First Mechanical Clock

Who invented the Clock,

Let's learn it

Mechanical Clock

The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to consistently measure  intervals of time. Water clocks, also known as clepsydrae, along with the sundials, are  possibly the oldest time-measuring instruments. The bowl-shaped outflow is the simplest form of a water clock and is known to have existed  in Babylon and in Egypt around the 16th century BC. Other regions of the world, including  India and China, also have early evidence of water clocks, but the earliest dates are less  certain. Some authors, however, write about water clocks appearing as early as 4000 BC  in these regions of the world. Islamic civilization is credited with further advancing the accuracy of clocks with elaborate  engineering. In 797 (or possibly 801), the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, presented  Charlemagne with an Asian Elephant named Abul-Abbas together with a "particularly  elaborate example" of a water clock. In the 13th century, Al-Jazari, an engineer who worked for Artuqid king of Diyar-Bakr,  Nasir al-Din, made numerous clocks of all shapes and sizes. His book "The Book of  Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices" described 50 mechanical devices in 6  categories, including water clocks. The most reputed clocks included the Elephant, Scribe  and Castle clocks, all of which have been successfully reconstructed. As well as telling the  time, these grand clocks were symbols of status, grandeur and wealth of the Urtuq State. Some of the most elaborate water clocks were designed by Muslim engineers. In particular , the elephant clock by Al-Jazari in 1206 are credited for going "well beyond anything" that  had preceded them. This clock incoporated the first robotics with moving, time-telling figures. The knowledge of weight-driven mechanical clocks produced by Muslim  engineers in Spain was transmitted to other parts of Europe through Latin translations  of Arabic and Spanish texts on Muslim .

Astronomy

Astronomy

The need to predict the phases of the Moon for Ramadan (The beginning and Ending of the Fasting Month) and other religious activites like determining the date of the pilgrimage to Makkah (The Hajj) led to great steps forward in astronomy. During the Middle Ages, astronomy was mostly stagnant in medieval Europe, at least until the 13th century. However, astronomy flourished in the Islamic world and other parts of the world. This led to the emergence of the first astronomical observatories in the Muslim world by the early 9th century. In 964, the Andromeda Galaxy, the largest galaxy in the Local Group, containing the Milky Way, was discovered by the Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (Azophi) and first described in his Book of Fixed Stars. The book was thoroughly illustrated along with observations and descriptions of the stars, their positions, their magnitudes (brightness) and their color. His results were set out constellation by constellation. For each constellation, he provided two drawings, one from the outside of a celestial globe, and the other from the inside. The SN 1006 supernova, the brightest apparent magnitude stellar event in recorded history, was observed by the Egyptian Arabic astronomer Ali ibn Ridwan and the Chinese astronomers in 1006. Some of the prominent Islamic (mostly Persian and Arab) astronomers who made significant contributions to the science include Al-Battani, Thebit, Azophi, Albumasar, Biruni, Arzachel, Al-Birjandi, and the astronomers of the Maragheh and Samarkand observatories. Astronomers during that time introduced many Arabic names now used for individual stars. It is also believed that the ruins at Great Zimbabwe and Timbuktu may have housed an astronomical observatory. Europeans had previously believed that there had been no astronomical observation in pre-colonial Middle Ages sub-Saharan Africa but modern discoveries show otherwise.

Chemistry ? Who invented it?

Who is the inventer of the Chemistry?

Chemistry

The word chemistry comes from the word alchemy, an earlier set of practices that  encompassed elements of chemistry, medicine etc. The word alchemy in turn is derived  from the Arabic word al-kimiya, meaning alchemy. The earliest pioneers of Chemistry, and inventors of the modern scientific method, were  medieval Arab and Persian scholars. They introduced precise observation and controlled  experimentation into the field and discovered numerous Chemical substances. The most influential Muslim chemists were Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber, d. 815), al-Kindi (d. 873),  al-Razi (d. 925), al-Biruni (d. 1048) and Alhazen (d. 1039). The works of Jabir became more  widely known in Europe through Latin translations by a pseudo-Geber in 14th century Spain, who also wrote some of his own books under the pen name "Geber". Jabir is held to be the  first practical alchemist. Kitab al-Kimya is an important work of alchemy by Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber), written sometime  in the late 8th century. Originally written in Arabic, it was translated into Latin and various  European languages. It was translated in 1144 by Robert of Chester as "The Book of the  Composition of Alchemy". It was the most influential of Geber's books in the West. The book,  along with his Kitab al-Sab'een, has been described as being "popular in Europe for several  centuries" and influencing the evolution of chemistry. The historian of chemistry Erick John Holmyard gives credit to Jabir for developing alchemy  into an experimental science and he writes that Jabir's importance to the history of chemistry  is equal to that of Robert Boyle and Antoine Lavoisier. Another muslim chemist Al-Razi developed several chemical instruments that remain in use  to this day. He is known to have perfected methods of distillation and extraction, which have  led to his discovery of sulfuric acid, by dry distillation of vitriol (al-zajat). These discoveries  paved the way for other Persian alchemists, as did the discovery of various other mineral  acids by Jabir Ibn Hayyan. As a pioneer of alchemy, Razi was the first to distill/refine  petroleum and produce kerosene (later used as lamp oil and jet fuel). In the Photo: An illustration of the various experiments and instruments used by Jabir Ibn Hayyan.

Algebra? Who invented it?

Lets learn who invented Algebra

Mathematics

A brilliant 9th century Baghdad mathematician called Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi  invented Algebra. "Algebra" is derived from the Arabic word (al-jabr) and much of its  methods from Arabic/Islamic mathematics. His Compendious Book on Calculation by  Completion and Balancing presented the first systematic solution of linear and quadratic  equations (the basis of computer programming). The system of numbering in use all round the world is probably Indian in origin but the style  of the numerals is Arabic and it first appeared in a print in the work of the Muslim  mathematicians al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi around 825. Al-Khwarizmi introduced the 9 integers from the indian system and explained how zeroes  are used to create multiple of ten, a hundred, a thousand and so on based on the use of  angles. The Indian-Arabic decimal system made arithmetic vastly simple and more rapid. The work of Muslim maths scholars was imported into Europe 300 years later by the Italian  mathematician Fibonacci. Algorithms and much of the theory of trigonometry came from the  Muslim world. And Al-Kindi's discovery of frequency analysis rendered all the codes of the  ancient world soluble and created the basis of modern cryptology. In the Photo: (A): The original Arabic print manuscript of the Book of Algebra by Al-Khwarizmi. (B): A page from The Algebra of Al-Khwarizmi by Fredrick Rosen, in English. (C): A page from al-Khwarizmi's Algebra

Modern Surgery tools who invented them?

Who was the inventer of the modern Surgical Tools?

You will know here the founder of the

Surgical tools:-

Modern Surgical Tools Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas Al-Zahrawi (936–1013), also known in the West as Abulcasis, was an Arab physician  who lived in Al-Andalus. He is considered the greatest medieval surgeon to have appeared from the Islamic World, and has been described by some  as the father of modern surgery. His greatest contribution to medicine is  the Kitab al-Tasrif, a thirty-volume  encyclopedia of medical practices. His pioneering contributions to the field of surgical procedures and instruments had an enormous impact in the East and West well into the modern period, where some of his discoveries are still applied in medicine to this day. Al-Tasrif was later translated into Latin  by Gerard of Cremona in the 12th century,  and illustrated. For perhaps five centuries  during the European Middle Ages, it was the primary source for European  medical knowledge, and served as a  reference for doctors and surgeons. Abu Al-Qasim's al-Tasrif described both  what would later became known  as "Kocher's method" for treating a  dislocated shoulder and  "Walcher position" in obstetrics.  Al-Tasrif described how to ligature blood  vessels almost 600 years before  Ambroise Paré, and was the first  recorded book to document several  dental devices and explain the hereditary nature of haemophilia. He was also the first to describe a  surgical procedure for ligating the  temporal artery for migraine, also  almost 600 years before Pare  recorded that he had ligated his own temporal artery for headache that  conforms to current descriptions of migraine. Abu al-Qasim also described the use  of forceps in vaginal deliveries. He  introduced over 200 surgical instruments. Many of these instruments were never  used before by any previous surgeons.  Hamidan, for example, listed at least  twenty six innovative surgical instruments  that Abulcasis introduced. His use of catgut for internal stitching  is still practised in modern surgery.  The catgut appears to be the only  natural substance capable of dissolving  and is acceptable by the body.  Abu al-Qasim also invented the forceps  for extracting a dead fetus,  as illustrated in the Al-Tasrif. In the Photo: (A): Illustrations of surgical instruments  from a 13th-century Arabic copy  of al-Zahrawi’s On Surgery. (B): Al-Zahrawi’s annotated illustrations  of surgical instruments were circulating in  Europe in Latin translation in the 14th century.

Who invented Medicine?

Who invented Medicine Who Was it?

It's interesting to know that how medical knowledge and treatment from Muslim civilisation has influenced medicine today.

Did you know that...

1. The patients in early Muslim societies might take pills, pastilles, syrups and powders, undergo cataract surgery or have a cast put on a broken leg?

2. In 1924, a manuscript revealed that a forgotten 13th-century Arab scholar had correctly explained a crucial aspect of how our blood moves around the body?

3. Key medical works from the 9th century onwards reached a worldwide audience because Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars were keen to learn from each other?

4. An 13th-century doctor Ibn al-Nafis, who was the first to explicitly state that the blood moves from the heart, transits through the lungs to mix with air and returns to the heart?

5. The surgical tools used a thousand years ago, which look remarkably similar to those we still use today?

6. An 11th-century scholar from Iraq invented and made a hollow needle for removing cataracts?

The first major work appeared when Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya Al-Razi (ca. 841-926) turned his attention to medicine. Al-Razi, known to the West as Rhazes, was born in Persia in the town of Rayy, near Tehran. Al-Razi went to Baghdad to take up the study of medicine at the age of 40.

Al-Razi is regarded as Islamic medicine's greatest clinician and its most original thinker. A prolific writer, he turned out some 237 books, about half of which dealt with medicine. His treatise The Diseases of Children has led some historians to regard him as the father of pediatrics. He was the first to identify hay fever and its cause. His work on kidney stones is still considered a classic. In addition, he was instrumental in the introduction of mercurial ointments to treat scabies. Al-Razi advocated reliance on observation rather than on received authority; he was a strong proponent of experimental medicine and the beneficial use of previously tested medicinal plants and other drugs. A leader in the fight against quacks and charlatans—and author of a book exposing their methods—he called for high professional standards for practitioners. He also insisted on continuing education for already licensed physicians. Al-Razi was the first to emphasize the value of mutual trust and consultation among skilled physicians in the treatment of patients, a rare practice at that time.

Not long after Al-Razi's death, Abu 'Ali al-Husayn ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Sina (980-1037) was born in Bukhara, in what today is Uzbekistan. 

Ibn Sina's life was in fact the stuff of legend. The son of a tax collector, he was so precocious that he had completely memorized the Qur'an by age 10. Then he studied law, mathematics, physics, and philosophy. Confronted by a difficult problem in Aristotle's Metaphysics, Ibn Sina re-read the book 40 times in his successful search for a solution. At 16 he turned to the study of medicine, which he said he found "not difficult." By 18, his fame as a physician was so great that he was summoned to treat the Samanid prince Nuh ibn Mansur. His success with that patient won him access to the Samanid royal library, one of the greatest of Bukhara's many storehouses of learning. 

Ibn Sina was an author of Kitab al-Shifa, or The Book of Healing, a medical and philosophical encyclopedia. His supreme work, however, is the monumental Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb, The Canon of Medicine. Over one million words long, it was nothing less than a codification of all existing medical knowledge.

First Accurate World Map

First Accurate World Map

By the 9th century, many Muslim scholars took it for granted that the Earth was a sphere. The proof, said astronomer Ibn Hazm, "is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth". It was 500 years before that realisation dawned on Galileo. The calculations of Muslim astronomers were so accurate that in the 9th century they  reckoned the Earth's circumference to be 40,253.4km - less than 200km out. In 1166, Muhammad Al-Idrisi, the well-known Muslim scholar who served the Sicilian  court,produced very accurate maps, including a world map with all the continents and  their mountains, rivers and famous cities. Al-Muqdishi was the first geographer  to produce accurate maps in color. In the maps made under Muslim rule, north was drawn pointing downwards. The map drawn by Moroccan scholar Al-Idrisi, was created centuries before  Marco Polo or Columbus explored the world. In the Photo: (A): The Tabula Rogeriana, drawn by al-Idrisi for Roger II of Sicily in 1154,  one of the most advanced ancient  world maps. Modern consolidation, created from the 70 double-page spreads  of the original atlas. (B): Introductory summary overview map from al-Idrisi's 1154 world atlas.  Note that south is at the top of the map.