Muslim Scientist

A Little Overview Of History Of Muslim Scientist

Abu Musa Jabir b. Al-Haiyan (Geber)

 • Jabir b. Haiyan (721-815) was a chemist, physicist, and mathematician and astronomer in the court of Harun Al-Rashid 
• Jabir is considered to be the father of alchemy and chemistry; he popularized the empirical method, invented over twenty laboratory equipments; discovered nitric and hydrochloric acids 
• Jabir wrote over 200 books; his Kitab al-Kimya (Book of Alchemy), translated in 1144 CE, became standard text for European alchemists Scientists delight not in abundance of material; they rejoice in the excellence of their experimental work 

Al-Haiyan Muhammad b. Musa Al-Khwarizmi (Algoritmi)

 • Al-Khwarizmi (780-850) was a Persian mathematician and astronomer who worked at the court of Al-Mamun
 • Al Khwarizmi is best known for the recurring method of solving mathematical problems, used even today and called algorithms
 • His book On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals (825 CE) introduced the decimal number system to the Western world
 • His book The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing (830 CE) initiated the new field of algebra; his books were used as texts in Europe and Muslim world till 16th century 

Yaqub b. Ishaq Al-Kindi (Alkindus)

 • Al-Kindi (801-873 CE) was an Arab philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who worked in Baghdad
 • Al-Kindi wrote some 260 books on geometry, medicine, philosophy, logic, mathematics, pharmacology, and physics
 • He was a pioneer in cryptography and crypto-analysis, music theory and music therapy, fragrant oils and perfumes, environmentalism and pollution; and discussed space-time and relativity
 • Al-Kindi was considered by the Italian Renaissance scholar Gerolamo Cardano to be one of the twelve greatest minds of the Middle Ages 

Muhammad b. Zakariya Al-Razi (Rhazes)

 • Al-Razi (865-925) was a Persian physician and chemist from Ray, who wrote over 200 books and articles in various fields of science
 • Al-Razi was the first physician to distinguish smallpox and measles; he was also a pioneer of neurosurgery and ophthalmology • He discovered alcohol, was first to produce acids such as sulfuric acid, made leading contributions in inorganic and organic chemistry • According to George Sarton, Al-Razi was the greatest physician of Islam and the Medieval Ages.
 • His works remained up to the 17th century the indisputable authority of medicine. Andreas Vesalius wrote his doctoral thesis on Al-Razi 

Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis)

 • Al-Zhahravi (938-1015) practiced, and taught medicine and surgery in Cordoba, in Muslim Spain where he was a court physician to the Andalusian Caliph Al-Hakim II
 • Al-Zhahrawi is known as father of modern surgery; he devised over 200 new surgical instruments such as forceps, scalpels, curettes, retractors, spoons, sounds, hooks, rods and specula
 • He wrote Methods of Medicine, an encyclopedia in 30 volumes that includes sections on surgery, medicine, orthopedics, ophthalmology, pharmacology, nutrition etc.; after the fall of Cordoba in 1010 the book remained hidden for 100 year until discovered and translated into Latin in the 12th century; for the next five centuries Methods of Medicine was the primary source for European medical knowledge 

Muhammad b. Jabir Al-Batani (Albategnius)

 • Al-Batani (858-929) came was from Harran, Turkey and worked in ar-Raqqah and Damascus, Syria
 • As an astronomer, he cataloged 489 stars, produced astronomical tables, discovered precession of equinoxes, and improved estimates of inclination of Earth’s axis; he calculated the length of the year to be 365 days 5 hours 48 min 24 sec
 • His astronomical tables (zij) were thrice translated into Latin, and may have influenced great European astronomers like Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler; Copernicus has quoted Al-Batani 23 times in his book, and a lunar crater is named after him 

Abu Ali Ibn Al-Haytham (Alhazen)

 • Ibn Al-Haytham (969-1039), originally from Basra, Iraq, but spent the better part of his life in Cairo, Egypt
 • Alhazen is regarded as the "father of modern optics“; he described light as a series of particles traveling in straight line at finite speed
 • Alhazen’s achievements include pioneering advances in physics and mathematics; he developed the concept of momentum, enunciated Fermat’s principle of least time, described the attraction between masses, and was aware of the magnitude of acceleration due to gravity; he was the first to state Wilson's theorem in number theory, and formulated the Lambert quadrilateral 

Abu Rayhan Muhammad b. Ahmad Al-Biruni

 • Al-Biruni (973-1048) from Uzbekistan was the scientific advisor to Sultan Mahmud of the Ghaznavid dynasty
 • He was a master mathematician, astronomer, cartographer, geologist, and anthropologist; he compiled 146 known scientific works; his mineral density measurement served as standard for 700 years
 • Biruni pioneered experimental methods in astronomy; he calculated eccentricity of sun’s orbit; he estimated earth radius to be 6339.6 km, only 16.8 km less than the modern value of 6,356.7 km
 • George Sarton described Biruni as "one of the very greatest scientists of Islam, and, all considered, one of the greatest of all times" 

Abu Ali Al-Hussain Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

 • Ibn Sina (980-1037) from Bukhara, Uzbekistan was a child prodigy, who memorized Quran at 10, started study of medicine at 13, and was a practicing physician at 16
 • He listed causes of disease, wrote rules of clinical trials, cataloged the uses of 700 drugs, and was a pioneer in clinical pharmacology
 • Ibn Sina wrote over 450 recorded works; the most famous being The Book of Healing, and Canon of Medicine, that served as standard medical text in European universities from 12th till 18th century
 • George Sarton, author of The History of Science, has described Ibn Sina as "one of the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history 

Omar Khayyam

 • Omar Khayyam (1048-1130) from Nishapur, Iran was a mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, physician, and poet
 • As mathematician, Khayyam explained binomial series and worked out the geometric method for solving cubic equations by intersecting a hyperbola with a circle
 • As astronomer, he demonstrated the rotation of earth on its axis and measured the length of the solar year as 365.24219858156 days, which is correct to fifth decimal place
 • His famous work as poet is his philosophical thoughts Rubaiyat, partly translated into English by Edward FitzGerald 

 Abu Al-Iz b. Ismail Al-Jazari

 • Al-Jazari (1136-1206) was a prominent inventor, mechanical engineer, craftsman, and artist from Diyarbakir in Kurdistan, who designed hydropower driven water supply system to supply water to mosques and hospitals in 13th century Damascus 
• Al-Jazari’s outstanding book on engineering, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, described fifty mechanical devices in six categories, illustrated by miniature paintings; his engineering inventions include cam shaft, crank shaft, segmental gear, suction pumps, automatic machines, water clocks, and a musical robot band
 • According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Renaissance inventor Leonardo da Vinci may have been influenced by the classical automata of AlJazari 

Nasir Al-Din Al-Tusi

 • Al-Tusi (1201-1274) from Khorasan was Persian mathematician, astronomer, scientist, and writer
 • Al-Tusi made very accurate tables of planetary movements; his model for the planetary system was the most advanced of his time
 • After the fall of Baghdad in 1258, Al-Tusi convinced Hulegu to build Maragheh observatory in Hulegu’s capital in Samarkand, Azerbaijan
 • He invented a geometrical technique called a Tusi-couple, which generated linear motion from the sum of two circular motions, and was later used by Cupernicus in his planetary model 

Ala Al-Din Ibn al-Shatir

 • Ibn al-Shatir (1304 – 1375) was an Arab mathematician, astronomer, and engineer who worked as time keeper at the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, Syria
 • He was first to introduce empirical methods in astronomy
 • In his astronomical treatise, The Final Quest Concerning the Rectification of Principles, he drastically reformed the Ptolemaic models of the Sun, Moon, and planets;
 • Ibn al-Shatir’s theory of solar, lunar, and planetary motion was very similar, except for a shift from geocentric to heliocentric model, to that attributed some 150 years later to Copernicus 

Abu Al-Hasan Ibn Al-Nafis

 • Ibn Al-Nafis (1213-1288) grew up in Damascus, Syria; he moved to Cairo in 1236 where he later became the head of Al-Mansuri hospital • When only 29 years old, he published his most famous work, the Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon, which contained pioneering anatomical discoveries, most importantly the pulmonary and coronary circulations
 • He later compiled The Comprehensive Book on Medicine, which included notes for 300 volumes, 80 of which were published in his lifetime; his books were translated in Italy in 1547, and may have helped William Harvey (who studied at University of Padua) to explain his theories of blood circulation