Islamic Science, An Illustrated study by Sayyed Hossein Nasr
Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 10:47 pm
I'll share with you this book which contains a lot of attractive pictures, manuscripts and instruments of Islamic Science. It was written by Sayyid Nasr who is the first person to have coined the term "Islamic science". Prior to his book, western writers mostly refered to Islamic science as only Arabic science . For instance, they will refer to Avicenna (Ibn Sina) as an Arab physician and philosper. Nasr set the record straight when he published this influential book in 1931 that Islamic thought and contribution to world civilization was the integration of diverse peoples united by faith.
Fields of knowledge like Math and Medicine flourished in Islamic Caliphates due to Mamun's love and creation of a safe environment by funding the House of Wisdom where muslim scholars interpreated old text books and wrote new ones (House of Wisdom is today's Research and Development centers). Advanced Astronomy, Medicine, advanced surgical operation, Physics, Chemistry were all invented and perfected during the golden age of Islam. For instance, Al-Khawarizmi's discovery of Algebra and Differentiation born out of a long-sought solution for the Complex Inheritance Laws of Islam.
Yes, other civilizations were fundamental source of contribution, but the integration and perfection of Modern Science, Physics, Chemistry, Philosophy, and Medicine were mainly contributed by Islamic scholars who were led by their faith that the "Light of a learned man is like that of a Full Moon"(Hadith). Without Islam's making of world rennaisance, where would we be today?.
ISLAM neither discriminates nor treats any race or society as superior to another. If you are Muslim, all Muslims are your brothers and sisters as ALLAH commands Muslims in the Holy Koran to treat every Muslim in equity.
You have to see things through the lens of this fundamental Concept.
Read a quite biased Review of the book. I recommend that you purchase and make it your shelf book.
-------------------------------------------------------
SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR, Islamic science. An illtustrated study, [London], World of
Islam
As part of the Festival of the World of Islam, held in London in 1977, this elegant
book complements the remarkable exhibition mounted at the Science Museum. It
is the first work on Islamic science to combine the study and analysis of texts with
illustrations, of which there are 135 in colour and 94 in black and white. The illustrations
are beautifully produced, and make the book unique. After a general account of
the rise of Islamic sciences and of the Islamic educational system, there are chapters
dealing in turn with mathematics, the pure and the applied sciences. There is a chapter
on 'Medicine and pharmacology' (pp. 153-192), which unfortunately contains a number of errors, especially relating to Greek medical theory, indicating that Professor
Nasr is not familiar with all of the recent literature. Thus on p. 161 the faulty
diagram of Galen's cardio-vascular system, first used by Charles Singer, is reproduced.
Also in this section, and elsewhere, although the illustrations are numerous and
dramatic, they are not described adequately nor keyed into the text. Perhaps a better
plan would have been to adopt multiple rather than single authorship for such a
large and complex field.
Professor Nasr is contrasting the Golden Age of Islam with modern technological
civilization, which can be a hazardous and unhistorical approach. He also credits the
Arabs with more inventions than they actually made. However, there is a great deal
of valuable data presented with full documentation. There is also a useful 'Glossary'
of Arabic terms, a 'Select bibliography in European languages', and an excellent
index.
Source: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picren ... obtype=pdf
Fields of knowledge like Math and Medicine flourished in Islamic Caliphates due to Mamun's love and creation of a safe environment by funding the House of Wisdom where muslim scholars interpreated old text books and wrote new ones (House of Wisdom is today's Research and Development centers). Advanced Astronomy, Medicine, advanced surgical operation, Physics, Chemistry were all invented and perfected during the golden age of Islam. For instance, Al-Khawarizmi's discovery of Algebra and Differentiation born out of a long-sought solution for the Complex Inheritance Laws of Islam.
Yes, other civilizations were fundamental source of contribution, but the integration and perfection of Modern Science, Physics, Chemistry, Philosophy, and Medicine were mainly contributed by Islamic scholars who were led by their faith that the "Light of a learned man is like that of a Full Moon"(Hadith). Without Islam's making of world rennaisance, where would we be today?.
ISLAM neither discriminates nor treats any race or society as superior to another. If you are Muslim, all Muslims are your brothers and sisters as ALLAH commands Muslims in the Holy Koran to treat every Muslim in equity.
You have to see things through the lens of this fundamental Concept.
Read a quite biased Review of the book. I recommend that you purchase and make it your shelf book.
-------------------------------------------------------
SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR, Islamic science. An illtustrated study, [London], World of
Islam
As part of the Festival of the World of Islam, held in London in 1977, this elegant
book complements the remarkable exhibition mounted at the Science Museum. It
is the first work on Islamic science to combine the study and analysis of texts with
illustrations, of which there are 135 in colour and 94 in black and white. The illustrations
are beautifully produced, and make the book unique. After a general account of
the rise of Islamic sciences and of the Islamic educational system, there are chapters
dealing in turn with mathematics, the pure and the applied sciences. There is a chapter
on 'Medicine and pharmacology' (pp. 153-192), which unfortunately contains a number of errors, especially relating to Greek medical theory, indicating that Professor
Nasr is not familiar with all of the recent literature. Thus on p. 161 the faulty
diagram of Galen's cardio-vascular system, first used by Charles Singer, is reproduced.
Also in this section, and elsewhere, although the illustrations are numerous and
dramatic, they are not described adequately nor keyed into the text. Perhaps a better
plan would have been to adopt multiple rather than single authorship for such a
large and complex field.
Professor Nasr is contrasting the Golden Age of Islam with modern technological
civilization, which can be a hazardous and unhistorical approach. He also credits the
Arabs with more inventions than they actually made. However, there is a great deal
of valuable data presented with full documentation. There is also a useful 'Glossary'
of Arabic terms, a 'Select bibliography in European languages', and an excellent
index.
Source: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picren ... obtype=pdf
..Islamic Science was at its height because of the Mutazilah ( Rationalists)..when the traditionalists took over everything came to a standstill almost immediately.