D02 Islamic World Flashcards
Why is the term ‘Islamic Science’ or ‘Arabic Science’ misleading?
- all good science has transcultural character
- not all scholars and science at this time was Muslim or Arab
- it is impossible to determine now what the religious beliefs scientist are
The developmental stages of islamic science
Awareness - understanding that the Greeks know a lot that other people didn’t know
Translation - Greek work into Arabic
New Inquiry - Expansion of knowledge
Revolutionary Thinking - some old ideas are thrown out
3 aspects of Islamic civilization that encourage the development of Science
- Islamic expansion: contact with ancient learning; openness to other cultures
- Muhammed and the Quran welcomed education and inquiry into nature
- The wealth of unity of Islamic civilization supported activities of different religions to broaden knowledge
4 great inventions of ancient China
- paper
- printing
- compass
- gunpowder
Primary strengths of Islamic Science
- mathematics: alegebra is an arabic word
- optics
- chemistry (alchemy)
- medicine
What was science during this time more focused on compared to the Greeks
more focussed on experiment
What was alchemy trying to provide people with
wealth and longevity
what were the 2 objects that promoted wealth and longevity
- philosophers stone: wealth. This converts base metals into gold
- elixir: longevity. this prolongs health and lifespan
what did alchemists think was the philosophers stone
Phosphorous. Got this by distilling urine
What did alchemists discover/invent that were later useful to other chemists/alchemists
- apparatus, glassware
- distillation
- solution and precipitation - they wanted to find a universal solvent that could dissolve anything
- concepts - analysis: separation of components; Transformation
What were Islamic medicine’s main contributions?
- medical encyclopaedias and - the preparation and use of drugs
What did Avicenna study
he was a physician but also a mathematician, philosopher, astronomer and poet
What was Avicenna’s most important book? What did this book include
Canon of Medicine
- incorporated all Avicenna knew about Greek, Roman, and Islamic medicine
- adopted Aristotle’s concept of purpose and nature
- based anatomy off Galen
- had bold and original ideas on philosophy and theology that were ahead of his time that conservative Islamic theologians would not agree with
- stressed diagnosis, disease symptoms and disease names (in contrast to Hippocrates)
What did Avicenna’s book stress that was not stressed in Hippocrates time
Diagnosis, disease symptoms and disease names
How did Avicenna’s work have influence on others
Avicenna’s work formed the basis of curriculum in European medical schools.
