Setting the Record Straight: The Miracle of Islamic Science
Excerpted from: Appendix B of 'The
Miracle of Islamic Science' by Dr. K. Ajram, Copyright ©
1992 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 14th century masterpieces provide a detailed view of the
geography of the ancient world. The Muslim geographers of the 10th
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.
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).
For biographies of Muslim Scholars mentioned in this article, visit the Web
Site: Muslim Scientists
and Islamic Civilization.
For authors and books mentioned in this article, refer to the author's book
'The Miracle of Islamic Science'. Also, Refer to Dr. Ajram's companion book
'Incredible Islamic Scientists: Incredible Facts About Incredible Men - 500
Multiple Choice, Short Answers and True-False Questions', 1992, p. 136. ISBN
0911119485.
Copyright © 1992 K. Ajram, 'The
Miracle of Islamic Science', p. 200. ISBN 0-911119-43-4
Muhammad
Kamran's Home Page