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Arabic Science I

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Saved by lindsey
on September 28, 2008 at 6:28:23 pm
 

Arabic Science I

 

   

     The rise of the Islamic empire led to the growth of Greek natural philosophy. Islamic philosophy centered on the teachings of Mohammad and how to further them, helping to lead the Islamic world into greater discoveries in the mathematical sciences.

 

     The spread of Islam occurred within a very short timespan, about 200 years from the time Muhammad began to teach in Mecca. This fast spreading of Islam can be attributed to the forced conversions of pagans (non-Christians and non-Jews), the concept of Jihad (Holy War), and the use of Arabic as a common language. The fast growth of Islam also helped create a diverse society in which the natural philosophies flourished. After the death of Mohammad, The areas of Islam were separated into small kingdoms that were governed by caliphs. These people controlled what went on as a whole in the region.

 

     In Baghdad during the Abbasid Dynasty, and under the supervision of Caliphate Al-Mamun, a large movement to translate the Greek texts into Arabic was undertaken. Baghdad was considered the center of tranlation in the Arabic world. Al-Mamun sent out people to gather documents from across the Grecian and Arabic world to translate texts into Arabic. They found large amount of Syriac texts from the Nestorian Christians and these were translated.

 

     Three of the most important translators were Hunayn ibn-Ishaq, who translated Galen, Timaeus, and Aristotle, Ishaq ibn-Hunayn, who translated the Almagest, and Thabit ibn-Qurra, who translated Greek mathematics. The majority of these translations were from Syriac to Arabic and done sentence by sentence to keep the meaning of the text (semantic translation). Not only were they translated well, they were also compared to other translations to ensure the accuracy of the translations in circulation. By 1000 A.D., nearly all of the Greek corpus had been translated into Arabic.

 

     The reasons for translations of the texts ranged from practical means to plain curiosity. Galen was useful because of his experience with medicine. Ptolemy's astronomical insight was needed in order to create a calendar to start the sacred months of the Islamic culture. Also, Ptolemy's astronomy was used to help determine the direction of Mecca, a city to which daily prayers are directed. Aristotle's logic was used to defend the Islamic faith. For the most part, Greek natural philosophy was used to aid in the practice of Islam.

 

     In practicing Islam the Arabic world created many libraries. Some located in Cairo, Toledo, and many other places scattered about the Islamic world. This effort helped to create the first observatories. At a young age, students learned the fundamentals of education, how to read and write in a mosque or at a teacher's house.  Once mastered, students studied the Koran, other indigenous writings, poetry and history, and learning was mainly based on memorization.  This studying also led to the creation of a “college” like place called madrasas, which was a private school where one studied with a specific master in the religious law and mathematics to aid in their religious studies.

 

     The major achievements of the Islamic period was as follows in each subject.

 

     Mathematics: Arabic Numerals and the idea of “zero”, a concept which was borrowed from Indians, quickly speard across the land. Algebra also came about, and while the subject was practiced differently during this time, it was used to come to the same conclusions algebra is used for today. The idea of logarithms and trigonometry also came from the Islamic world.

 

     Astronomy: Observatories came into existence, and new instruments were created.  Islamic astronomy was largely based on the continuatin of cosmologies and mathematics presented by the Greeks.  The Islamic astronomers focused on three main features, the first being further mastery of Ptolemy's Almagest, in which they corrected and checked the parameters of Ptolemaic planetary models.  The second focus was on the attempt to create  planetary models that were accurate with calculations and mathematical predictions.  Lastly, Islamic scientists established astronomical observatories as institutional homes for astronomers and activities.  

 

     Optics: Ibn Al-Haytham made great contributions to mathematical science, including resolving descrepancies between the mathematical models of Ptolemy's Almagest and the physical model he presented.  Qusta idn Luqa and Ahmad ibn Isa also studied reflection in concave mirrors, and Abu Ishaq al-Kindi claimed that light does not radiate from a luminous object as a unit, but in all directions from each point ont he surface of the object.  This theory, described in the book, The Book of Optics, along with other theories of vision, became Europe's fundamental principal on the science of optics.  Later, two other experimentors analyzed the refraction of light leading to the geometrical equivalent of the modern law of refraction.

 

     Medicine: Critical discussions on Galen were common. Pulmonary circulation was discovered.

 

     Most importantly, the Islamic world began to question and discuss the very texts they were translating. This essentially added onto the knowledge they were translating from the Greeks.

 

 


  

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