The Precedents of Modern Science

From the Ancients to Islam’s Golden Age of Science

Valdecañas
Catral
Dy
Ilin
Riego
Serrano
Ancients
Ancient Mathematics

Indian Mathematics Greek Mathematics

- Use of decimals - Geometry

- Use of 0 to represent - Trigonometry
nothingness - Euclid
- Brahmagupta - Pythagoras
Foundations of Islamic mathematical development
-Translation of sources
-Commentary/study
 Chemistry
In the ancient times
 ● Many ancient cultures studied the nature of
Chemistry substances and synthesized useful compounds

● The history goes back as far as the Egyptians,

the Greeks, the Romans, and the Muslims
○ before the philosopher-scientists of
Europe honed the techniques and the
overall methodology

● There was no scientific methodology to their

approach and their studies were based upon:
○ Accident
○ Trial and error
○ Quest for riches
Chemistry Kemi, black (Egyptian)
● the art of transmutations, where black base
Word Origin
metals were converted to other substances

Khymeia, fusion (Greek)

● Fusion of gold and silver; the art of alloying
metals
● Arabic authors added the article al-, to arrive at
al-kimiya
○ Where the Latin word alchymia
originated

Alchimia/alchymia and chimia/chymia were used

interchangeably in the 17th-18th century

Chymistry
● William Newman and Lawrence Principe
● Refers as the entire subject before it was
separated into alchemy and chemistry in the
early 18th century
Chemistry
Current definition

a science that deals with the composition,

structure, and properties of substances
and with the transformations that they
undergo
 ● The Mesopotamian era was the rise of metal-
Chemistry working
Fertile Crescent ○ fuel came from the vast deposits of
bitumen and asphalts sourced from the
region

● Mesopotamian cultures became experts at

manufacturing dyes for textiles and paints,
advanced tanning processes, glassmaking and
blending perfumes

● The first known chemist was Tapputi (2nd

millenium BC), a Mesopotamian female
perfumer
○ distilled the essences of flowers and other
aromatic materials, filtered them and
added water
○ also the first known reference to the
process of distillation
 ● Alchemical techniques as an art rather than
Chemistry science
○ Science were the domain of the priests
Egypt
● Meticulously documented their sources,
experimented and developed new methods,
○ although it was tied closely to the
Egyptian gods, especially Imothep, and
divine provenance.

● Used some refined chemical techniques and their

knowledge was taken and used by the Greeks.
○ Metallurgy: made quality bronze, used
cobalt for coloring glass
○ Glassmaking: made soda-glass
○ Textiles and dyeing: used fire-based
chemistry for making artificial colors
 ● Greeks made few practical contributions to the
Chemistry history of chemistry, instead concentrating upon
Greece rationalism and developing new theories

● Their contributions were largely based upon

theorizing and speculating about the
properties of matter,
○ Attempting to deduce what caused certain
substances to be indivisible elements

● Greeks did not yet make any distinctions

between alchemy and any other natural
sciences, wrapping it together with their
philosophical and religious beliefs
 ● Aristotle firmly believed that all compounds
Chemistry were made of varying amounts of the four
Greece elements
○ Earth
○ Fire
○ Air
○ Water

● And these elements conferred various

attributes to materials

● Each of these elements was made up of a

combination of opposite attributes
○ wet and dry
○ hot and cold
Islam’s Golden Age
Historical Context
 ● Death of the prophet
Mohammed → Caliph
(head)

Historical Context ● Abbasid (Iraq) and

Umayyad (Syria)

● Baghdad = located near

Tigris and Euphrates rivers
 ● Baghdad & Alexandria
became great centres of
scholarship

● Arabia: Crossroads of trade

Historical Context between Asia, Africa and
Europe

● Trade & conquest led to

cultural exchange and
spread of knowledge
 ● Greek and Egyptian texts
were translated to Arabic
(main language of scholars)

● Quran (the sacred bible of

Islam) encourages pursuit of
Historical Context
knowledge

“The scholar’s ink is more

sacred than the blood of
martyrs.”
 ● Built by Abbasid Caliph
Harun al-Rashid

● Dedicated space for

scholarship
House of Wisdom
● Christians and Jews would
peacefully collaborate and
work with Muslims as well
 Chemistry
In the Islamic
Golden Age
Chemistry ● Refined Ancient Greek
Islamic Golden Age alchemy and the founded
the first separation of
chemistry as a separate
discipline
○ although it is probably
too early to call it proto-
chemistry
Chemistry ● Based alchemy upon the
Islamic Golden Age Aristotelian idea of four
elements and integrated it
with their beliefs and into
their studies into
psychology, medicine and
physics
○ To find a Grand
Universal Theory that
described the whole of
perfect creation
Chemistry ● Two names that stand out as
Islamic Golden Age pioneers of the discipline:
○ Jabbir ihn Hayyan
○ Al Rhazes
 ● Made no attempt to separate the concepts of
Islamic alchemy from other disciplines
○ looked at them within the confines of
natural science, medicine and theology,
drawing upon Greek ideas of balance and
perfection

● Methods he used for his experiments are

Jabbir ihn Hayyan familiar to any modern chemist
○ documented methods of sublimation,
Father of Islamic Alchemy evaporation, filtration, calcinations and
crystallizations

● Laid down the framework for conducting,

recording and repeating chemistry experiments
○ a sign of the increasing use of a proto-
scientific method amongst Islamic
scholars
 NOTABLE WORKS

● Looked at the nature of metal, tried to establish

exactly what gave them their different properties

● Refined metals, fabricated and used dyes and

inks, contributed in glassmaking

Jabbir ihn Hayyan ● Used iron pyrites to make gold ink for
manuscripts, which was much cheaper than
Father of Islamic Alchemy actual gold

● Wrote how to create and purify acids; nitric,

hydrochloric and sulphuric
○ as well as the mixture of sulfuric and
nitric acids, known as Aqua Regia, that
can even dissolve gold

● Wrote extensively about the use of varnishes

to waterproof leather and metals
 ● Followed on Jabbir, incorporated many of the
same ideas and using the same terminology

● But still, there were many distinctions and

refinements as he moved Islamic alchemy in
another direction

● Started the process of disconnecting the science

Al Razi
Father of Islamic Chemistry
and empiricism from archaic formulas and
numerology, in an attempt to study physical
process outside the confines of divine will
○ Contained detailed descriptions of the
methodology and the equipment used
during experiments
○ Discussion of metals and other
substances were discussed outside the
confines of spirituality and theology
 ● Meticulous in his documentation, and listed
the apparatus used for his research
○ E.g. crucibles, alembics and a range of
distillation equipment as well as
various furnaces and smelting
equipment

● His book, Book of Secrets, is similar to a

Al Razi modern laboratory manual, in the way it
Father of Islamic Chemistry lays out and collates data
Engineering/Technology
Context ● Pursuit of all knowledge
was encouraged to help
improve people’s lives

● Arab lands were dry and

arid

● Important to develop
technologies for water and
agriculture
Engineering/ ● Elaborate systems of
Technology irrigation
○ Reservoirs
○ Water Wheels

● Public Baths

● Astrolabe (navigation)

● Observatories
Machine that raises water
(from Al-Jazari Manuscript)
Astrolabe
Engineering/ ● Mills
Technology ○ Textile (Tiraz)

● Metal and Copperware

● Production of Manuscripts

● Tools:
○ Pendulum
○ Clock
○ Compasses
 Biology in islam's golden age
of science
Ibn al-Nafis
● "the father of circulatory physiology"

● Syrian Arab physician from Damascus mostly

famous for being the first to describe the
pulmonary circulation of the blood

● performed several human dissections during the

course of his work

● made several important discoveries in the fields

of physiology and anatomy.
Medieval accounts: "struggle for existence" in
the animal kingdom
(similar to the framework of the theory of
evolution)
 In the 13th century,
In the 13th century,
Persian polymath, architect, philosopher,
physician, scientist, and theologian

He is often considered the creator of

trigonometry as a mathematical discipline in its
own right.

● Nasir al-Din al-Tusi believed that humans

were derived from advanced animals,
saying,

"Such humans (probably anthropoid apes) live

in the Western Sudan and other distant corners
of the world.

● close to animals by their habits, deeds

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi and behavior
 ● He is widely considered as a forerunner
of the modern disciplines of
historiography, sociology, economics, and
demography.

In 1377, Ibn Khaldun in his Muqaddimah

stated:

"The animal kingdom was developed, its

species multiplied, and in the gradual process
of Creation, it ended in man and arising from
the world of the monkeys."
Medicine and surgery
Medicine and Surgery

Islamic medicine depended a great deal on

knowledge of pharmacy, anatomy and surgery.

Medical theory was combined with traditional

herbal lore, alchemy and a huge range of material
medica

– natural materials used to create medicines.

Like alchemy, medical theory was based on the
Greek concept of the four elements

(Earth, Air, Fire and Water)

These elements were related to four ‘humours’, and

disease was supposed to be caused by an
imbalance in the humours.
Some of the first
medical schools and
hospitals were
established in
medieval Islam and
were places of study
and teaching as well
as treatment
● Under Islamic law dissections
were forbidden

● Islamic knowledge of anatomy

was mostly derived from ancient
Greece and other sources.

● Surgery was generally a last

resort, but some procedures such
as cauterisation of wounds were
developed by Islamic physicians.
Islamic
Mathematics

http://pureway.org/data/uploads/20
13/12/muslim-art-2.jpg
Background of Islamic - Were often focused on astronomy,
physics, or engineering
mathematicians - Main centers of development:
- Turkey & early Ottoman
Empire
- Central West Asia
(Damascus)
- Arabian Peninsula (as seat of
the Islamic caliphate)
Islamic Mathematicians

Al-Biruni (Abu al Rayhan Muhammad Al-Karaji (Abu Bakr Muhammed al-

ibn Ahmad al-Biruni) Karaji)

- measured earth's radius - al-Fakhri, al-Kafi, al-Badi' -

- translated Greek mathematic algebra without geometry
books including Euclidean - 'ilal hisab al-jabr wa'l-muqabala
geometry - al-Badi'fi'l-hisab - algebra and
square roots
http://www.muslimheritage.com/arti - al-Kafi fi'l-hisab - functions and
cle/science-al-biruni volume of sphere
http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/muhammad-al-karaji, http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/volume-sphere-arabic-mathematics-
Islamic Mathematicians
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
- Tahrir al-Usul al-Handasiya li-
Uqlidis - development of Euclid's
Elements
- Shakl al-Qatta - first trigonometry
book
http://www.muslimheritage.com/arti
cle/new-results-research-some-
mathematical-works-nasir-al-din-al-
tusi
Al-Khwarizmi (Muhammad ibn Musa
al-Khwarizmi)
- Kitab al-Mukhtasar fi Hisab al-
Jabr wa'l-Muqabala - algebra
- Kitab al-Jem wa'l Tafriq bi Hisab
al-Hind -Indian arithmetic with
zeroes
http://www.muslimheritage.com/arti
cle/contribution-al-khwarizmi-
mathematics-and-geography
Islamic Mathematicians
Omar Khayyam (Umar al-Khayyam)
- Mushkilat al-Hisab - extracting
the square/cube roots
- untitled treatise on conic
sections and trigonometric
tables
http://www.muslimheritage.com/arti
cle/%E2%80%98umar-al-khayyam-
omar-khayyam
Banu Musa brothers (Muhammed,
Ahmed, Al-Hasan)
-Kitab ma'rifat masahat al-ashkal al-
basita wa'l-kuriya - volume of the
sphere
http://www.muslimheritage.com/arti
cle/volume-sphere-arabic-
mathematics-historical-and-
analytical-survey#sec3
 Islamic Mathematicians

Ali al-Qushiji Nasuh al-Matracki (Nasuh Ali al-Silahi

al-Matracki)
- Al-Risala fi al-Hisab - arithmetic
and positions of the stars - mathematics in Ottomoan
- Al-Risala al-Muhammadiyya - Turkish
algebra - Jamal al-Kuttab wa Kamal al-
Hussab - Indian numbers and
http://www.muslimheritage.com/arti basic arithmetic
cle/ali-al-qushji-and-his-contributions- - Umdat al-Hussab fi'l-furuz al-
mathematics-and-astronomy mukaddar bi'l-kulliyat -
http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/nasuh-al-matrak%C3%AE-noteworthy-
ottoman-artist-mathematician-sixteenth- arithmetic
centuryhttp://www.muslimheritage.com/article/significant-ottoman-
 Islamic Mathematicians

Ali al-Qushiji Taqi al-Din (Taqi al-Din Abu Bakr

Muhammad al-Dimashqi Ibn Ma'ruf)
- Al-Risala fi al-Hisab - arithmetic
and positions of the stars - Ukar - translation of Thedosius'
- Al-Risala al-Muhammadiyya - Spheres
algebra - Kitab al-nisab al-mutashakkala
fi'l-jabr wa'l-muqabala -
http://www.muslimheritage.com/arti discussion of algebra
cle/ali-al-qushji-and-his-contributions- - Bughyat al-tullab fi'ilm al-hisab -
mathematics-and-astronomy arithmetic in decimal and
http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/taqi-al-din-ibn-ma%E2%80%99ruf- hexidecimal figures
survey-his-works-and-scientific-methodi
Uses of Islamic - Astronomy
- Accounting
mathematics - Geography
- Measurement
- Scholarship
- Transmission of knowledge
Astronomy
Islam and
Astronomy

Definition of Astronomy: the branch of

science that deals with celestial objects, space,
and the physical universe as a whole

Main contributions of Islam:

● Navigation
● Determining Lunar Calendar and
prayer times
● Large observatories
● New instruments developed
 Notable Muslim Navigators:
Navigation ● Ibn Battuta
● Ibn Majid
● Piri Re’is
● Zheng He

Ibn Battuta
● Met 60 heads of state and visited over 40
modern-day countries in more than 30 years of
journeying
● Started in Morocco and reached India and China

Piri Re’is Map

● first to show the
Antarctic Peninsula
and the east coasts of
South and North America
 Observations of the sun and moon were used to
Lunar Calendar and determine prayer times and an accurate calendar

Prayer Times Also used astronomy to determine direction of Mecca,

which is crucial to their faith

Accurate calendars were important to determine

religious festivals such as the period of fasting known
as Ramadan
Large Observatories

Shammasiyya Observatory in Baghdad, Iraq - first Below: Jaipur Observatory in India

observatory built

Right: Taqi al-din Râsid, his

colleagues, and the miniature
of Istanbul Observatory
 Equivalent of a medieval calculator.
New Instruments
Used for a wide variety of observations and
Developed calculations in astronomy and navigation.

Astrolabe
 One of the most important astronomical and
New Instruments navigational instruments used by early Muslim scholars

Developed Used to determine the height of a celestial body above

the horizon

Quadrant
 Recorded the distribution of celestial bodies
New Instruments (planets, moons, stars) in the night sky

Developed

Celestial Globe
REFERENCES
1 Helmenstine, A.M. (2018, October 1). Who Was the First Chemist? Retrieved from
https://www.thoughtco.com/who-was-the-first-chemist-607776
2 Newman, W., & Principe, L. (1998). Alchemy vs. Chemistry: The Etymological Origins of a Historiographic Mistake. Early Science and
Medicine, 3(1), 32-65. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4130048
3 Principe, L.M. (2011) Alchemy Restored. Isis 102, no. 2, 305-312. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1086/660139
4 Shuttleworth, M. (Jun 17, 2010). Alchemy and the Philosopher’s Stone. Explorable. Retrieved from https://explorable.com/alchemy
5 Shuttleworth, M. (Nov 23, 2010). Islamic Alchemy. Explorable. Retrieved from https://explorable.com/islamic-alchemy
6 Science and Technology in Medieval Islam (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/scienceislam_education/docs/Science_and_technology_in_Medieval_Islam-Teachers_notes.pdf
7 The golden age of Islam (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/cross-cultural-diffusion-of-knowledge/a/the-golden-age-of-islam