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), who is regarded as the "father of optics". He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one, with his development of the scientific method. The word "camera" comes from the Arabic word qamara for a dark or private room.
Pinhole camera
-Ibn al-Haytham first described pinhole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters.
Camera obscura
-Ibn al-Haytham worked out that the smaller the hole, the better the picture, and set up the first camera obscura, a precursor to the modern camera.
Chemical technology.
-Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber), the father of chemistry, invented the alembic still and many chemicals, including distilled alcohol, and established the perfume industry.Distillation was known to the Babylonians, Greeks and Egyptians since ancient times, but chemists during the Islamic Golden Age made significant advances to the techniques of distillation and developed several different variations of it.
Chemical processes.
-Liquefaction, crystallisation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation and filtration by Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) in the 9th century.
-Steam distillation by Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) in the 11th century.
Laboratory apparatus.
-Alembic and still by Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) in the 9th century.
-Retort by Jabir ibn Hayyan.
-Thermometer and air thermometer by Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) in the 11th century.
-Conical measure by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī in the 11th century.
-Laboratory flask and pycnometer by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.
-Hydrostatic balance and steelyard by al-Khazini in 1121.
Chemical products.
Ahmad Y Hassan wrote:
"The distillation of wine and the properties of alcohol were known to Islamic chemists from the eighth century. The prohibition of wine in Islam did not mean that wine was not produced or consumed or that Arab alchemists did not subject it to their distillation processes. Jabir ibn Hayyan described a cooling technique which can be applied to the distillation of alcohol."
Other chemical substances invented by Muslims include:
-Sulfuric acid, originally coined as oil of vitriol, by Jabir ibn Hayyan, the chemical's probable discoverer.
-Distilled alcohol by Jabir ibn Hayyan in the 8th century.
-Uric acid and nitric acid by Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) in the 9th century.
-Medicinal alcohol in the 10th century.
-Al-Razi (Rhazes) used mercurial compounds as topical antiseptics, wrote various modern recipes for soap, and first described kerosene and kerosene lamps.The distillation of petroleum by al-Razi (Rhazes) in 9th century Baghdad.
-Kerosene and Kerosene lamp by al-Razi (Rhazes).
-Essential oil by Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) in the 11th century.
-Petrol by Muslim chemists.
-Hygienic cosmetics by Muslim chemists.
-Dyestuff by Muslim chemists.
-At least 2,000 medicinal substances.
Will Durant wrote in The Story of Civilization IV: The Age of Faith:
-"Chemistry as a science was almost created by the Moslems; for in this field, where the Greeks (so far as we know) were confined to industrial experience and vague hypothesis, the Saracens introduced precise observation, controlled experiment, and careful records. They invented and named the alembic (al-anbiq), chemically analyzed innumerable substances, composed lapidaries, distinguished alkalis and acids, investigated their affinities, studied and manufactured hundreds of drugs. Alchemy, which the Moslems inherited from Egypt, contributed to chemistry by a thousand incidental discoveries, and by its method, which was the most scientific of all medieval operations."
Robert Briffault wrote in The Making of Humanity:
-"Chemistry, the rudiments of which arose in the processes employed by Egyptian metallurgists and jewellers combining metals into various alloys and 'tinting' them to resemble gold processes long preserved as a secret monopoly of the priestly colleges, and clad in the usual mystic formulas, developed in the hands of the Arabs into a widespread, organized passion for research which led them to the invention of distillation, sublimation, filtration, to the discovery of alcohol, of nitric and sulphuric acids (the only acid known to the ancients was vinegar), of the alkalis, of the salts of mercury, of antimony and bismuth, and laid the basis of all subsequent chemistry and physical research."
Drinking products.
-Coffee by Khalid in Kaffa, Ethiopia.
-Sherbet, the first juiced soft drink, and a variety of juices called sharab.
-Recipes for drink syrups that can be kept outside the refrigerator for weeks or months.
Hygiene products.
-Miswaak by Muhammad in 7th century Arabian Peninsula.
-Modern recipe for soap, combining vegetable oils (such as olive oil) with sodium hydroxide and aromatics (such as thyme oil), by al-Razi (Rhazes).
-Soap bar by al-Razi (Rhazes).
-Sodium Lye (Al-Soda Al-Kawia), Perfumed and colored soaps, and liquid and solid soaps by Muslim chemists.
-Recipes for soaps, such as ones made from sesame oil, potash, alkali, lime, and molds, leaving hard soap (soap bar).
-Shampoo by the Bengali Muslim Sake Dean Mahomet in 1759.
Perfumery.
-Al-Kindi invented a wide variety of scent and perfume products, and is considered the father of the perfume industry.Perfume usage recorded in 7th century Arabian Peninsula.
-Perfume industry established by Geber (Jabir) (b. 722, Iraq) and al-Kindi (b. 801, Iraq).
-Jabir developed many techniques, including distillation, evaporation and filtration, which enabled the collection of the odour of plants into a vapour that could be collected in the form of water or oil.
-Al-Kindi carried out extensive research and experiments in combining various plants and other sources to produce a variety of scent products.
-Al-Kindi elaborated a vast number of recipes for a wide range of perfumes, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
-The preparation of a perfume called ghaliya, which contained musk, amber and other ingredients, and the use of various drugs and apparatus, by al-Kindi.
-Extraction of fragrances through steam distillation by Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) in the 11th century.
-Introduction of new raw ingredients in perfumery.
-Perfumery produced from different spices, herbals, and other fragrance materials.
-Introduction of jasmine from South and Southeast Asia, and citrus fruits from East Asia in modern perfumery.
-Cheap mass production of incenses.
-Musk and floral perfumes in the 11th-12th century Arabian Peninsula.
Clock technology.
Astronomical clocks.
Muslim astronomers and engineers constructed a variety of highly accurate astronomical clocks for use in their observatories.
-In the 10th century, al-Sufi first described over 1000 different uses of an astrolabe, including timekeeping and Salah.
-Mechanical lunisolar calendar computer with gear train and gear-wheels by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.
-Mechanical astrolabe with calendar computer and gear-wheels by Abi Bakr of Isfahan in 1235.
-The Quadrans Vetus, a universal horary quadrant which could be used for any latitude and at any time of the year to determine the time, as well as the times of Salah, invented by al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad. This was the second most widely used astronomical instrument during the Middle Ages after the astrolabe.
Dials.
-Universal sundials for all latitudes used for timekeeping and for the determination of the times of Salah in 9th century Baghdad.
-The Navicula de Venetiis, a universal horary dial used for accurate timekeeping by the Sun and Stars, and could be observed from any latitude, invented in 9th century Baghdad. This was later considered the most sophisticated timekeeping instrument of the Renaissance.
-The compass dial, a timekeeping device incorporating both a universal sundial and a magnetic compass, invented by Ibn al-Shatir in the 13th century.
Elephant clock with automaton, regulator, and closed loop.
-The elephant clock described by al-Jazari in 1206 is notable for several innovations. It was the first clock in which an automaton reacted after certain intervals of time (in this case, a humanoid robot striking the cymbal and a mechanical bird chirping), the first mechanism to employ a flow regulator, and the earliest example of a closed-loop system in a mechanism.
Mechanical clocks.
-In ancient times, water clocks were used, which were used for millennia in ancient China and India. This changed when Muslims invented the first mechanical clocks, including weight-driven clocks and scribe clocks.
-Weight-driven mechanical clocks were produced by Muslim engineers in Spain, and this knowledge was transmitted to other parts of Europe through Latin translations of Islamic texts on mechanics. Al-Jazari invented some of the first mechanical clocks, driven by water and weights, including a water-powered scribe clock. This water powered portable clock was a meter high and half a meter wide. The scribe with his pen was synonymous to the hour hand of a modern clock. This is an example of an ingenious water system by al-Jazari. Al-Jazari also invented water clocks with oil lamps and automatic clocks. Al-Jazari's famous water-powered scribe clock was reconstructed successfully at the Science Museum (London) in 1976.
Striking clock.
-According to a 1202 manuscript written by Ridhwan al-Saati, Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad b. Naser b. Saghir b. Khalid al-Kaysarani contructed the first striking clock in 1154 as part of a clock tower, similar to the Big Ben, near the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria.
Watch.
-According to Will Durant, Abbas Ibn Firnas invented a watch-like device in the 9th century which kept accurate time.
Glass technology.
Glass production from stones.
-Lynn Townsend White, Jr. wrote that Abbas Ibn Firnas was the first to produce glass from stones, particularly quartz.
-Refracting parabolic mirror
The refracting parabolic mirror was first described by Ibn Sahl in his On the Burning Instruments in the 10th century, and later described again in Ibn al-Haytham's On Burning Mirrors and Book of Optics (1021).
Mechanical technology.
Agricultural devices.
-The early Muslim Arab Empire was ahead of its time regarding water cleaning systems and also had advanced water transportation systems resulting in better agriculture, something that helped in issues related to Islamic hygienical jurisprudence.
-Al-Jazari invented machines for raising water and water wheels with cams on their axle used to operate automata in the 12th century.
Crank and connecting rod.
-Al-Jazari's invention of the crankshaft (and the crank mechanism) is considered the most important single mechanical invention after the wheel, as it transforms continuous rotary motion into a linear reciprocating motion, which is central to much of the machinery in the modern world, including the internal combustion engine.
-The connecting rod was also invented by al-Jazari, and was used in a crank and connecting rod system in a rotating machine he developed in 1206, in two of his water raising machines.
Flywheel-driven chain pump and noria.
-A flywheel is used to smooth out the delivery of power from a driving device to a driven machine. Ibn Bassal of Islamic Spain pioneered the use of the flywheel in the chain pump (saqiya) and noria.
Gristmill.
-The first gristmills were invented by Muslim engineers in the Islamic world, and were used for grinding corn and other seeds to produce meals, and many other industrial uses such as fulling cloth, husking rice, papermaking, pulping sugarcane, and crushing metalic ores before extraction. Gristmills in the Islamic world were often made from both watermills and windmills. In order to adapt water wheels for gristmilling purposes, cams were used for raising and releasing trip hammers to fall on a material.
Hodometer.
-Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī invented an early hodometer in the 11th century. This was an early example of a fixed-wired knowledge processing machine.
Metronome.
-Lynn Townsend White, Jr. wrote that Abbas Ibn Firnas was the inventor of an early metronome.
Paper mill.
-Paper was introduced into the Muslim world by Chinese prisoners after the Battle of Talas. Muslims made several improvements to papermaking and built the first paper mills in Baghdad, Iraq, as early as 794. Papermaking was transformed from an art into a major industry as a result.
Programmable humanoid robot.
-Ibn Ismail Ibn al-Razzaz Al-Jazari (1136-1206) created the first recorded designs of a programmable humanoid robot in 1206. Al-Jazari's robot was originally a boat with four automatic musicians that floated on a lake to entertain guests at royal drinking parties. His mechanism had a a programmable drum machine with pegs (cams) that bump into little levers that operate the percussion. The drummer could be made to play different rhythms and different drum patterns if the pegs were moved around.
Segmental gear.
-A segmental gear is "a piece for receiving or communicating reciprocating motion from or to a cogwheel, consisting of a sector of a circular gear, or ring, having cogs on the periphery, or face." Professor Lynn Townsend White, Jr. wrote:
"Segmental gears first clearly appear in Al-Jazari, in the West they emerge in Giovanni de Dondis astronomical clock finished in 1364, and only with the great Sienese engineer Francesco di Giorgio (1501) did they enter the general vocabulary of European machine design."
Shipmill.
-The shipmill was a unique type of water mill powered by water wheels mounted on the sides of ships moored in midstream. This was first employed along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in 10th century Iraq, where shipmills could produce 10 tons of flour from corn every day for the granary in Baghdad.
Singing birds.
-Caliph al-Mamun had a silver and golden tree in his palace in Baghdad in 827, which had the features of an automatic machine. There were metal birds that sang automatically on the swinging branches of this tree built by Muslim engineers at the time.
-The Abbasid Caliph al-Muktadir also had a golden tree in his palace in Baghdad in 915, with birds on it flapping their wings and singing.
Steam turbine.
-In 1551, the Egyptian engineer Taqi al-Din described the first practical steam turbine as a prime mover for rotating a spit. In his book, Al-Turuq al-saniyya fi al-alat al-ruhaniyya (The Sublime Methods of Spiritual Machines), completed in 1551 AD (959 AH), Taqi al-Din wrote:
"Part Six: Making a spit which carries meat over fire so that it will rotate by itself without the power of an animal. This was made by people in several ways, and one of these is to have at the end of the spit a wheel with vanes, and opposite the wheel place a hollow pitcher made of copper with a closed head and full of water. Let the nozzle of the pitcher be opposite the vanes of the wheel. Kindle fire under the pitcher and steam will issue from its nozzle in a restricted form and it will turn the vane wheel. When the pitcher becomes empty of water bring close to it cold water in a basin and let the nozzle of the pitcher dip into the cold water. The heat will cause all the water in the basin to be attracted into the pitcher and the [the steam] will start rotating the vane wheel again."
Valve-operated reciprocating suction piston pump.
-The valve-operated reciprocating suction piston pump from a manuscript of al-Jazari, the "father of modern day engineering".In 1206, al-Jazari demonstrates the first conversion of rotary to reciprocating motion, the first suction pipes and suction piston pump, and one of the earliest valve operations, when he invented a two cylinder reciprocating suction piston pump, which seems to have had a direct significance in the development of modern engineering. This pump is driven by a water wheel, which drives, through a system of gears, an oscillating slot-rod to which the rods of two pistons are attached. The pistons work in horizontally opposed cylinders, each provided with valve-operated suction and delivery pipes. The delivery pipes are joined above the centre of the machine to form a single outlet into the irrigation system. This pump is remarkable for three reasons:
-The earliest known use of a true suction pipe in a pump.
-The first application of the double-acting principle.
-The first conversion of rotary to reciprocating motion.
-For these reasons, this invention is considered important to the development of the steam engine and of modern reciprocating pumps.
Ventillator.
-Ventilators were invented in Egypt and were widely used in many houses throughout Cairo during the Middle Ages. These ventillators were later described in detail by Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi in 1200, who reported that almost every house in Cairo has a ventillator, and that they cost anywhere from 1 to 500 dinars depending on their sizes and shapes. Most ventillators in the city were oriented towards the Qibla, as was the city in general.
Windmill.
-Windmills were first built in Sistan, Afghanistan, sometime between the 7th century and 9th century, as described by Muslim geographers. These were verticle axle windmills, which had long vertical shafts with rectangle shaped blades. The first windmill may have been contructed as early as the time of the second Rashidun caliph Umar (634-644 AD), though some argue that this account may have been a 10th century amendment. Made of six to twelve sails covered in reed matting or cloth material, these windmills were used to grind corn and draw up water, and used in the gristmilling and sugarcane industries.
Water turbine.
-The first water turbine, which had water wheels with curved blades onto which water flow was directed axially, was first described in a 9th century Arabic text for use in a watermill.
Other mechanical devices.
Valve.
Float valve.
Feedback controller.
Automatic flute player.
Programmable machine.
Trick devices.
Self-trimming lamp.
Hurricane lamp.
Self-trimming lamp.
Self-feeding lamp.
Gas mask.
Grab.
Clamshell grab.
Fail-safe system.
-Along with his inventions above, al-Jazari also designed and constructed a number of other automata, such as kitchen appliances and musical automata powered by water. Al-Jazari also invented water wheels with cams on their axle used to operate automata.
-Al-Jazari described over fifty mechanical devices in six different categories, most of which he invented himself, along with construction drawings. Along with his inventions above, some of the other mechanival devices he first described include:
Combination locks.
Hand washing device.
Accurate calibration of orifices.
Lamination of timber to reduce warping.
Static balancing of wheels.
Use of paper models to establish a design.
Casting of metals in closed mould boxes with green sand.
Trick drinking vessels.
Phlebotomy measures.
Linkage.
Hydraulic devices.
Water wheels with cams on their axle used to operate automata.
Water pumps.
Water level.
Constructions of pots and pans for wine making.
Construction of ewers and bowls for use as cups.
Pools and fountains.
Devices able to elevate water from shallow wells or flowing rivers.
Several musical instruments.
Other machines working by water.
Other sundry mechanisms.
Medical technology.
Medical treatments.
-Avicenna, considered the father of modern medicine and the father of momentum, described various anesthetics and medical and therapeutic drugs in his Canon of Medicine.Modern oral and inhalant anesthesia by Muslim anesthesiologists.
-Surgeries under inhalant anesthesia with the use of narcotic-soaked sponges which were placed over the face, by Abu al-Qasim and Ibn Zuhr in Islamic Spain.
-Medical and anesthetic use of Opium by Avicenna.
-Mercurial compounds as topical antiseptics by al-Razi (10th century).
-Application of purified alcohol to wounds as an antiseptic agent by Muslim physicians and surgeons in the 10th century.
-Utilization of special methods for maintaining antisepsis prior to and during surgery by surgeons in Islamic Spain.
-Specific protocols for maintaining hygiene during the post-operative period, in Córdoba, Spain.
-Drug therapy and medicinal drugs for the treatment of specific symptoms and diseases, and the use of practical experience and careful observation, by al-Razi, Avicenna, al-Kindi, Ibn Rushd, Abu al-Qasim, Ibn Zuhr, Ibn Baytar, Ibn al-Jazzar, Ibn Juljul, Ibn al-Quff, Ibn al-Nafis, Al-Biruni, Ibn Sahl.
-The word "drug" is derived from Arabic.
-Chemotherapeutical drugs in the Muslim world.
-Specific substances to destroy microbes, and the application of sulfur topically specifically to kill the scabies mite.
-Medicinal-grade alcohol through distillation, and the first distillation devices for use in chemistry manufactured on a large scale, in the 10th century.
-Alcohol as a solvent and antiseptic.
-Plaster by Abu al-Qasim (Abucasis) in 1000.
-Tracheotomy by Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) in the 12th century.
-The medical procedure of inoculation in the medieval Muslim world, later followed by the first smallpox vaccine in the form of cowpox, invented in Turkey in the early 18th century.
-At least 2,000 medicinal substances.
Surgical instruments.
Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis), the "father of modern surgery", performed surgeries under inhalant anesthesia, and invented the plaster and many surgical instruments.A wide variety of surgical instruments and techniques were invented in the Muslim world, as well as the refinement of earlier instruments and techniques. The following instruments are known to have been invented by Muslim surgeons:
-Injection syringe by the Iraqi surgeon, Ammar ibn Ali al-Mawsili, in the 9th century, using a hollow glass tube and suction to extract and remove cataracts from patients' eyes.
-Over 200 surgical instruments were listed by Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis) in the Al-Tasrif (1000), many of which were never used before by any previous surgeons. Hamidan, for example, listed at least twenty six innovative surgical instruments that Abulcasis introduced.
-Use of catgut for internal stitching, by Abu al-Qasim.
-Forceps by Abu al-Qasim in the Al-Tasrif (1000), for extracting a dead fetus.
-Ligature, by Abu al-Qasim in the Al-Tasrif, for the arteries in lieu of cauterization.
-Surgical needle by Abu al-Qasim in his Al-Tasrif.
-Scalpel, curette, retractor, surgical spoon, sound, surgical hook, surgical rod, and specula, by Abu al-Qasim in his Al-Tasrif (1000).
-Bone saw by Abu al-Qasim.
Military technology
After the spread of gunpowder from China to the Muslim world, Muslim engineers developed some of their own weapons for gunpowder warfare.
Cannons and ballistic war machines.
In the 12th century, the Seljuqs had facilities in Sivas for manufacturing war machines. Ballistic weapons were manufactured in the Muslim world since the time of Kublai Khan in the 13th century. According to Chinese sources, two Muslim engineers, Alaaddin and Ismail (d. 1330), built machines of a ballistic-weapons nature before the besieged city of Hang-show between 1271-1273. Alaaddin's weapons also played a major role in the conquest of several other Chinese cities. His son Ma-ho-scha also developed ballistic weapons. Ismail (transliterated as I-ssu-ma-yin) was present in the Mongol siege of Hsiang-yiang, where he built a war machine with the characteristics of a ballistic weapon. Chinese sources mention that when this war machines were fired, the earth and skies shook, the cannons were buried seven feet into the ground and destroyed everything. His son Yakub also developed ballistic war machines.
Counterweight trebuchet.
-Ala'eddin is honoured in the official history of China's Yuan Dynasty, for having constructed the counterweight trebuchet used with gunpowder for Kublai Khan.
Explosives.
-Medieval French reports suggest that Muslim engineers used explosives against the Sixth Crusade army led by Ludwig IV, Landgrave of Thuringia in the 13th century.
Guns and firearms.
-In the 12th century, a primitive gun that shoots bullets, and later Aydinogullari using using guns firing bullets using springs and which are audible, show that guns were invented by Muslims in its primitive form. The Nesri Tarihi from the 15th century states that the Ottoman army used guns from at least 1421-1422.[32] According to research by Reinuad and Fave, the first firearms were developed by Muslims.
Torpedo.
-After the spread of rocket technology from China, this was followed by the invention of torpedoes in the Muslim world, and were driven by a rocket system. The works of Hasan al-Rammah in Syria in 1275 shows illustrations of a torpedo running with a rocket system filled with explosive materials and having three firing points.
Iron rocket.
-Tipu Sultan invented the first iron rockets in Mysore, India.The first iron rockets were developed by Tipu Sultan, a Muslim ruler of the South Indian Kingdom of Mysore. He successfully used these iron rockets against the larger forces of the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. The Mysore rockets of this period were much more advanced than what the British had seen, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant; this enabled higher thrust and longer range for the missile (up to 2 km range). After Tipu's eventual defeat in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and the capture of the Mysore iron rockets, they were influential in British rocket development and were soon put into use in the Napoleonic Wars.
Other weapons.
-Muslim chemists were the first to purify saltpeter to the weapons-grade purity for use in gunpowder, as potassium nitrate must be purified to be used effectively. This purification process was first described by Ibn Bakhtawayh in his Al-Muqaddimat in the early 11th century.
-Jean Mathes wrote that Muslim rulers had stockpiles of grenades, rifles, crude cannons, incendiary devices, sulphur bombs and pistols decades before such devices were used in Europe.
Writing instruments.
The earliest historical record of a reservoir fountain pen dates back to the 10th century. In 953, Ma'ād al-Mu'izz, the caliph of Egypt, demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir and delivered it to the nib via gravity and capillary action.
Other inventions.
Fielding H. Garrison wrote in the History of Medicine:
"The Saracens themselves were the originators not only of algebra, chemistry, and geology, but of many of the so-called improvements or refinements of civilization, such as street lamps, window-panes, firework, stringed instruments, cultivated fruits, perfumes, spices, etc..."
Other inventions from the Islamic world include:
-Quilting, pointed arch, frequency analysis, cryptanalysis, three-course meal, glasses, Persian carpet, modern cheque, and royal pleasure gardens.
-Homing pigeons (by Fatimid Caliph Aziz), how the eye works, 1000 year old recipes, rock crystals, musical instruments, musical theory, various fashions, Henna, Miswak, sea navigation techniques, and irrigation techniques.
-A significant number of other inventions and technological advances were made in the Muslim world, as well as adopting and improving technologies centuries before they were used in the West. For example, papermaking was adopted from China many centuries before it was known in the West. Iron was a vital industry in Muslim lands and was given importance in the Qur'an. The knowledge of gunpowder was also transmitted from China to Islamic countries, through which it was later passed to Europe. Knowledge of chemical processes (alchemy and chemistry) and distillation (alcohol) also spread to Europe from the Muslim world. Numerous contributions were made in laboratory practices such as "refined techniques of distillation, the preparation of medicines, and the production of salts." Advances were made in irrigation and farming, using technology such as the windmill. Crops such as almonds and citrus fruit were brought to Europe through al-Andalus, and sugar cultivation was gradually adopted by the Europeans.
Science.
Astrology.
Islamic astrology, in Arabic ilm al-nujumis the study of the heavens by early Muslims. In early Arabic sources, ilm al-nujum was used to refer to both astronomy and astrology. In medieval sources, however, a clear distinction was made between ilm al-nujum (science of the stars) or ilm al-falak (science of the celestial orbs), referring to astrology, and ilm al-haya (science of the figure of the heavens), referring to astronomy. Both fields were rooted in Greek, Persian, and Indian traditions. Despite consistent critiques of astrology by scientists and religious scholars, astrological prognostications required a fair amount of exact scientific knowledge and thus gave partial incentive for the study and development of astronomy.
Astronomy.
In astronomy, the work of Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy, particularly the Almagest, and the Indian work of Brahmagupta, were significantly refined over the years by Muslim astronomers. The astronomical tables of Al-Khwarizmi and of Abu al-Qasim Maslama b. Ahmad (al-Majriti) served as important sources of information for Latinized European thinkers rediscovering the works of astronomy, where extensive interest in astrology was discouraged.
From the 11th century, Muslim astronomers began questioning the Ptolemaic system, beginning with Ibn al-Haytham, and they were the first to conduct elaborate experiments related to astronomical phenomena, beginning with Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī's introduction of the experimental method into astronomy. Many of them made changes and corrections to the Ptolemaic model within a geocentric framework. In particular, the corrections of al-Battani, Ibn al-Haytham, Averroes, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (Tusi-couple), Mo'ayyeduddin Urdi (Urdi lemma) and Ibn al-Shatir were later adapted into the Copernican heliocentric model. Several Muslim astronomers also discussed the possibility of a heliocentric model with elliptical orbits, such as Ja'far ibn Muhammad Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi, Ibn al-Haytham, Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, Abu Said Sinjari, 'Umar al-Katibi al-Qazwini, and Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi.
Other developments in astronomy include al-Biruni's discovery of the Milky Way galaxy being a collection of numerous nebulous stars, and the development of a planetary model without any epicycles by Ibn Bajjah (Avempace). The optical writings of Ibn al-Haytham are reported to have laid the foundations for the later European development of telescopic astronomy.
Biology.
In biology and zoology, Muslim biologists developed theories on evolution and natural selection which were widely taught in medieval Islamic schools. John William Draper, a contemporary of Charles Darwin, considered the "Mohammedan theory of evolution" to be developed "much farther than we are disposed to do, extending them even to inorganic or mineral things." According to al-Khazini, ideas on evolution were widespread among "common people" in the Islamic world by the 12th century.
The first Muslim biologist to develop a theory on evolution was al-Jahiz (781-869). He wrote on the effects of the environment on the likelihood of an animal to survive, and he first described the struggle for existence and an early form of natural selection. Ibn al-Haytham wrote a book in which he argued for evolutionism (although not natural selection), and numerous other Islamic scholars and scientists, such as Ibn Miskawayh, the Brethren of Purity, al-Khazini, Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, Nasir al-Din Tusi, and Ibn Khaldun, discussed and developed these ideas. Muslim biologists also made significant advances in the field of botany. Translated into Latin, these works began to appear in the West after the Renaissance and appear to have had an impact on Western science.
Ibn Miskawayh's al-Fawz al-Asghar and the Brethren of Purity's Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity (The Epistles of Ikhwan al-Safa) expressed evolutionary ideas on how species evolved from matter, into vapor, and then water, then minerals, then plants, then animals, then apes, and then humans. These works were known in Europe and likely had an influence on Darwinism.
Chemistry.
Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) was a polymath who is regarded as the father of chemistry and a founder of the perfume industry.The 9th century chemist, Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan), is considered the father of chemistry, for introducing the first experimental scientific method for chemistry, as well as the alembic, still, retort, liquefaction, crystallisation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation, and filtration.
Al-Kindi was the first to debunk the theory of the transmutation of metals, followed by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī and Avicenna. Avicenna also invented steam distillation and produced the first essential oils, which led to the development of aromatherapy. Al-Razi first distilled petroleum, invented kerosene and kerosene lamps, soap bars and modern recipes for soap, and antiseptics. Alexander von Humboldt regarded the Muslim chemists as the founders of chemistry.
Will Durant wrote in The Story of Civilization IV: The Age of Faith:
"Chemistry as a science was almost created by the Moslems; for in this field, where the Greeks (so far as we know) were confined to industrial experience and vague hypothesis, the Saracens introduced precise observation, controlled experiment, and careful records. They invented and named the alembic (al-anbiq), chemically analyzed innumerable substances, composed lapidaries, distinguished alkalis and acids, investigated their affinities, studied and manufactured hundreds of drugs. Alchemy, which the Moslems inherited from Egypt, contributed to chemistry by a thousand incidental discoveries, and by its method, which was the most scientific of all medieval operations."
George Sarton, the father of the history of science, wrote in the Introduction to the History of Science:
"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)."
Earth sciences.
Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī was a universal genius who is regarded as the father of Indology, the father of geodesy, "the first anthropologist" and one of the first geologists.Muslim scientists, notably Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, made a number of contributions to the Earth sciences. In particular, Biruni is regarded as the father of geodesy for his important contributions to the field, along with his significant contributions to geography and geology.
Among his writings on geology, Biruni wrote the following on the geology of India:
"But if you see the soil of India with your own eyes and meditate on its nature, if you consider the rounded stones found in earth however deeply you dig, stones that are huge near the mountains and where the rivers have a violent current: stones that are of smaller size at a greater distance from the mountains and where the streams flow more slowly: stones that appear pulverised in the shape of sand where the streams begin to stagnate near their mouths and near the sea - if you consider all this you can scarcely help thinking that India was once a sea, which by degrees has been filled up by the alluvium of the streams."
John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson write in the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive:
"Important contributions to geodesy and geography were also made by al-Biruni. He introduced techniques to measure the earth and distances on it using triangulation. He found the radius of the earth to be 6339.6 km, a value not obtained in the West until the 16th century. His Masudic canon contains a table giving the coordinates of six hundred places, almost all of which he had direct knowledge."
Fielding H. Garrison wrote in the History of Medicine:
"The Saracens themselves were the originators not only of algebra, chemistry, and geology, but of many of the so-called improvements or refinements of civilization..."
George Sarton, the father of the history of science, wrote in the Introduction to the History of Science:
"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)..."
In geology, Avicenna hypothesized on two causes of mountains in The Book of Healing. In cartography, the Piri Reis map drawn by the Ottoman cartographer Piri Reis in 1513, was one of the earliest world maps to include the Americas, and perhaps the first to include Antarctica. His map of the world was considered the most accurate in the 16th century.
Mathematics.
Al-Khwarizmi, the father of algebra and father of algorithms.John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson wrote in the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive:
"Recent research paints a new picture of the debt that we owe to Islamic mathematics. Certainly many of the ideas which were previously thought to have been brilliant new conceptions due to European mathematicians of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are now known to have been developed by Arabic/Islamic mathematicians around four centuries earlier."
Al-Khwarizmi (780-850), from whose name the word algorithm derives, contributed significantly to algebra, which is named after his book, Kitab al-Jabr, the first book on elementary algebra. He also introduced what is now known as Arabic numerals, which originally came from India, though Muslim mathematicians did make several refinements to the number system, such as the introduction of decimal point notation. Al-Kindi (801-873) was a pioneer in cryptanalysis and cryptology. He gave the first known recorded explanations of cryptanalysis and frequency analysis in A Manuscript on Deciphering Cryptographic Messages.
The first known proof by mathematical induction appears in a book written by Al-Karaji around 1000 AD, who used it to prove the binomial theorem, Pascal's triangle, and the sum of integral cubes. The historian of mathematics, F. Woepcke, praised Al-Karaji for being "the first who introduced the theory of algebraic calculus." Ibn al-Haytham was the first mathematician to derive the formula for the sum of the fourth powers, and using the method of induction, he developed a method for determining the general formula for the sum of any integral powers, which was fundamental to the development of integral calculus. The 11th century poet-mathematician Omar Khayyám was the first to find general geometric solutions of cubic equations and laid the foundations for the development of analytic geometry and non-Euclidean geometry. Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi (1135-1213) found algebraic and numerical solutions to cubic equations and was the first to discover the derivative of cubic polynomials, an important result in differential calculus.
Mechanics.
Avicenna was a universal genius, who is considered the father of modern medicine and the father of the concept of momentum, and regarded as one of the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history.In the mechanics field of physics, Ja'far Muhammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir (800-873) of the Banū Mūsā was a pioneer of celestial mechanics, as he was the first to discover that the heavenly bodies and celestial spheres were subject to the same laws of physics as Earth, unlike the ancients who believed that the celestial spheres followed their own set of physical laws different from that of Earth. In his Astral Motion and The Force of Attraction, he was also the first to discover that there was a force of attraction between heavenly bodies, foreshadowing Newton's law of universal gravitation. Thābit ibn Qurra (836-901) rejected the Peripatetic and Aristotelian notions of a "natural place" for each element. He instead proposed a theory of motion in which both the upward and downward motions are caused by weight, and that the order of the universe is a result of two competing attractions (jadhb): one of these being "between the sublunar and celestial elements", and the other being "between all parts of each element separately". Al-Kindi (801-873) described an early concept of relativity, which some see as a precursor to the later theory of relativity developed by Albert Einstein in the 20th century. Like Einstein, al-Kindi held that the physical world and physical phenomena are relative, that time, space, motion and bodies are all relative to each other and not independent or absolute, and that they are relative to other objects and to the observer.
Ibn al-Haytham (965-1039) discussed the theory of attraction between masses, and it seems that he was aware of the magnitude of acceleration due to gravity and he discovered that the heavenly bodies "were accountable to the laws of physics". Ibn al-Haytham also discovered the law of inertia, known as Newton's first law of motion, when he stated that a body moves perpetually unless an external force stops it or changes its direction of motion. He also discovered the concept of momentum, part of Newton's second law of motion.
Nobel Prize winning physicist Abdus Salam wrote the following on Ibn al-Haytham:
"Ibn-al-Haitham (Alhazen, 965-1039 CE) was one of the greatest physicists of all time. He made experimental contributions of the highest order in optics. He enunciated that a ray of light, in passing through a medium, takes the path which is the easier and 'quicker'. In this he was anticipating Fermat's Principle of Least Time by many centuries. He enunciated the law of inertia, later to become Newton's first law of motion. Part V of Roger Bacon's "Opus Majus" is practically an annotation to Ibn al Haitham's Optics."
Avicenna (980-1037) discovered the concept of momentum, when he referred to impetus as being proportional to weight times velocity, a precursor to the concept of momentum in Newton's second law of motion. He is thus considered the father of the fundamental concept of momentum in physics. His theory of motion was also consistent with the concept of inertia in Newton's first law of motion. Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (973-1048) was the first to realize that acceleration is connected with non-uniform motion, part of Newton's second law of motion.
In 1121, al-Khazini, in The Book of the Balance of Wisdom, was the first to propose that the gravity and gravitational potential energy of a body varies depending on its distance from the centre of the Earth. This phenomenon was not proven until Newton's law of universal gravitation centuries later. In statics, al-Khazini first clearly differentiated between force, mass, and weight, and he showed awareness of the weight of the air and of its decrease in density with altitude, and discovered that there was greater density of water when nearer to the Earth's centre. Ibn Bajjah (Avempace) (d. 1138) was the first to state that there is always a reaction force for every force exerted, a precursor to Gottfried Leibniz's idea of force which underlies Newton's third law of motion. His theory of motion had an important influence on later physicists like Galileo Galilei. Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi (1080-1165) was the first to negate Aristotle's idea that a constant force produces uniform motion, as he realized that a force applied continuously produces acceleration, a fundamental law of classical mechanics and an early foreshadowing of Newton's second law of motion. Like Newton, he described acceleration as the rate of change of velocity. Averroes (11261198) was the first to define and measure force as "the rate at which work is done in changing the kinetic condition of a material body" and the first to correctly argue "that the effect and measure of force is change in the kinetic condition of a materially resistant mass."
Medicine.
Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis), the father of modern surgery.Muslim physicians made many significant advances and contributions to medicine, including anatomy, ophthalmology, pharmacology, pharmacy, physiology, surgery, and the pharmaceutical sciences. Muslim physicians set up some of the earliest dedicated hospitals, which later spread to Europe during the Crusades, inspired by the hospitals in the Middle East.
Al-Razi (Rhazes) (865-925) recorded clinical cases of his own experience and provided very useful recordings of various diseases. His Comprehensive Book of Medicine, which introduced measles and smallpox, was very influential in Europe. Al-Kindi wrote De Gradibus, in which he demonstrated the application of mathematics to medicine, particularly in the field of pharmacology. This includes the development of a mathematical scale to quantify the strength of drugs, and a system that would allow a doctor to determine in advance the most critical days of a patient's illness.
Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis), regarded as the father of modern surgery, wrote the Kitab al-Tasrif (1000), a 30-volume medical encyclopedia which was taught at Muslim and European medical schools until the 17th century. He invented numerous surgical instruments, including the first instruments unique to women, as well as the surgical uses of catgut and forceps, the ligature, surgical needle, scalpel, curette, retractor, surgical spoon, sound, surgical hook, surgical rod, and specula, bone saw, and plaster.
Avicenna, considered the father of modern medicine and one of the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history, wrote The Canon of Medicine (1020) and The Book of Healing (11th century), which remained standard textbooks in both Muslim and European universities until the 17th century. Avicenna's contributions include the introduction of systematic experimentation and quantification into the study of physiology, the discovery of the contagious nature of infectious diseases, the introduction of quarantine to limit the spread of contagious diseases, the introduction of clinical trials, the first descriptions on bacteria and viral organisms, the distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisy, the contagious nature of phthisis and tuberculosis, the distribution of diseases by water and soil, and the first careful descriptions of skin troubles, sexually transmitted diseases, perversions, and nervous ailments, as well the use of ice to treat fevers, and the separation of medicine from pharmacology, which was important to the development of the pharmaceutical sciences.
In 1021, Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen) made important advances in eye surgery, as he studied and correctly explained the process of sight and visual perception for the first time in his Book of Optics (1021).
In 1242, Ibn al-Nafis was the first to describe human blood circulation and pulmonary circulation. Ibn al-Lubudi (1210-1267) rejected the theory of four humours supported by Galen and Hippocrates, discovered that the body and its preservation depend exclusively upon blood, rejected Galen's idea that women can produce sperm, and discovered that the movement of arteries are not dependant upon the movement of the heart, that the heart is the first organ to form in a fetus' body (rather than the brain as claimed by Hippocrates), and that the bones forming the skull can grow into tumors.
The Tashrih al-badan (Anatomy of the body) of Mansur ibn Ilyas (c. 1390) contained comprehensive diagrams of the body's structural, nervous and circulatory systems.During the Black Death bubonic plague in 14th century al-Andalus, Ibn Khatima and Ibn al-Khatib discovered that infecious diseases are caused by microorganisms which enter the human body. Other medical innovations first introduced by Muslim physicians include the discovery of the immune system, the introduction of microbiology, the use of animal testing, and the combination of medicine with other sciences (including agriculture, botany, chemistry, and pharmacology), as well as the invention of the injection syringe by Ammar ibn Ali al-Mawsili in 9th century Iraq, the first drugstores in Baghdad (754), the distinction between medicine and pharmacy by the 12th century, and the discovery of at least 2,000 medicinal and chemical substances.
Optics.
In the optics field of physics, Ibn Sahl (c. 940-1000), a mathematician and physicist connected with the court of Baghdad, wrote a treatise On Burning Mirrors and Lenses in 984 in which he set out his understanding of how curved mirrors and lenses bend and focus light. Ibn Sahl is now credited with first discovering the law of refraction, usually called Snell's law. He used this law to work out the shapes of lenses that focus light with no geometric aberrations, known as anaclastic lenses.
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen) (965-1039), the father of optics and the pioneer of the scientific method, in his Book of Optics, developed a broad theory of light and optics that explained vision, using geometry and anatomy, which stated that each point on an illuminated area or object radiates light rays in every direction, but that only one ray from each point, which strikes the eye perpendicularly, can be seen. The other rays strike at different angles and are not seen. He used the example of the camera obscura and pinhole camera, which produces an inverted image, to support his argument. This contradicted Ptolemy's theory of vision that objects are seen by rays of light emanating from the eyes. Alhacen held light rays to be streams of minute particles that travelled at a finite speed. He improved accurately described the refraction of light, and discovered the laws of refraction.
He also carried out the first experiments on the dispersion of light into its constituent colours. His major work Kitab al-Manazir was translated into Latin in the Middle Ages, as well as his book dealing with the colors of sunset. He dealt at length with the theory of various physical phenomena like shadows, eclipses, and the rainbow. He also attempted to explain binocular vision and the moon illusion. Through these extensive researches on optics, he is considered the father of modern optics.
Ibn al-Haytham also correctly argued that we see objects because the sun's rays of light, which he believed to be streams of tiny particles traveling in straight lines, are reflected from objects into our eyes. He understood that light must travel at a large but finite velocity, and that refraction is caused by the velocity being different in different substances. He also studied spherical and parabolic mirrors, and understood how refraction by a lens will allow images to be focused and magnification to take place. He understood mathematically why a spherical mirror produces aberration.
Robert S. Elliot wrote the following on Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen):
"Alhazen was one of the ablest students of optics of all times and published a seven-volume treatise on this subject which had great celebrity throughout the medieval period and strongly influenced Western thought, notably that of Roger Bacon and Kepler. This treatise discussed concave and convex mirrors in both cylindrical and spherical geometries, anticipated Fermat's law of least time, and considered refraction and the magnifying power of lenses. It contained a remarkably lucid description of the optical system of the eye, which study led Alhazen to the belief that light consists of rays which originate in the object seen, and not in the eye, a view contrary to that of Euclid and Ptolemy."
Avicenna (980-1037) agreed that the speed of light is finite, as he "observed that if the perception of light is due to the emission of some sort of particles by a luminous source, the speed of light must be finite." Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (973-1048) also agreed that light has a finite speed, and he was the first to discover that the speed of light is much faster than the speed of sound. Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi (1236-1311) and Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī (1260-1320) gave the first correct explanations for the rainbow phenomenon.
Psychology.
In psychology, the Arab physician Al-Razi (Rhazes) (865-925) was the first to study psychotherapy and made significant advances in psychiatry in his landmark texts El-Mansuri and Al-Hawi, which presented definitions, symptoms, and treatments for problems related to mental health and mental illness. He also ran the psychiatric ward of a Baghdad hospital. Such institutions could not exist in Europe at the time because of fear of demonic possessions.
Ibn al-Haytham is considered the founder of psychophysics and experimental psychology, for his pioneering work on the psychology of visual perception in the Book of Optics. In Book III of the Book of Optics, Ibn al-Haytham was the first scientist to argue that vision occurs in the brain, rather than the eyes. He pointed out that personal experience has an affect on what people see and how they see, and that vision and perception are subjective. He explained possible errors in vision in detail, and as an example, describes how a small child with less experience may have more difficulty interpreting what he/she sees. He also gives an example of an adult that can make mistakes in vision because of how one's experience suggests that he/she is seeing one thing, when he/she is really seeing something else.
Ibn al-Haytham was also the first to combine physics and psychology to form psychophysics, and his investigations and experiments on psychology and visual perception included sensation, variations in sensitivity, sensation of touch, perception of colours, perception of darkness, the psychological explanation of the moon illusion, and binocular vision.
Social sciences.
Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (973-1048) has been described as "the first anthropologist". He wrote detailed comparative studies on the anthropology of peoples, religions and cultures in the Middle East, Mediterranean and South Asia. Biruni's anthropology of religion was only possible for a scholar deeply immersed in the lore of other nations. Biruni has also been praised by several scholars for his Islamic anthropology. Biruni is also regarded as the father of Indology. Al-Saghani (d. 990) wrote some of the earliest comments on the history of science, which included a comparison between the "ancients" (including the ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks and Indians) and the "modern scholars" (the Muslim scientists of his time). Al-Muqaddasi (b. 945) also made contributions to the social sciences.
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) is regarded as the father of demography, cultural history, historiography, the philosophy of history, sociology, and the social sciences, and is viewed as one of the forerunners of modern economics. He is best known for his Muqaddimah (Latinized as Prolegomenon). Some of the ideas he introduced in the Muqaddimah include social philosophy, social conflict theories, social cohesion, social capital, social networks, dialectics, the Laffer curve, the historical method, systemic bias, the rise and fall of civilizations, feedback loops, systems theory, and corporate social responsibility.
Franz Rosenthal wrote in the History of Muslim Historiography:
"Muslim historiography has at all times been united by the closest ties with the general development of scholarship in Islam, and the position of historical knowledge in MusIim education has exercised a decisive influence upon the intellectual level of historicai writing....The Muslims achieved a definite advance beyond previous historical writing in the sociological understanding of history and the systematisation of historiography. The development of modern historical writing seems to have gained considerably in speed and substance through the utilization of a Muslim Literature which enabled western historians, from the seventeenth century on, to see a large section of the world through foreign eyes. The Muslim historiography helped indirectly and modestly to shape present day historical thinking."
Historiography.
The history of science in the Islamic world, like all history, is filled with questions of interpretation. Historians of science generally consider that the study of Islamic science, like all history, must be seen within the particular circumstances of time and place. A. I. Sabra opened a recent overview of Arabic science by noting, "I trust no one would wish to contest the proposition that all of history is local history ... and the history of science is no exception."
Some scholars avoid such local historical approaches and seek to identify essential relations between Islam and science that apply at all times and places. The Persian philosopher and historian of science, Seyyed Hossein Nasr saw a more positive connection in "an Islamic science that was spiritual and antisecular" which "point[ed] the way to a new 'Islamic science' that would avoid the dehumanizing and despiritualizing mistakes of Western science." Some historians of science, however, question the value of drawing boundaries that label the sciences, and the scientists who practice them, in specific cultural, civilizational, or linguistic terms.
During the Islamic Golden Age, usually dated from the middle of the 8th century to the middle of the 13th century, scholars and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to the arts, literature, philosophy, sciences, and technology, both by preserving and building upon earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations. Muslim philosophers and poets, artists and scientists, princes and laborers, created a unique culture that has influenced societies on every continent. Scientific and intellectual achievements blossomed in the Golden Age.
Peace.
EDIT: A few achievements are missing that i just remembered (Commerce, cheques etcs) but too lazy to add and continue.
. Islam and Christianity are bashed on a daily (christianity) and weekly basis.
