Working in partnership with Sri Lanka Think Tank-UK & Sri Lanka Muslim Economists Association-UK Chapter
Friday 31 August 2012
Friday 17 August 2012
The Golden Age of Islam under the Caliphate Inventions, Research and Advancements
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During the Middle Ages the Islamic World had a very
significant impact upon Europe, which in turn cleared the way for the
Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution. In the Medieval age, Islam and
Muslims influenced Europe in a number of different ways. One of the most
important of these subjects was Science.
Ever since Islam was born, Muslims had made immense leaps
forward in the area of Science. Cities like Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo and
Cordoba were the centres of civilization. These cities were flourishing and
Muslim scientists made tremendous progress in applied as well as theoretical
Science and Technology. In Europe, however, the situation was much different.
Europe was in the Dark Ages. It had no infrastructure or central government. To
the Muslims, Europe was backward, unorganized, carried no strategic importance
and was essentially irrelevant.
This considering the time period was in fact true.
Nevertheless the Catholic Church (which at the time was the strongest
institution in Europe) successfully convinced Christian Europe that the Muslims
were infidels. This caused Europeans to think that Muslims were culturally
inferior to Europe and thus Europe was unable to benefit from the new
scientific discoveries being made in the Islamic lands before the 1100's. By
doing this Europe kept itself in the Dark Ages while from China to Spain
Islamic Civilization prospered.
During the Crusades there was limited contact between
Muslims and Christians and not much was transferred. As A. Lewis explains,
"The Crusaders were men of action, not men of learning".
The real exchange of ideas which led to the scientific
revolution and to the renaissance occurred in Muslim Spain. Cordoba was the
capital of Muslim Spain. It soon became the centre for all light and learning
for the entire Europe. Scholars and students from various parts of the world
and Europe came to Cordoba to study. The contrast in intellectual activity is
demonstrated best by one example: 'In the ninth century, the library of the
monastery of St. Gall was the largest in Europe. It boasted 36 volumes. At the
same time, that of Cordoba contained over 500,000!'.The idea of the college was
a concept which was borrowed from Muslims. The first colleges appeared in the
Muslim world in the late 600's and early 700's.
In Europe, some of the earliest colleges are those under the
University of Paris and Oxford they were founded around the thirteenth century.
These early European colleges were also funded by trusts similar to the Islamic
ones and legal historians have traced them back to the Islamic system. The
internal organization of these European colleges was strikingly similar to the
Islamic ones, for example the idea of Graduate (Sahib) and undergraduate
(mutafaqqih) is derived directly from Islamic terms.In the field of Mathematics
the number Zero (0) and the decimal system was introduced to Europe, which
became the basis for the Scientific revolution.
The Arabic numerals were also transferred to Europe, this
made mathematical tasks much easier, problems that took days to solve could now
be solved in minutes. The works of Al-Khwarizmi (Alghorismus) were translated
into Latin. Alghorismus, from whom the mathematical term algorism was derived,
wrote Sindhind, a compilation of astronomical tables. He, more importantly,
laid the ground work for algebra and found methods to deal with complex
mathematical problems, such as square roots and complex fractions.
He conducted numerous experiments, measured the height of
the earth's atmosphere and discovered the principle of the magnifying lens.
Many of his books were translated into European languages. Trigonometric work
by Alkirmani of Toledo was translated into Latin (from which we get the sine
and cosine functions) along with the Greek knowledge of Geometry by Euclid.
Along with mathematics, masses of other knowledge in the field of physical
science was transferred. Islamic contributions to Science were now rapidly
being translated and transferred from Spain to the rest of Europe.
Ibnul Hairham's works on Optics, (in which he deals with 50
Optical questions put to Muslim Scholars by the Franks), was translated widely.
The Muslims discovered the Principle of Pendulum, which was used to measure
time. Many of the principles of Isaac Newton were derived from former Islamic
scientific contributions. In the field of Chemistry numerous Islamic works were
translated into Latin. One of the fields of study in this area was alchemy. The
Muslims by exploring various elements, developed a good understanding of the
constitution of matter.
Saturday 21 July 2012
Quran and the Bible in the Light of Science in Tamil
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Tuesday 29 May 2012
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