Lesson 11: Sciences by the Arabs

Question 1

EGYPT - Astronomy

Answer 1

• “daughter of the Nile”
• Needed to know times of flooding and drought
• Noticed relation between changes in water flow and changing positions of sun and stars

Astronomy = vital necessity

4,000 BC: 1st known calendar
(360 days)

Question 2

MESOPOTAMIA - Astronomy

Answer 2

• 3,500 BC: Sumerians’ calendar combining sun and moon movements (365 days - more accurate than Egyptian)
• 3,000-2,000 BC: 12 constellations drawn up from mythological images
  => BIRTH OF ASTROLOGY
  Ability to predict seasons and weather through observation of stars and planets made Mesopotamians believe they could also predict future events in the same way
• ~600BC: Chaldeans elevate 7 most visible objects in sky to rank of gods and delicate one day to each
  => BIRTH of THE 7 DAY WEEK

Question 3

GREECE - Astronomy

Answer 3

• Etymology: astronomy from astronomia (star laws)
• Some scientists suggested that Earth is not flat & not center of the universe (proven by Copernicus in 16th century)

Question 4

Astronomy by the Arabs: Beginnings

Answer 4

• Directly inspired by Indians & Persians

1) Religious motivation
=> curiosity and will to learn in all fields
=> some Muslim rituals determined by time and space (5 times of prayer per day)
RELIGIOUS IMPERATIVE

2)Translation & Observatories
- Arabs started with translation of mainly Indian and Persian texts requested by calif al-Mansur
- Abbasids founded 9 naked eye observatories that produced accurate celestial records

Question 5

Al-Khawarizmi: astronomer & mathematician (8th-9th century)

Answer 5

Astronomer
- Zij al-Sindhind(astronomy book of Sind and India)
=> 830
=> first major Arabic astronomy book (synthesis of Greek and Indian astronomy- not revolutionary discoveries)
=> Gave Arabic scientists access, in a succinct and illustrated way to a complete, dynamic map of the sky

Mathematician
- The Book of Addition and Subtraction in the Calculations of India
Innovations:
1) Use of 0 as a natural number
2) Introduced algebra, from al-jabr (completion or mending the fracture) and established its abstract rules
3) Introduced algorithm, taken from his name, for the calculation of possibilities
4) Designed Arabic numerals matching number of angles of numeral to the number it indicates

Question 6

Maryam al-Jily & the Arabic astrolabe (10th century)

Answer 6

• astrolabe from Greek for “measuring the stars”
• Arab astrolabe measures time and exact positions/ used as essential navigational tool for 1000 years

Question 7

Al-Battani (Albatenius): astronomer and mathematician (9th-10th century)

Answer 7

Astronomer
- Established observatory in Syria
- Catalogued almost 500 stars
- Determined length of solar year (off by 2’22)

Mathematician
- Introduced geometrical concepts: sinus, cosine, tangent, cotangent
- Used algebra to measure angles of a triangle

Question 8

MESOPOTAMIA - Mathematics

Answer 8

3,000 BC: one of the first complex systems: Sexagesimal System- 60 based numerical system (still used to measure time and angles)

Question 9

GREECE - Mathematics

Answer 9

• Oldest known Greek mathematics more recent than Mesopotamian
• But, took geometry to new heights with Euclid (3rd century BC):
  => taught in Alexandria
  => The Elements set permanent bases of geometry
  => axiomatic method: Definition, Axiom, Theorem, Proof

Question 10

INDIA - Mathematics

Answer 10

• Most advanced mathematics before Arabs
• Indian numerals borrowed by Arabs

Question 11

Transmission of Arab Mathematics to Europe

Answer 11

• Gerbet d’Aurillac tried but failed to replace numerals with Arabic system but had not learned about 0
  -Leonard von Pisa studied under best Arab mathematicians
  Liber Abaci (introduced Arab mathematics and numerals to Europe)
• From Arabic:
  1) Siffr : zero and chiffre (French)
  2) X (chai): x pronounced “ch” by Spaniards, used to indicate unknown thing in mathematics

Question 12

PREHISTORY - Medicine

Answer 12

• Historically associated with religion and esotericism
• 7,000 years BC: first traces of medical treatments

Question 13

EGYPT - Medicine

Answer 13

~2,800 BC: proof of surgery and other treatments

First to establish universal healthcare insurance free of charge

Question 14

MESOPOTAMIA - Medicine

Answer 14

10th century BC: oldest medical text (elaborate description of symptoms, diagnosis and prognosis)

7th century BC: first known medical library in Nineveh

• Hammurabi code:
  => fixed medical fees
  => penalties on medical errors

Question 15

GREECE - Medicine

Answer 15

700 BC: first attested medical school

• Hippocrates
  => first comprehensive medical book
  => first classification of diseases (acute, chronic, endemic, epidemic)
  => “Hippocratic oath”

-Galen
=> most influential physician of Antiquity
=> wrote thousands of pages covering almost all medical topics
=> reproduced theory or four humors

Question 16

CHINA & INDIA - Medicine

Answer 16

• Based on unity of elements in the universe
• Holistic treatment (affecting different parts of the body by targeting one part) ex: acupuncture

Question 17

Al Razi (Razes) (9th-10th century)

Answer 17

• Differentiated measles and smallpox
• Proved falsity of 4 humors theory
• Established primacy of experiment over theory in medicine
• Physician’s Ethics

Question 18

Abul Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) :
father of surgery (10th - 11th century)

Answer 18

• From Cordoba, Andalus
• Wrote medical treaties
• ”Father of surgery”
  => designed revolutionary surgical tools
  => Innovations:
  1) Separated surgery from general medicine
  2) Autopsy for learning
  3) 2 methods to stop bleeding: tying up large arteries or cauterizing a wound
  4) New surgeries
  5) New technique to remove spider veins
  6) Catgut for internal stitching
  7) Double tip hook and sub dermal sutures for external stitching

Question 19

Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) & Book of Optics (10th - 11th century)

Answer 19

• Astronomer but also contributed to optometry and ophthalmology
• Innovations:
  1) Camera obscura (black room) to show that images that go through the eye are redressed by the brain
  2) Disproved Greek theory of vision
  3) Performed eye surgeries

Question 20

Ibn Sina (Avicenna & Canon of Medicine (10th - 11th century)

Answer 20

• Canon of Medicine: major book in European medical schools until 18th century

Innovations
1) Discovered contagious nature of infectious diseases and introduced quarantine
Described:
2) skin and sexually transmitted diseases
3) meningitis
4) details in respiratory diseases
5) neuropsychological diseases and introduced psychological treatment methods
6) Separated medicine from pharmacology
7) Introduced systematic experimentation and quantification in pharmacology

Question 21

Ibn al-Nafis: physician (13th century)

Answer 21

Achievements:
Discovered
1) metabolism process
2) pulmonary circulation
3) that heart is nourished by its own blood vessels

Question 22

Arab Hospitals History

Answer 22

• Idea taken from Persian Gundeshapur hospital
• 707 AD Damascus: first Arab hospital
  Then network built in Baghdad and other Arab cities

Question 23

Arab Hospitals Characteristics

Answer 23

1) Different wards divided by speciality
2) Separate wards for contagious diseases and long term care
3) Similar facilities for men and women - medical profession also open to women
4) Secular institutions

Question 24

Other medical contributions by Arabs

Answer 24

1) Medical Ethics
Al-Rohawi (10th century): Practical ethics of the physician
Beyond Hippocratic oath, consider:
a) Physician’s morality
b) Physician’s health & hygienic habits
c) Questions to ask and not to ask patients
d) Choice of drugs and obligation to check efficiency

2) Testing and licensing physicians (mandatory in 931 AD)

3) First pharmacies (Baghdad 754)

4) Use of Mathematics in Drug Preparation (measuring doses and length of effects)

5) Use of opium for pain relief (during surgery - until anesthesia in 19th century)

6) Discovery of contamination (14th century by Ibn al-Khatib)

7) Field hospitals (introduced during military campaigns)