From Ancient Times to 600 BC The Islamic Golden Age

 Science during ancient times involved practical arts like
healing practices and metal tradition
 3,000 BC - the ancient Egyptians already had
sophisticated medical practices
 3,000 BC - Papyrus, an ancient form of paper made by
the Egyptians from the papyrus plant, a reed which
grows in the marshy areas around the Nile river
 2650 BC - Imhotep was renowned for his knowledge of
medicine

From Ancient Times to 600 BC
 3,000 BC to 1100 AD – papyrus was used as a writing
material in ancient Egypt
 Mesopotamians made pottery using the first known
potter’s wheel.
 horse-drawn chariots were used
 1000 BC - Chinese used compasses to aid in their travel
The Advent of Science (600 BC to 500 AD)
 period of cultural, economic and scientific flourishing in
the history of Islam
 began during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-
Rashid (786 to 809)
 House of Wisdom in Baghdad – scholars from various
parts of the world with different cultural backgrounds
were mandated to gather and translate all of the
world's classical knowledge into the Arabic language
The Islamic Golden Age
 Flourished in the areas of astronomy, mathematics, and
medicine
 Scientific inquiry was practiced
 characterized by having practical purposes as well as
the goal of understanding
 Works of Al-Khwarizmi, Avicenna and Jamshid al Kashi
led to advancement in algebra, trigonometry, geometry
and Arabic numerals.

 Ancient Greeks - early thinkers considered by historians

The Islamic Golden Age
as the first true scientists.
 Medicine - Al-Biruni and Avicenna produced
- collected facts and observations and used them to
explain the natural world books that contain descriptions of the
 385 BC - Plato founded the Academy preparation of hundred of drugs made from
 “Scientific revolution" of the Hellenistic period
medicinal plants and chemical compounds
– Aristotle, Eratosthenes, Euclid, Aristarchus of Samos,
 Physics - Ibn Al-Haytham, Al-Biruni and others
Hipparchus and Archimedes
studied optics, mechanics and astronomy

The Advent of Science (600 BC to 500 AD)  Debate:

Traditionalist view – Islam Science lacked

 “Scientific revolution" of the Hellenistic
innovation
period - produced substantial advances in
Revisionist view holds that it constituted a
scientific knowledge, especially in anatomy,
scientific revolution
zoology, botany, mineralogy, geography,

mathematics and astronomy

- there is awareness of the importance of

certain scientific problems

- there is recognition of the methodological

importance of applying mathematics to

natural phenomena and of undertaking

empirical research