|
|
Sciences
..This is what Islam has to say on Science:
The Arabs who had wielded the arms with such remarkable success, that they had
become the masters of a third of the knows world in a short span of thirty
years, met with even greater success in the realm of knowledge. But the west has
persistently endeavoured to under-rate the achievements of Islam. Writing in his
outspoken book The intellectual Development of Europe, John William Draper says,
"I have to deplore the systematic manner in which the literature of Europe has
contrived to put out of sight our scientific obligations to the Mohammadans.
Surely they can not be much longer hidden. Injustice founded on religious
rancour and national conceit cannot be perpetuated for ever. What should the
modern astronomer say, when, remembering the contemporary barbarism of Europe,
he finds the Arab Abul Hassan speaking of turbes, to the extremities of which
ocular and object diopters, perhaps sights, were attached, as used at Meragha?
What when he reads of the attempts of Abdur Rahman Sufi at improving the
photometry of stars? Are the astronomical tables of Ibn Junis (A.D. 1008) called
the Hakemite tables, or the Ilkanic tables of Nasir-ud-din Toosi, constructed at
the great observatory just mentioned, Meragha near Tauris (1259 A.D.), or the
measurement of time by pendulum oscillations, and the method of correcting
astronomical tables by systematic observations are such things worthless
indications of the mental State? The Arab has left his intellectual impress on
Europe, as, before long, Christendom will have to confess; he has indelibly
Written it on the heavens, as any one may see who reads the names of the stars
on a common celestial globe."
What is Science?
Science, has been defined as, "the ordered knowledge of natural phenomena and
the relations between them. Its end is the rational interpretation of the facts
of existence as disclosed to us by our faculties and senses." The celebrated
scientist Sir J. Arthur Thomson considers science to be "the well criticised
body of empirical knowledge declaring in the simplest and tersest terms
available at the time what can be observed and experimented with, and summing up
uniformities of change in formulae which are called laws verifiable by all who
can use the methods." According to another well known scientist Karl Pearson the
hypotheses of science are based on "observed facts, which, when confirmed by
criticism and experiment, are turned into laws of Nature."
Experimental Method
Observation and experiment are the two sources of scientific knowledge.
Aristotle was the father of the Greek sciences, and has made a lasting
contribution to physics, astronomy, biology, meteorology and other sciences. The
Greek method of acquiring scientific knowledge was mainly speculative, hence
science as such could make little headway during the time of the Greeks.
The Arabs who were more realistic and practical in their approach adopted the
experimental method to harness scientific knowledge. Observation and experiment
formed the vehicle of their scientific pursuits, hence they gave a new outlook
to science of which the world had been totally unaware. Their achievements in
the field of experimental science added a golden chapter to the annals of
scientific knowledge and opened a new vista for the growth of modern sciences.
Al-Ghazali was the follower of Aristotle in logic, but among Muslims, Ishraqi
and Ibn-iTaimiyya were first to undertake the systematic refutation of Greek
logic. Abu Bakr Razi criticised Aristotle's first figure and followed the
inductive spirit which was reformulated by John Stuart Mill. Ibn-i-Hazm in his
well known work Scope of Logic lays stress on sense perception as a source of
knowledge and Ibn-i-Taimiyya in his Refuttion of Logic proves beyond doubt that
induction is the only sure form of argument, which ultimately gave birth to the
method of observation and experiment. It is absolutely wrong to assume that
experimental method was formulated in Europe. Roger Bacon, who, in the west is
known as the originator of experimental method in Europe, had himself received
his training from the pupils of Spanish Moors, and had learnt everything from
Muslim sources. The influence of Ibn Haitham on Roger Bacon is clearly visible
in his works. Europe was very slow to recognise the Islamic origin of her much
advertised scientific (experimental) method. Writing in the Making of Humanity
Briffault admits, "It was under their successors at the Oxford School that Roger
Bacon learned Arabic and Arabic science. Neither Roger Bacon nor his later
namesake has any title to be credited with having introduced the experimental
method. Roger Bacon was no more than one of the apostles of Muslim science and
method to Christian Europe; and he never wearied of declaring that the knowledge
of Arabic and Arabic science was for his contemporaries the only way to true
knowledge. Discussions as to who was the originator of the experimental
method......are part of the colossal misrepresentation of the origins of
European civilization. The experimental method of Arabs was by Bacon's time
widespread and eagerly cultivated throughout Europe....Science is the most
momentous contribution of Arab civilization to the modern world, but its fruits
were slow in ripening. Not until long after Moorish culture had sunk back into
darkness did the giant to which it had given birth, rise in his might. It was
not science only which brought Europe back to life. Other and manifold
influences from the civilisation of Islam communicated its first glow to
European life. For although there is not a single aspect of European growth in
which the decisive influence of Islamic culture is not traceable, nowhere is it
so clear and momentous as in the genesis of that power which constitutes the
permanent distinctive force of the modern world, and the supreme source of its
victory-natural science and the scientific spirit.., The debt of our science to
that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary
theories; science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its
existence....The ancient world was, as we saw, pre-scientific. The astronomy and
mathematics of Greeks were a foreign importation never thoroughly acclimatized
in Greek culture. The Greeks systematised, generalised and theorised, but the
patient ways of investigations, the accumulation of positive knowledge, the
minute methods of science, detailed and prolonged observation and experimental
enquiry were altogether alien to the Greek temperament. Only in Hellenistic
Alexandria was any approach to scientific work conducted in the ancient
classical world. That spirit and those methods were introduced into the European
world by the Arabs."' In his outstanding work The Reconstruction of Religious
Thought in Islam, Dr. M. Iqbal, the poet of Islam writes, "The first important
point to note about the spirit of Muslim culture then is that for purposes of
knowledge, it fixes its gaze on the concrete, the finite. It is further clear
that the birth of the method of observation and experiment in Islam was due not
to a compromise with Greek thought but to prolonged intellectual warfare with
it. In fact the influence of Greeks who, as Briffault says, were interested
chiefly in theory, not in fact, tended rather to obscure the Muslim's vision of
the Quran, and for at least two centuries kept the practical Arab temperament
from asserting itself and coming to its own." Thus the experimental method
introduced by the Arabs was responsible for the rapid advancement of science
during the mediaeval times.
Chemistry
Chemistry as a science is unquestionably the invention of the Muslims. It is one
of the sciences in which Muslims have made the greatest contribution and
developed it to such a high degree of perfection that they were considered
authorities in this science until the end of the 17th century A. D. Jabir and
Zakariya Razi have the distinction of being the greatest chemists the mediaeval
times produced. Writing in his illuminating History of the -Arabs, Philip K.
Hitti acknowledges the greatness of Arabs in this branch of science when he
says, "After materia medica, astronomy and mathematics, the Arabs made their
greatest scientific contribution in chemistry. In the study of chemistry and
other physical sciences, the Arabs introduced the objective experiment, a
decided improvement over the hazy speculation of Greeks. Accurate in the
observation of phenomeha and diligent in the accumulation of facts, the Arabs
nevertheless found it difficult to project proper hypotheses."
Jabir Ibn Hayyan (Geber) who flourished in Kufa about 776 A.D. is known as the
father of modern chemistry and along with Zakariya Razi, stands as the greatest
name in the annals of chemical science during mediaeval times. He got his
education from Omayyad Prince Khalid Ibn Yazid Ibn Muawiyah and the celebrated
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq. He worked on the assumption that metals like lead, tin and
iron could be transformed into gold by mixing certain chemical substances. It is
said that he manufactured a large quantity of gold with the help of that
mysierious substance and two centuries later, when a street was rebuilt in Kufa
a large piece of gold was unearthed from his laboratory. He laid great emphasis
on the importance of experimentation in his research and hence he made great
headway in chemical science, Western writers credit him with the discovery of
several chemical compounds, which are not mentioned in his twenty-two extant
Arabic works. According to Max Meyerhof "His influence may be traced throughout
the whole historic course of European alchemy and chemistry." He is credited,
with the writing of 100 chemical works. "Nevertheless, the works to which his
name was attached" says Hitti, "were after the 14th century, the most
influential chemical treatises in both Europe and Asia."" He explained
scientifically the two principal operations of chemistry, calcination and
reduction, and registered a marked improvement in the methods of evaporation,
sublimation filtration, distillation and crystallization. Jabir modified and
corrected the Aristotelian theory of the constituents of metal, which remained
unchanged until the beginning of modern chemistry in the 18th century. He has
explained in his works the preparation of many chemical substances including
"Cinnabar" (sulphide of mercury) and arsenic oxide. It has been established
through historical research that he knew how to obtain nearly pure vitrilos,
alums, alkalis and how to produce 'the so-called liver' and milk of sulphur by
heating sulphur with alkali. He prepared mercury oxide and was fully conversant
with the preparation of crude sulphuric and nitric acids. He knew the method of
the solution of gold and silver with this acid. His chemical treatises on such
subjects have been translated into several European languages including Latin
and several technical scientific terms invented by Jabir have been adopted in
modern chemistry. A real estimate of his achievements is only possible when his
enormous chemical work including the Book of Seventy are published. Richard
Russell (1678, A.D.) an English translator ascribes a book entitled Sun of
Perfection to Jabir. A number of his chemical works have been published by
Berthelot. His books translated into English are the Book of Kingdom, Book of
Balances and Book of Eastern mercury. Jabir also advanced a theory on the
geologic formation of metals and dealt with many useful practical applications
of chemistry such as refinement of metals, preparation of steel and dyeing of
cloth and leather, varnishing of waterproof cloth and use of manganese dioxide
to colour glass.
Jabir was recognised as the master by the later chemists including al-Tughrai
and Abu al-Qasim al-Iraqi who flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries
respectively. These Muslim chemists made little improvement on the methods of
Jabir. They confined themselves to the quest of the legendary elixir which they
could never find.
·
Zakariya Razi known as Rhazas in Latin is the second great name in mediaeval
chemical science. Born in 850 A.D. at Rayy, he is known as one of the greatest
physicians of all times. He wrote Kitab al Asrar in chemistry dealing with the
preparation of chemical substances and their application. His great work of the
art of alchemy was recently found in the library of an Indian prince. Razi has
proved himself to be a greater expert than all his predecessors, including
Jabir, in the exact classification of substances. His discription of chemical
experiments as well as their apparatus are distinguished for their clarity which
were not visible in the writings of his predecessors. Jabir and other Arabian
chemists divided mineral substances into bodies (gold, silver etc.), souls (sulphur,
arsenic, etc.) and spirits (mercury and sal-ammoniac) while Razi classified his
mineral substances as vegetable, animal and mineral.
The mineral substances were also classified by Al-Jabiz. Abu Mansur Muwaffaq has
contributed to the method of the preparation and properties of mineral
substances. Abul Qasim who was a renowned chemist prepared drugs by sublimation
and distillation. High class sugar and glass were manufactured in Islamic
countries. The Arabs were also expert in the manufacture of ink, lacquers,
solders, cements and imitation pearls.
Physics
The Holy Quran had awakened a spirit of enquiry among the Arabs which was
instrumental in their splendid achievements in the field of science, and
according to a western critic led them to realise that "science could not be
advanced by mere speculation; its only sure progress lay in the practical
interrogation of nature. The essential characteristics of their method are
experiment and observation. In their writings on Mechanics, hydrostatics,
optics, etc., the solution of the problem is always obtained by performing an
experiment, or by an instrumental observation. It was this that made them the
originator of chemistry, that led them to the invention of all kinds of
apparatus for distillation, sublimation, fusion and filteration; that in
astronomy caused them to appeal to divided instrument, as quadrant and
astrolabe; in chemistry to employ the balance the theory of which they were
perfectly familiar with; to construct tables of specific gravities and
astronomical tables, that produced their great improvements in geometry and
trigonometry."l
The Muslims developed physics to a high degree and produced such eminent
physicist as Kindi, Jahiz, Banu Musa, Beruni, Razi and Abdur Rahman Ibn Nasr.
Abu Yusuf Ibn Ishaq, known as al-Kindi was born at Kufa in themiddle of the 9th
century and flourished in Baghdad. He is the most dominating and one of the
greatest Muslim scholars of physics. Over and above this, he was an astrologer,
philosopher, alchemist, optician and musical theorist. He wrote more than 265
books, the majority of which have been lost. Most of his works which survived
are in Latin having been translated by Gerard of Cremona. Of these fifteen are
on meteorology, several on specific weight, on tides, on optics and on
reflection of light, and eight are on music. His optics influenced Roger Bacon.
He wrote several books on iron and steel to be used for weapons. He applied
mathematics not only to physics, but also to medicine. He was therefore regarded
by Cardon, a philosopher of the Renaissance, "as one of the 12 subtlest minds."
·He thought that gold and silver could only be obtained from mines and not
through any other process. He endeavoured to ascertain the laws that govern the
fall of bodies. Razi investigated on the determination of specific gravity of
means of hydrostatic balance, called by him Mizan-al-Tabii. Most of his works on
physics, mathematics, astronomy and optics have perished. In physics his
writings deal with matter, space, time and motion. In his opinion matter in the
primitive state before the creation of the world was composed of scattered
atoms, which possessed extent. Mixed in various proportions with the articles of
void, these atoms produced these elements which are five ih number namely earth,
air, water, fire and celestial element. Fire is created by striking iron on the
stone.
Abu Rehan Beruni, was a versatile genius, who adorned the durbar of Mahmud of
Ghazni. His outstanding achievement in the realm of physics was the accurate
determination of the weight of 18 stones. He also discovered that light travels
faster than sound. He has also contributed immensely to geological knowledge by
providing the correct explanation of the formation'of natural spring and
artesian wells, He suggested that the Indus valley was formerly an ancient basin
filled with alluvial soil. His Kitab al Jawahir deals with different types of
gems and their specific gravity. A voluminous unedited lapidary by Betuni is
kept in manuscript form in the Escorial Library. It deals.with a large number of
stones and metals from the natural, commercial and medical point of view. Barlu
Musa has left behind him a work on balance, while Al-Jahiz used hydrostatic
balance to determine specific gravity. An excellent treatise had been written by
Al-Naziri regarding atmosphere.
Khazini, was a well known scientist ofIslam, who explained the greater density
of water when nearer to the centre of the earth. Roger Bacon, who proved the
same hypotheses afterwards based his proof on the theories advanced by Khazini.
His brilliant work Mizanul Hikma deals with gravity and contains tables of
densities of many solids and liquids. It also contains "observation on
capillarity, uses of aerometer to measure densities and appreciate the
temperature of liquids, theory of the lever and the application of balance to
building." Chapters on weights and measures' were written by Ibn Jami and
Al-Attar. Abdur Rahman Ibn Nasr wrote an excellent treatise on weights and
measures for the use of Egyptian markets.
Biology
The Muslim scientists made considerable progress in biology especially in
botany, and developed horticulture to a high degree of perfection. They paid
greater attention to botany in comparison to zoology. Botany reached its zenith
in Spain. In zoology the study of the horse was developed almost to the tank of
a science. Abu Ubaidah (728--825 A. D.) who wrote more than 100 books, devoted
more than fifty books to the study of the horse.
Al-Jahiz, who flourished in Basra is reputed to be one of the greatest
zoologists the Muslim world has produced. His influence in the subject may be
traced to 'the Persian'Al-Qazwini' and the Egyptian 'Al-Damiri'. His book 'Ritab
al Haywan' (book ori animals) contains germs of later theories of evolution,
adaptation and animal psychology. He was the first to note changes in bird life
through migrations, Re described the method of obtaining 'ammonia from animal
offal by dry distilling.'
Al-Damiri, who died in 1405 in Cairo and who was influenced by Al-Jahiz is the
greatest Arab zoologist. His book Hayat Haywarz (Life of animal) is the most
important Muslim work in zoology. It is an encyclopaedia on animal life
containing a mine of information on the subject. It contains the history of
animals and preceded Buffon by 700 years.
Al-Masudi, has given the rudiments of the theory of evolution in his well known
work Meadows of gold. Another of his works Kitab al-Tanbih wal Ishraq advances
his views on evolution namely from mineral to plant, from plant to animal and
from animal to man.
In botany Spanish Muslims made the greatest contribution, and some of them are
known as the greatest botanists of mediaeval times. They were keen observers and
discovered sexual difference between such plants as palms and hemps. They roamed
about on sea shores, on mountains and in distant lands in quest of rare
botanical herbs. They classified plants into those that grow from seeds, those
that grow from cuttings and those that grow of their own accord, i.e., wild
growth. The Spanish Muslims advanced in botany far beyond the state in which "it
had been left by Dioscorides and augmented the herbology of the Greeks by the
addition of 2,000 plants" Regular botanical gardens existed in Cordova, Baghdad,
Cairo and Fez for teaching and experimental purposes. Some of these were the
finest in the world.
The Cordovan physician, Al-Ghafiqi (D. 1165) was a renowned botanist, who
collected plants in Spain and Africa, and described them most accurately.
According to G. Sarton he was "the greatest expert of his time on simples. His
description of plants was the most precise ever made in Islam; he gave the names
of each in Arabic, Latin and Berber".l His outstanding work Al Adwiyah al
Mufradah dealing with simples was later appropriated by Ibn Baytar."
Abu Zakariya Yahya Ibn Muhammad Ibn AlAwwan, who flourished at the end of 12
century in Seville (Spain) was the author of the most important Islamic treatise
on agriculture during the mediaeval times entitled Kitab al Filahah. The book
treats more than 585 plants and deals with the cultivation of more than 50 fruit
trees. It also discusses numerous diseases of plants and suggests their
remedies. The book presents new observations on properties of soil and different
types of manures.
Abdullah Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Baytar, was the greatest botanist and pharmacist of
Spain--in fact the greatest of mediaeval times. He roamed about in search of
plants and collected herbs on the Mediterranean littoral, from Spain to Syria,
described more than 1,400 medical drugs and compared them with the records of
more than 150 ancient and Arabian authors. The collection of simple drugs
composed by him is the ilaost outstanding botanical work in Arabic. "This book,
in fact is the most important for the whole period extending from Dioscorides
down to the 16th cenfury." It is an encyclopaedic work on the subject. He later
entered into the service of the Ayyubid king, al-Malik al-l(amil, as his chief
herbalist in Cairo. From there he travelled through Syria and Asia Minor, and
died in Damascus. One of his works AI-Mughani-fi al Adwiyah al Mufradah deals
with medicine. The other Al Jami Ji al Adwiyah al Mufradah is a very valuable
book containing simple remedies regarding animal, vegetable and mineral matters
which has been described above. It deals also with 200 novel plants which were
not known upto that time. Abul Abbas Al-Nabati also wandered along the African
Coast from Spain to Arabia in search of herbs and plants. He discovered some
rare plants on the shore of Red Sea.
Another botanist Ibn Sauri, was accompanied by an artist during his travels in
Syria, who made sketches of the plants which they found.
Ibn Wahshiya, wrote his celebrated work al-Filahah al-Nabatiyah containing
valuable information about :animals and plants.
Many Cosmographical encyclopaedias have been written by Arabs and Persians,
which contain sections on animals, plants and stones, of which the best known is
that of Zakariya al-Kaiwini, who died in 1283 A. D. Al-Dinawari wrote an
excellent 'book of plants' and al-Bakri has written a book describing in detail
the 'Plants of Andalusia'
Ibn Maskwaih, a contemporary of Al-Beruni, advanced a definite theory about
evolution. According to him plant life at its lowest stage of evolution does not
need any seed for its birth and growth. Nor does it perpetuate its species by
means of the seed.
The great advancement of botanical science in Spain led to the development of
agriculture and horticulture on a grand scale. "Horticulture improvements" says
G. Sarton, "constituted the finest legacies of Islam, and the gardens of Spain
proclaim to this clay one of the noblest virtues of her Muslim conquerors- The
development of agriculture was one of the glories of Muslim Spain."'
Transmission to the West
The Muslims were the pioneers of sciences and arts during mediaeval times and
formed the necessary link between the ancients and the moderns. Their light of
learning dispelled the gloom that had enveloped Europe. Moorish Spain was the
main source from which the scientific knowledge of the Muslims and their great
achievements were transmitted to France, Germany and England. The Spanish
universities of Cordova, SeviIle and Granada were thronged with Christian and
Jewish students who learnt science from the Muslim scientists and who then
popularised them in their native lands. Another source for the transmission of
Muslim scientific knowledge was Sicily, where during the reign of Muslim kings
and even afterwards a large number of scientific works were translated from
Arabic into Latin. The most prominent translators who translated Muslims works
from Arabic into European languages were Gerard of Cremona, Adelard of Bath,
Roger Bacon and Robert Chester. Writing in his celebrated work Moors in Spain
Stanley Lane Poole says, "For nearly eight centuries under the Mohammadan
rulers, Spain set out to all Europe a shining example of a civilized and
enlightened State--Arts, literature and science prospered as they prospered
nowhere in Europe. Students flocked from France, Germany and England to drink
from the fountain of learning which flowed down in the cities of Moors. The
surgeons and doctors of Andalusia were in the van of science; women were
encouraged to serious study and the lady doctor was not always unknown among the
people of Cordova. Mathematics, astronomy and botany, history, philosophy and
jurisprudence, were to be mastered in Spain, and Spain alone. The practical work
of the field, the scientific methods of irrigation, the arts of fortification
and shipbuilding, of the highest and most elaborate products of the loom, the
gravel and the hammer, the potter's wheel and mason's trowel, were brought to
perfection by the Spanish Moors. Whatever makes a kingdom great and prosperous,
whatever tends to refinement and civilization was found in Muslim Spain."l
The students flocked to Spanish cities from all parts of Europe to be infused
with the light of learning which lit up Moorish Spain. Another western historian
writes, "The light of these universities shone far beyond the Muslim world, and
drew students to them from east and west. At Cordova in particular there were a
number of Christian students, and the influence of Arab philosophy coming by way
of Spain upon universities of Paris, Oxford and North Italy and upon western
Europe thought generally, was very considerable indeed. The book copying
industry flourished at Alexandria, Damascus, Cairo and Baghdad and about the
year 970, there were 27 free schools open in Cordova for the education of the
poor.
Such were the great achievements of Muslims in the field of science which paved
the way for the growth of modern sciences.
http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/science-tech/40641-science-islamic-world-quest-rapprochement.html
|
