Timeline of science and engineering in the Muslim world

Biologists, neuroscientists, and psychologists

• (654–728)
  Muslim mystic and interpreter of dreams who lived in the 8th century. He was a contemporary of Anas ibn Malik. Once regarded as the same person as Achmet son of Seirim, this is no longer believed to be true, as shown by Maria Mavroudi
  .

Mathematics

• 780 – 850:
  al-Khwarizmi Developed the "calculus of resolution and juxtaposition" (hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala), more briefly referred to as al-jabr, or algebra
  .

Chemistry

• 801 – 873: al-Kindi writes on the distillation of wine as that of rose water and gives 107 recipes for perfumes, in his book Kitab Kimia al-'otoor wa al-tas`eedat (Book of the Chemistry of Perfumes and Distillations.)^{[citation needed]}
• 865 – 925:
  glycerine
  . Gave descriptions of equipment processes and methods in his book Kitab al-Asrar (Book of Secrets).

Mathematics

• 826 – 901:
  amicable numbers to be found.^{[citation needed]} Later, al-Baghdadi
  (b. 980) developed a variant of the theorem.

• c. 810:
  Arabic
  .
• 810 – 887: Abbas ibn Firnas. Planetarium, artificial crystals. According to one account that was written seven centuries after his death, Ibn Firnas was injured during an elevated winged trial flight.

Tenth Century

By this century, three

• 957: Abul Hasan Ali
  Al-Masudi, wrote on the reaction of alkali water with zaj (vitriol) water giving sulfuric acid
  .

• 920: al-Uqlidisi. Modified arithmetic methods for the Indian numeral system to make it possible for pen and paper use. Hitherto, doing calculations with the Indian numerals necessitated the use of a dust board as noted earlier.
• 940: Born
  Abu'l-Wafa al-Buzjani. Wrote several treatises using the finger-counting system of arithmetic and was also an expert on the Indian numerals system. About the Indian system, he wrote: "[It] did not find application in business circles and among the population of the Eastern Caliphate for a long time."^[1] Using the Indian numeral system, abu'l Wafa was able to extract roots
  .
• 980:
  amicable numbers.^[1]
  Al-Baghdadi also wrote about and compared the three systems of counting and arithmetic used in the region during this period.

• 1048 – 1131: Omar Khayyam. Persian mathematician and poet. "Gave a complete classification of cubic equations with geometric solutions found by means of intersecting conic sections.".^[1] Extracted roots using the decimal system (the Indian numeral system).

Twelfth Century

Cartography

• 1100–1165: Muhammad al-Idrisi, aka Idris al-Saqalli aka al-sharif al-idrissi of Andalusia and Sicily. Known for having drawn some of the most advanced ancient world maps.

Mathematics

• 1130–1180: Al-Samawal. An important member of al-Karaji's school of algebra. Gave this definition of algebra: "[it is concerned] with operating on unknowns using all the arithmetical tools, in the same way as the arithmetician operates on the known."^[1]
• 1135: Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi. Follows al-Khayyam's application of algebra of geometry, rather than follow the general development that came through al-Karaji's school of algebra. Wrote a treatise on cubic equations which ^{[2][page needed]} describes thus: "[the treatise] represents an essential contribution to another algebra which aimed to study curves by means of equations, thus inaugurating the beginning of algebraic geometry." (quoted in ^[1] ).

Thirteenth Century

Chemistry

• Al-Jawbari describes the preparation of rose water in the work "Book of Selected Disclosure of Secrets" (Kitab kashf al-Asrar).
• Materials; glassmaking: Arabic manuscript on the manufacture of false gemstones and diamonds. Also describes spirits of alum, spirits of saltpetre and spirits of salts (hydrochloric acid).
• An Arabic manuscript written in
  sal-ammoniac, saltpetre and zaj (vitriol
  ).

• 1260:
  Thabit ibn Qurra.^[3]

• Jaghmini completed the al-Mulakhkhas fi al-Hay’ah ("Epitome of plain theoretical astronomy"), an astronomical textbook which spawned many commentaries and whose educational use lasted until the 18th century.^[4]

Miscellaneous

• Mechanical engineering: Ismail al-Jazari described 100 mechanical devices, some 80 of which are trick vessels of various kinds, along with instructions on how to construct them.
• Medicine; Scientific method:
  Ibn Al-Nafis (1213–1288) Damascene physician and anatomist. Discovered the lesser circulatory system (the cycle involving the ventricles of the heart and the lungs) and described the mechanism of breathing and its relation to the blood and how it nourishes on air in the lungs. Followed a "constructivist" path of the smaller circulatory system: "blood is purified in the lungs for the continuance of life and providing the body with the ability to work". During his time, the common view was that blood originates in the liver then travels to the right ventricle, then on to the organs of the body; another contemporary view was that blood is filtered through the diaphragm where it mixes with the air coming from the lungs. Ibn al-Nafis discredited all these views including ones by Galen and Avicenna (ibn Sina). At least an illustration of his manuscript is still extant. William Harvey explained the circulatory system without reference to ibn al-Nafis in 1628. Ibn al-Nafis extolled the study of comparative anatomy in his "Explaining the dissection of [Avicenna's] Al-Qanoon" which includes a preface, and citations of sources. Emphasized the rigours of verification by measurement, observation and experiment. Subjected conventional wisdom of his time to a critical review and verified it with experiment and observation, discarding errors.^{[citation needed}
  ]

• 1393–1449:
  Samarqand in present-day Uzbekistan.^{[citation needed}
  ]

• 1380–1429:
  Ruffini and Horner
  ."

• Ibn al-Banna and
  al-Qalasadi used symbols for mathematics "and, although we do not know exactly when their use began, we know that symbols were used at least a century before this."^[1]

• The Arabic mathematician
  Descartes.^[3]

• A seventeenth-century celestial globe was made by Diya’ ad-din Muhammad in Lahore, 1663 (now in Pakistan).^[5] It is now housed at the National Museum of Scotland. It is encircled by a meridian ring and a horizon ring.^[6] The latitude angle of 32° indicates that the globe was made in the Lahore workshop.^[7] This specific 'workshop claims 21 signed globes—the largest number from a single shop’ making this globe a good example of Celestial Globe production at its peak.^[8]

Modern science

Muslim scientists made significant contributions to modern science. These include the development of the electroweak unification theory by Abdus Salam, development of femtochemistry by Ahmed Zewail, invention of quantum dots by Moungi Bawendi, and development of fuzzy set theory by Lotfi A. Zadeh. Other major contributions include introduction of Kardar–Parisi–Zhang equation by Mehran Kardar, the development of Circuit topology by Alireza Mashaghi, and the first description of Behçet's disease by Hulusi Behçet.

Contributions of muslim scientists have been recognised by 4 Nobel Prizes and 2 fields medals. Abdus Salam was the first muslim to win a Nobel Prize in science and Maryam Mirzakhani was the first muslim to win a fields medal in mathematics.

See also

• Arab Agricultural Revolution
• Islamic Golden Age
• Science in the medieval Islamic world
• Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences
• List of inventions in the medieval Islamic world

References

Citations