TIMELINE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD
7TH CENTURY
- c. 650
- Calid, an Umayyad prince, translated the literature of Egyptian alchemy into the Arabic language.
[EDIT]8TH CENTURY
- 700s
- From the eighth century, the use of glazed ceramics was prevalent in Islamic art, usually assuming the form of elaborate pottery.[1] The first Islamic opaque glazes can be found as blue-painted ware inBasra, dating to around the 8th century.[2]
- c. 700
- An early industrial factory complex for Islamic pottery and glass production is built in Ar-Raqqah, Syria. Extensive experimentation is carried out at the complex, which is two kilometres in length, and a variety of innovative high-purity glass are developed there. Two other similar complexes are also built,[3] and nearly three hundred[3] new chemical recipes for glass are produced at all three sites.[3]
- 754
- The first pharmacy and drugstores are opened in Baghdad.[4] The first apothecary shops are also opened in the Islamic world.[5]
- c. 763
- The House of Wisdom is founded by the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid.
- c. 763
- First Bimaristan (hospital) opened in Baghdad during the Caliphate of Haroon-ar-Rashid."[6][7][8]
- c. 764
- The streets of the newly constructed Baghdad are paved with tar, derived from petroleum, coming from natural oil fields in the region, through the process of destructive distillation.[9]
- 777
- Muhammad al-Fazari and Yaqūb ibn Tāriq translate the Surya Siddhanta and Brahmasphutasiddhanta, and compile them as the Zij al-Sindhind, the first Zij treatise.[10]
- c. 780
- Jābir ibn Hayyān, a Muslim chemist who is "considered by many to be the father of chemistry",[11][12][13] introduced the experimental scientific method for chemistry, as well as laboratory apparatus such as the alembic, still and retort, and chemical processes such as pure distillation, liquefaction,[14][15] crystallisation,[11] and filtration.[14][15] He also invented more than twenty types of laboratory apparatus,[16]leading to the discovery of many chemical substances.[17] He also develops recipes for stained glass and describes lustre-painting on glass.[18]
- c. 796
- The first person credited for building the brass astrolabe in the Islamic world is reportedly Muhammad al-Fazari.[19]
[EDIT]9TH CENTURY
- c. 800
- Tin-opacified glazing is developed by Islamic potters.[20]
- c. 800
- The first insane asylum in Egypt is erected by Muslim physicians in Cairo.
- 800
- Al-Kindi is born. He contributed to early Islamic philosophy, Islamic physics, optics, Islamic medicine, Islamic mathematics, cryptography, and metallurgy. Worked at the House of Wisdom which was set up in 810. He introduces quantification into medicine in his De Gradibus, and he is the first to isolate ethanol (alcohol) as a pure compound.[21]
- 800s
- The first practical windmill, the vertical axle windmill, is invented in eastern Persia, as recorded by the Persian geographer, Estakhri.[22]
- 800s
- Another significant contribution of Islamic pottery was the development of stonepaste ceramics, originating from 9th century Iraq.[2]
- 800s
- Muslim astronomers invent the universal sundial[23] and universal horary dial[24][25] in Baghdad.
- 810
- Abbas Ibn Firnas is born. He "was a polymath: a physician, a rather bad poet, the first to make glass from stones (quartz), a student of music, and inventor of some sort of metronome." He made the earliest recorded attempt at controlled flight, devised means of manufacturing colorless glass, and developed a process for cutting rock crystal. Another invention was an artificial weather simulation room, in which spectators were astonished by artificial thunder and lightning.[26] He also describes clear colourless high-purity glass.[27]
- c. 820
- 'Amr ibn Bahr al-Jahiz wrote a number of works on zoology, Arabic grammar, rhetoric, and lexicography. His most famous work is the Book of Animals, in which he first discussed food chains,[28] was an early adherent of environmental determinism, and argued that different human skin colors arose due to it.[29] He also first described the struggle for existence,[30] and an early theory on evolution resemblingnatural selection.[31]
- c. 820
- Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī wrote The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, more briefly referred to as al-jabr, or algebra. "Algebra was a unifying theory which allowedrational numbers, irrational numbers, geometrical magnitudes, etc., to all be treated as "algebraic objects". It gave mathematics a whole new development path so much broader in concept to that which had existed before, and provided a vehicle for future development of the subject."[32]
- c. 850
- The Banū Mūsā brothers write the Book of Ingenious Devices, in which they describe some of their inventions: the valve, float valve, feedback controller,[33] float chamber, automatic control,[34] Automaticflute player, Programmable machine,[35] Trick drinking vessels, gas mask, grab, clamshell grab, fail-safe system, hurricane lamp, self-feeding oil lamp, self-trimming oil lamp,[36] mechanical musical instrument, and hydropowered organ.[37]
- c. 850
- Establishment of madrasahs, forebears of modern universities. They were institutions of higher education and research which issued academic degrees at all levels (bachelor, master and doctorate).[38][39]The first universities in Europe were influenced in many ways by the madrasahs in Islamic Spain and the Emirate of Sicily at the time, and in the Middle East during the Crusades.[39]
- c. 850
- Oil fields first appear in Baku, Azerbaijan, and generate commercial activities and industry.
- c. 850
- Stoneware originates in Iraq.
- c. 850
- The basic water turbine is invented by Muslim engineers in the Islamic world.
- c. 850
- Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī invents the quadrant, the mural instrument[40], the sine quadrant (also known as the "Sinecal Quadrant"; the Arabic term for it is "Rubul Mujayyab") which was used for solving trigonometric problems and making astronomical observations. He also invented the alidade.[41]
.- c. 852
- according to uncorroborated legendary account, Abbas Ibn Firnas (Armen Firman) made the first successful parachute fall using a huge wing-like cloak to break his fall, near Córdoba, Spain.
- 859
- The University of Al Karaouine in Fes, Morocco is founded by Princess Fatima al-Fihri. It is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest academic degree-granting university in the world[42]
- 865
- Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi is born. In his Secretum secretorum, he described a variety of tools for melting substances and the preparation of drugs.[43] He also classified natural and derivative (artificial)chemical substances.[44]
- 875
- Abbas Ibn Firnas reportedly successfully employed an ornithopter for manned flight.[26]
- c. 880
- Al-Dinawari, the founder of Arabic botany, writes the Book of Plants, which describes at least 637 plants; it discusses the phases of plant growth and the production of flowers and fruit.
- c. 880
- Thabit Ibn Qurra discovers the theorem by which pairs of amicable numbers can be found; i.e., two numbers such that each is the sum of the proper divisors of the other.[32]
[EDIT]10TH CENTURY
- c. 900
- The first public library and lending library are built in the Islamic world.[45] The library catalog is also invented in Islamic libraries.[46]
- 900s
- Muslim engineers invented a variety of surveying instruments for accurate levelling, including a wooden board with a plumb line and two hooks, an equilateral triangle with a plumb line and two hooks, and a "reed level". They also invented a rotating alhidade used for accurate alignment, and a surveying astrolabe used for alignment, measuring angles, triangulation, finding the width of a river, and the distance between two points separated by an impassable obstruction.[47]
- 900s
- Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes) accurately described the chemical processes of calcination,[43][48] solution, sublimation, amalgamation, and ceration.[43]
- 900s
- The first reference to an "observation tube" is found in the work of Al-Battani, and the first exact description of the observation tube was given by al-Biruni, in a section of his work that is "dedicated to verifying the presence of the new crescent on the horizon." Though these early observation tubes did not have lenses, they "enabled an observer to focus on a part of the sky by eliminating light interference." These observation tubes were later adopted in Latin-speaking Europe, where they may have influenced the development of the telescope.[49]
- c. 900
- The first wind powered gristmills and sugar refineries appear in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.[50] The first geared gristmills[51] and the on/off switch are also invented by Muslim engineers.[52] Other inventions from the Islamic world include the paned window, street lamp,[53] mercury escapement mechanism, and milling dam in Iran,[54][55] and diversion dam in Iraq.[54]
- 900s
- Muslim astronomers invent the almucantar quadrant.[56]
- c. 925
- Kerosene was produced from the distillation of petroleum and was first described by al-Razi in Baghdad. He also described the first kerosene lamps (naffatah) used for heating and lighting in his Kitab al-Asrar (Book of Secrets).[57]
- c. 930
- The cartographic grid is invented in Baghdad,[58] and graph paper is also invented in the Islamic world.[59][60][61]
- 953
- The earliest historical record of a reservoir fountain pen dates back to 953, when Ma'ād al-Mu'izz, the caliph of Egypt, demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir and delivered it to the nib via gravity and capillary action, as recorded by Qadi al-Nu'man al-Tamimi (d. 974) in his Kitab al-Majalis wa'l-musayardt.[62]
- c. 953
- Al-Karaji defined various monomials and gave rules for the products of any two of them.[32] He also discovered the binomial theorem for integer exponents.[32]
- 964
- Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi writes the Book of Fixed Stars, a star catalogue thoroughly illustrated with observations and descriptions of the stars, their positions, their apparent magnitudes and their colour. He identified the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is visible from Yemen, though not from Isfahan; it was not seen by Europeans until Magellan's voyage in the 16th century.[63][64] He also made earliest recorded observation of the Andromeda Galaxy in 964 AD; describing it as a "small cloud".[65]
- 965
- Al-Uqlidisi modifies arithmetic methods for the Indian numeral system to make it possible for pen and paper use. Until then, doing calculations with the Indian numerals necessitated the use of a dust board as noted earlier.
- c 980
- Ibn al-Haytham is the first to state Wilson's theorem.[32]
- 994
- Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi constructs the first astronomical sextant in Ray, Iran.
- 996
- The geared mechanical astrolabe, featuring eight gear-wheels, is invented by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.[66]
[EDIT]11TH CENTURY
- c. 1000
- Ammar ibn Ali of Mosul writes the Choice of Eye Diseases, a landmark text on ophthalmology in medieval Islam. In cataract surgery, He attempted the earliest extraction of cataracts using suction. He invented a hollow metallic syringe hypodermic needle, which he applied through the sclerotic and successfully extracted the cataracts through suction.[67][68]
- c. 1000
- Abu Sahl al-Quhi solves equations higher than the second degree.
- c. 1000
- Al-Karaji writes a book containing the first known proofs by mathematical induction. He who used it to prove the binomial theorem, Pascal's triangle, and the sum of integral cubes.[69]
- c. 1000
- Clear glass mirrors produced in al-Andalus.[9]
- c. 1000
- In Al-Andalus, Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi invents complex gearing, Epicyclic gearing, segmental gearing, and the geared mechanical clock. Muslim engineers also invent the Weight-driven mechanical clock.[34]
- 1000
- Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi publishes his 30-volume medical encyclopedia, the Al-Tasrif, which remains a standard textbook in Muslim and European universities until the 16th century. The book first introduced many surgical instruments[71] and a variety of other instruments.[14][72] He also invented the plaster cast[73] cotton dressing,[74] oral anaesthesia, inhalational anaesthetic, and anaesthetic sponge.[75]
- c. 1010
- Al-Sijzi invents the Zuraqi, a unique astrolabe designed for a heliocentric planetary model in which the Earth is moving rather than the sky.[76]
- c. 1010
- Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī hypothesized that India was once covered by the Indian Ocean while observing rock formations at the mouths of rivers,[77] introduced techniques to measure the Earth and distances on it using triangulation, and measured the radius of the Earth as 6339.6 km, the most accurate up until the 16th century.[78]
- 1019
- In Afghanistan, Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī observed and described the solar eclipse on April 8, 1019, and the lunar eclipse on September 17, 1019, in detail, and gave the exact locations of the stars during the lunar eclipse. He also invents the Orthographical astrolabe[79] and planisphere.[80] He also invents a geared mechanical lunisolar calendar analog computer with a gear train and eight gear-wheels.[78][81]
- c. 1020
- Avicenna invents the chemical process of steam distillation and uses it to extract fragrances and essential oils.[82] He also develops the concept of momentum, when he referred to impetus as being proportional to weight times velocity, a precursor to the concept of momentum in Newton's second law of motion. His theory of motion was also consistent with the concept of inertia in Newton's first law of motion.[83]
- 1020
- The geared mechanical astrolabe is perfected by Ibn Samh in Al-Andalus. These can be considered as an ancestor of the mechanical clock.[84]
- 1021
- Alhazen, a Muslim physicist considered the father of optics and pioneer of scientific method,[85] completes Book of Optics.[86] It correctly explains light and vision, and introduces experimental scientific method, laying the foundations for experimental physics. It correctly explains and proves intromission theory of vision and describes experiments on various optical phenomena.[87][88] It also discussesexperimental psychology[89][90] and describes various optical instruments[91][92] such as camera obscura.[93]
- c. 1021
- Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, and later al-Khazini, were the first to apply experimental scientific methods to mechanics, especially the fields of statics and dynamics, particularly for determining specific weights, such as those based on the theory of balances and weighing. These Muslim physicists unified statics and dynamics into the science of mechanics, and they combined the fields of hydrostatics with dynamics to give birth to hydrodynamics.[94]
- 1025
- Avicenna publishes his 14-volume encyclopedia, The Canon of Medicine, which remains a standard text at European universities until the 17th century. Its contributions include the discovery of contagious disease,[95] and introduction of experimental medicine,[96] clinical trials,[97][98][99][100][101] and clinical pharmacology.[102] It also discusses neuropsychiatry,[103] the idea of a syndrome,[104] and early cancer therapy.[105][106]
- 1027
- Avicenna (Ibn Sina) writes one of the first scientific encyclopedias, The Book of Healing. Its contributions include nine volumes on Avicennian logic; eight on the natural sciences; four on the quadrivium ofarithmetic, astronomy, geometry and music; a number of volumes on early Islamic philosophy, Islamic mathematics, metaphysics and psychology;[107] the astronomical theory that Venus is closer to Earth than the Sun; and a geological hypothesis on two causes of mountains.[108]
- 1028
- Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī is born. He invents the "Saphaea", the first universal latitude-independent astrolabe which did not depend on the latitude of the observer and could be used anywhere. He also developed an equatorium, a mechanical analog computer for the motions of the planets,[109] and discovered the motion of the solar apogee.[110]
- 1029
- The purification process for potassium nitrate (saltpetre; natrun or barud in Arabic) was first described by the Muslim chemist Ibn Bakhtawayh in his Al-Muqaddimat.[111]
- c. 1030
- Avicenna "observed that if the perception of light is due to the emission of some sort of particles by a luminous source, the speed of light must be finite."[112] He also provided a sophisticated explanation for the rainbow phenomenon.[113]
- c. 1030
- Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī stated that light has a finite speed, and he was the first to theorize that the speed of light is much faster than the speed of sound.[78]
- 1030
- Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī discussed the Indian planetary theories of Aryabhata, Brahmagupta and Varahamihira in his Ta'rikh al-Hind (Latinized as Indica). Biruni stated that Brahmagupta and others consider that the earth rotates on its axis and Biruni noted that this does not create any mathematical problems.[114]
- c. 1030
- Al-Biruni agreed with the Earth's rotation about its own axis, and while he was initially neutral regarding the heliocentric and geocentric models,[115] he considered heliocentrism to be a philosophical problem.[116]
- 1031
- Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī completes his extensive astronomical encyclopaedia Canon Mas’udicus,[117] in which he records his astronomical findings and formulates astronomical tables. It presents a geocentric model, tabulating the distance of all the celestial spheres from the central Earth.[118]
- c. 1037
- Alhazen discusses the theory of attraction between masses, and it seems that he was aware of the magnitude of acceleration due to gravity. He also discovered the law of inertia, known as Newton's first law of motion, when he stated that a body moves perpetually unless an external force stops it or changes its direction of motion.[119] He insisted these physical laws apply to heavenly bodies as well[120]. He outlines an alternative to the Ptolemaic model in The Model of the Motions of the Planets. His reform excluded cosmology, as he developed a systematic study of celestial kinematics that was completelygeometric.[121]
- 1087
- Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī publishes the Almanac of Azarqueil, the first almanac. A Latin translation and adaptation of the work appeared as the Tables of Toledo in the 12th century and the Alfonsine tables in the 13th century.[122][123]
- 1090s
- Omar Khayyám, a mathematician and poet, "gave a complete classification of cubic equations with geometric solutions found by means of intersecting conic sections. Khayyam also wrote that he hoped to give a full description of the algebraic solution of cubic equations in a later work.[32]
- 1091
- An early university, the Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad, was founded, and is considered the "largest university of the Medieval world".[124]
- 1000s
- The Andalusian agronomist Ibn Bassal (fl. 1038-1075), in his Kitab al-Filaha, describes the flywheel effect employed in a water wheel machine, the saqiya.[125]
[EDIT]12TH CENTURY
- c. 1100
- The bridge mill, hydropowered forge and finery forge are also invented in Al-Andalus.[50] The war machine is also invented in Turkey.[citation needed]
- 1100s
- The astrolabic quadrant is invented in Egypt.[126]
- 1100s
- The Seljuqs had facilities in Sivas for manufacturing war machines.
- 1100s
- Ibn Bajjah is the first to state that there is always a reaction force for every force exerted, a precursor to Gottfried Leibniz's idea of force which underlies Newton's third law of motion.[127] His theory of motion later has an important influence on later physicists like Galileo Galilei.[128]
- 1100s
- Jabir ibn Aflah (Geber) invents the torquetum, an observational instrument and mechanical analog computer device used to transform between spherical coordinate systems.[129]
- 1100s
- Ibn Zuhr invents surgical procedure of tracheotomy[130] and supports human dissection and autopsy. A pioneer in parasitology, he proves that scabies, a skin disease, is caused by a parasite, thus disproving humorism theory.[131][132] He also finds causes of stridor[133] and develops inhalant anesthesia.[75] In The Method of Preparing Medicines and Diet, he describes first parenteral nutrition of humans with silver needle. He also writes early pharmacopoeia, later the first printed Arabic book in 1491.[134]
- 1100s
- Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi writes a critique of Aristotelian philosophy and Aristotelian physics entitled al-Mu'tabar. He is the first to negate Aristotle's idea that a constant force produces uniformmotion, as he realizes that a force applied continuously produces acceleration, which is considered "the fundamental law of classical mechanics" and an early foreshadowing of Newton's second law of motion.[135] Like Newton, he described acceleration as the rate of change of velocity.[136]
- 1100s
- Muhammad al-Idrisi produced a world map and the first known globe. His Tabula Rogeriana was the most accurate world map in his time and was used extensively for several centuries through to the explorations during the European Age of Discovery.[137]
- 1100s
- Damascus becomes a center for innovative Islamic pottery and ceramics.[138]
- 1100s
- Ibn Tufail and Al-Betrugi are the first to propose planetary models without any equant, epicycles or eccentrics. Al-Betrugi was also the first to discover that the planets are self-luminous.[139]
- 1110
- Ibn Tufayl is born. He writes Hayy ibn Yaqzan, a philosophical novel[140][141] which has a strong influence on the Scientific Revolution.[141]
- 1116
- Al-Khazini writes the Sinjaric Tables, in which he gave a description of his construction of a 24 hour water clock designed for astronomical purposes, an early example of an astronomical clock, and the positions of 46 stars computed for the year 500 AH (1115-1116 CE). He also computed tables for the observation of celestial bodies at the latitude of Merv.[142][143] The Sinjaric Tables was later translated into Greek by Gregory Choniades in the 13th century and was studied in the Byzantine Empire.[144]
- c. 1120
- Al-Khazini's Treatise on Instruments has seven parts describing different scientific instruments: the triquetrum, dioptra, a "triangular instrument", the quadrant, the astrolabe, and instruments involvingreflection.[145]
- 1121
- Al-Khazini publishes The Book of the Balance of Wisdom, in which he describes several scientific instruments, including steelyard balance and hydrostatic balance.[146] He also introduces experimentalscientific methods to statics and dynamics, unifies them into science of mechanics, and combines hydrostatics with dynamics to create hydrodynamics.[147]
- 1126
- Averroes is born. He is the first to define and measure force as "the rate at which work is done in changing the kinetic condition of a material body"[148] and the first to correctly argue "that the effect and measure of force is change in the kinetic condition of a materially resistant mass."[149] In Islamic astronomy, he rejects the eccentric deferents introduced by Ptolemy, thus rejecting the Ptolemaic model in favour of a strictly concentric model of the universe.[150]
- 1135
- Sharafeddin Tusi is born. He follows Omar Khayyam's application of algebra to geometry, rather than follow the general development that came through al-Karaji's school of algebra. He wrote a treatise oncubic equations which "represents an essential contribution to another algebra which aimed to study curves by means of equations, thus inaugurating the beginning of algebraic geometry."[32][151] He also invents the linear astrolabe (staff of al-Tusi).[152]
- 1151
- The use of homing pigeons is introduced in Iraq and Syria.[153]
[EDIT]13TH CENTURY
- 1206
- Al-Jazari publishes The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, in which he describes fifty inventions, including mechanical clocks,[36] the elephant clock, camshaft,[157] crankshaft,[158]suction pipe, reciprocating piston motion,[159] programmable humanoid robot[160] and castle clock, automatic gate,[161] paper models, sand casting,[36] crank-driven chain pump,[162] water-powered saqiyachain pump,[163] and water-powered astronomical clocks.[164][165]
- 1213
- Ibn al-Nafis is born. He writes Commentary on Compound Drugs, a commentary on Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine concerning pharmacopoeia. It contains criticisms of Galen's doctrines on the heart and the blood vessels, and was later translated into Latin by Andrea Alpago of Belluno (d. 1520). A printed version of his translation was available in Venice from 1547.[166]
- 1228
- Medieval French reports suggest that Muslim armies used explosives against the Sixth Crusade army led by Ludwig IV, Landgrave of Thuringia in the 13th century.
- 1235
- A geared mechanical astrolabe with an analog computer calendar is invented by Abi Bakr of Isfahan.[167] His geared astrolabe uses a set of gear-wheels and is the oldest surviving complete mechanical geared machine in existence.[168][169]
- 1242
- Ibn al-Nafis, an Arab physician considered one of the greatest physiologists of the Middle Ages,[170] publishes another commentary on Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine called the Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon, in which he discovers the pulmonary circulation and coronary circulation.[171][172] He was also an early proponent of experimental medicine, postmortem autopsy and humandissection,[173] and discredited erroneous Avicennian and Galenic doctrines on the humorism and various parts of the human body.[174]
- 1244
- Ibn al-Nafis completes first 43 volumes of medical encyclopedia, The Comprehensive Book on Medicine. One volume is dedicated to surgery, describing "general and absolute principles of surgery" and various surgical instruments, examines surgical operations, and is earliest to deal with decubitus of patient.[175] Another section is dedicated to urology, including issues of sexual dysfunction and erectile dysfunction, for which it prescribes clinically tested drugs as medication.[176]
- 1258
- The sack of Baghdad results in the destruction of Baghdad along with all its libraries, including the House of Wisdom. Survivors said that the waters of the Tigris ran black with ink from the enormous quantities of books flung into the river.
- 1259
- The Maragheh observatory is founded by Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī at the patronage of Hulagu Khan. It was the first example of the observatory as a research institute (as opposed to an ancient observation post).[177]
- 1260
- The first portable hand cannons (midfa) loaded with explosive gunpowder, the first example of a handgun and portable firearm, were used by the Egyptians to repel the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut. Thecannons had an explosive gunpowder composition almost identical to the ideal compositions for modern explosive gunpowder. They were also the first to use dissolved talc for fire protection, and they worefireproof clothing, to which Gunpowder cartridges were attached.[111]
- 1270
- The first complete purification process for potassium nitrate is described in 1270 by the Arab chemist and engineer Hasan al-Rammah of Syria in The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices.[111][178] He also states recipes for fireworks and firecrackers.[48][111]
- 1270
- Famous psychiatric hospitals are built by Muslim physicians in Damascus and Aleppo.[8]
- c. 1272
- Ballistic weapons were manufactured in the Muslim world since the time of Kublai Khan. According to Chinese sources, two Muslim engineers, Alaaddin and Ismail (d. 1330), built machines of a ballistic-weapons nature before the besieged city of Hang-show between 1271-1273.[citation needed]
- 1274
- The first use of cannons as siege machine at the siege of Sijilmasa in 1274, according to 14th-century historian Ibn Khaldun.
- 1277
- Ibn al-Nafis completes Theologus Autodidactus, the first science fiction novel, where he expresses many themes on biology, physiology, cosmology, futurology, geology, natural philosophy, psychology, andsociology. The book also contains the earliest medical description on metabolism.[179]
- 1285
- The largest hospital of the Middle Ages and pre-modern era is built in Cairo, Egypt, by Sultan Qalaun al-Mansur. Treatment was given for free to patients of all backgrounds, regardless of gender, ethnicity or income.[180]
- 1288
- Ibn al-Nafis writes down notes for upcoming volumes of his medical encyclopedia, The Comprehensive Book on Medicine, adding up to a total of 300 volumes in length, though he is only able to publish 80 volumes before he dies in 1288.[181] It is one of the largest known medical encyclopedias, and was much larger than the more famous The Canon of Medicine by Avicenna. However, only several volumes ofThe Comprehensive Book on Medicine have survived in modern times.[182]
- c. 1296
- The first astronomical uses of the magnetic compass is found in a treatise on astronomical instruments written by the Yemeni sultan al-Ashraf (d. 1296).
[EDIT]14TH CENTURY
- c. 1300
- When the Black Death bubonic plague reached al-Andalus, Ibn Khatima discovered that infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms which enter the human body.[183]
- 1300s
- The spherical astrolabe is invented in the Middle East. Ibn al-Shatir invents a timekeeping device incorporating both a universal sundial and a magnetic compass, which he invented for the purpose of finding the times of Salah prayers.[184]
- 1304
- Ibn Battuta is born. A world traveler, he travels along a 75,000 mile voyage from Morocco to China and back. These journeys covered much of the Old World, extending across much of Eurasia and Africa, a distance readily surpassing that of his predecessors and his near-contemporary Marco Polo.[185]
- 1304
- Ibn al-Shatir, a Muslim astronomer from Damascus, is born. In A Final Inquiry Concerning the Rectification of Planetary Theory, he incorporates the Urdi lemma and eliminates the need for an equant by introducing the Tusi-couple, departing from the Ptolemaic system. It was superior to the Ptolemaic model in terms of its better agreement with empirical observations.[186][187] Ibn al-Shatir's model laid the foundations for the heliocentric Copernican model.[116][188]
- 1313
- The physician Ibn al-Khatib of Al-Andalus is born. He writes a treatise called On the Plague, in which he stated: "The existence of contagion is established by experience, investigation, the evidence of the senses and trustworthy reports."[183]
- c. 1377
- Ibn Khaldun writes the Muqaddimah. It introduces a variety of concepts, including social philosophy, social conflict, Asabiyyah, social capital, social networks, corporate social responsibility, economic growth,[189] macroeconomics, human capital development,[190] and the Laffer curve.[191] It also contributes to biology and chemistry, describing biological theory of evolution based on empirical evidence[192].
- 1380
- Al-Kashi contributed to the development of decimal fractions not only for approximating algebraic numbers, but also for real numbers such as pi.[32]
[EDIT]15TH CENTURY
- 1400s
- More than one million volumes of Muslim works on science, arts, philosophy and culture were burnt in the public square of Vivarrambla in Granada.[193]
- 1400s
- Al-Kashi invents an analog computer instrument used to determine the time of day at which planetary conjunctions will occur,[194] and for performing linear interpolation.[195] He also invents a mechanical planetary computer, the Plate of Zones, which could graphically solve a number of planetary problems, in addition to problems related to the Sun and Moon.[195][196][197]
- 1400s
- Ali al-Qushji finds empirical evidence for the Earth's rotation through his observation of comets[198][199][200]
- c. 1420
- Jamshīd al-Kāshī computed and observed the solar eclipses of 809 AH, 810 AH and 811 AH. He also is the first to use the decimal point notation in arithmetic and Arabic numerals.[201]
- 1424
- Jamshīd al-Kāshī publishes his Treatise on the Circumference giving an accurate approximation to pi in both sexagesimal and decimal forms, computing pi to 8 sexagesimal places and 16 decimal places.[201]
- 1427
- Al-Kashi completes The Key to Arithmetic containing work of great depth on decimal fractions.[201]
- 1437
- Ulugh Beg publishes his star catalogue, the Zij-i-Sultani.[201]
- 1470s
- Tabriz becomes a center for innovative Islamic pottery and ceramics.[138]
[EDIT]16TH CENTURY
- 1500s
- The city of Shibam is built in Yemen. This city is regarded as the "Manhattan of the desert", and is one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction. Shibam was made up of over 500 tower houses,[202] rising up to 11 storeys high.[203] The city has the world's tallest mudbrick buildings, with some of them being over 100 feet high,[204] thus making them some of the first high-rise apartment buildings.[204]
- 1500s
- Al-Birjandi continues the debate on the Earth's rotation after Ali al-Qushji. In his analysis of what might occur if the Earth were rotating, he develops a hypothesis similar to Galileo Galilei's notion of "circularinertia",[205] which he described in an observational test as a response to one of Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi's arguments.[206]
- 1500s
- Shams al-Din al-Khafri, the last major astronomer of the hay'a tradition, was the first to realize that "all mathematical modeling had no physical truth by itself and was simply another language with which one could describe the physical observed reality."[207]
- 1551
- Taqi al-Din invents an early practical steam turbine as a prime mover for the first steam-powered and self-rotating spit and smoke jack. He first described it in his book, The Sublime Methods of Spiritual Machines.[159]
- c. 1556
- Taqi al-Din publishes The Brightest Stars for the Construction of Mechanical Clocks, which describes a mechanical astronomical clock with an alarm.[citation needed]
- 1559
- Taqi al-Din invents a 'Monobloc' pump with six cylinders. It was a hydropowered water-raising machine incorporating valves, suction and delivery pipes, piston rods with lead weights, trip levers with pin joints, and cams on the axle of a water-driven scoop-wheel.[208]
- 1577
- Taqi al-Din builds the Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din, the largest astronomical observatory in its time, with the patronage of the Ottoman Sultan Murad III.
- c. 1578
- Taqi al-Din, at the Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din, carries out astronomical observations. He produces a zij (titled Unbored Pearl) and astronomical catalogues more accurate than those of Tycho Braheand Nicolaus Copernicus. Taqi al-Din is able to achieve this with his invention of the "observational clock", a mechanical astronomical clock that can measure time in seconds.[209] He also employs adecimal point notation in his observations rather than sexagesimal fractions.[209]
- 1579
- The first prefabricated homes and movable structure are invented by Akbar the Great.[210]
- 1580
- The Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din is closed down and destroyed on the orders of Sultan Murad III.
- 1582
- Fathullah Shirazi, a Persian-Indian develops an early multi-shot Volley gun. His rapid-firing gun had multiple gun barrels that fired hand cannons loaded with gunpowder.[211] Another cannon-related machine he created could clean sixteen gun barrels simultaneously, and was operated by a cow. He also invents a corn-griding carriage, which can be used to transport passengers and for grinding corn.[212]
[EDIT]17TH CENTURY
- c. 1600
- The Xebec and Polacca sailing ships are used around the Mediterranean Sea. They originated from the Barbary pirates, who successfully used them for naval warfareagainst European ships at the time. A combination of the fore and aft sails and aerodynamics, along with the improved square sail on the Polacca, allowed these ships to sail much closer to the wind than European and American ships.[213]
- 1600s
- Cartographic Qibla indicators were brass instruments with Mecca-centred world maps and cartographic grids engraved on them. They were invented in 17th-century Iran.[58] The cartographic Qibla indicator with sundial and compass was a Qibla instrument with a sundial and compass attached to it,[214] and was invented by Muhammad Husayn in the 17th century.[215]
- c. 1659
- A seamless celestial globe is produced using a lost-wax casting method in the Mughal Empire in 1070 AH (1659-1960 CE) by Muhammad Salih Tahtawi with Arabic and Sanskrit inscriptions. Twenty other such globes were produced in Lahore and Kashmir during the Mughal Empire. It is considered a major feat in metallurgy.[216]
[EDIT]18TH CENTURY
- 1720
- The Ottoman dockyard architect Ibrahim Efendi invented a submarine called the tahtelbahir. The Ottoman writer Seyyid Vehbi, in his Surname-i-Humayun, compared this submarine to an alligator.[citation needed]
- c. 1790
- Tipu, Sultan of Mysore (r. 1783-1799) in the south of India, an experimenter with war rockets, invents iron-cased and metal-cylinder rocket artillery. He successfully uses them against British East India Company forces during Anglo-Mysore Wars. They influence British rocket development, leading to production of Congreve rockets, soon put to use in Napoleonic Wars.[217][218]
[EDIT]19TH CENTURY
- 1800s
- Introduction of European science to the Islamic world.
[EDIT]20TH CENTURY
- 1924
- Behçet's disease is named after Hulusi Behçet, the Turkish dermatologist and scientist who first recognized the syndrome in one of his patients in 1924 and reported his research on the disease in Journal of Skin and Venereal Diseases in 1936.[219][220]
- c. 1931
- Salimuzzaman Siddiqui was a leading Pakistani scientist in natural products chemistry. He is the pioneer in extracting chemical compounds from the Neem andRauwolfia, and is also known for isolating novel chemical compounds from various other flora in the Indian subcontinent.[221]
- 1944
- Iranian physician and engineer Toffy Musivand is born. He develops an artificial cardiac pump a patient care simulation centre, in situ sterilization, and a variety of other medical devices.[222]
- 1960
- Ali Javan, a leading Iranian scientist invented the gas laser together with William Bennett. The gas laser laid the foundation for fiber optic communication. It is considered the most useful, practical and profitable type of laser in use today. Laser telecommunication via fiber optics is known to be the key technology used in today's Internet.[223]
- 1965
- Iranian scientist Lotfi Zadeh proposed the Fuzzy logic which is a form of multi-valued logic derived from fuzzy set theory to deal with reasoning that is approximate rather than precise.Fuzzy logic has been applied to many fields, from control theory to artificial intelligence.[224]
- 1969
- Iranian scientist Samuel Rahbar discovered glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C), a form of hemoglobin used primarily to identify plasma glucose concentration over time. He was also the first to describe its increase in diabetes.[225]
[EDIT]21ST CENTURY
- 2000s
- In electrochemistry, Iranian scientist Ali Eftekhari[226] is regarded as a founder of electrochemical nanotechnology,[227] particularly for his development of carbon nanotubes, and for developing a method for its mass production.[228][229] Eftekhari also carries out scientific research on the field of fractal geometry, pioneering the concept of fractal electrochemistry.[230][231][232][232][233]
- 2001
- Iranian physicist Mehran Kardar is awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship prize for his development of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation in theoretical physics.
- 2006
- Electrochemical reaction is a concept developed by Ali Eftekhari, who shows that processes can be considered as fractals. This mathematical factor can be used for the improvement of electrochemical reactions, e.g. in fuel cells.[234] He also carried out scientific research on the field of fractal geometry and applied it to different aspects of science, thus pioneering the concept of fractal electrochemistry.[231][232][232][233][235] He was also the first to utilize fractal geometry in theanalysis of texts.[236]
- 2006
- The non-glaring headlamp, a headlamp with a continuous long-distance illumination without glaring effects, is invented in Turkey by Prof. Dr. Turhan Alçelik, and wins the silver medal at the IENA Invention Fair at Nuremberg,[237] and the technical jury's first prize at the 34th International Exhibition Of Invention, New Techniques And Products, at Geneva.[238]
- 2007
- Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, who is both an astronaut and an orthopedic surgeon, performs biomedical research in space. His medical experiments aboard the ISS were mainly related to the characteristics and growth of liver cancer and leukemia cells, and the crystallisation of various proteins and microbes in space.[239] The experiments relating to liver cancer, leukemia cells and microbes will benefit general science and medical research.[240]
- 2007
- "Vertically rising ladder" invented in Turkey by Murat Nural and wins the gold medal at the IENA Invention Fair at Nuremberg. It is designed to climb high points and facilitate suspending there. The user who inserts his/her feet on the movable climbers moves his/her feet backward and forward and climbs upward on the steps. When the user wants to suspend, he/she fixes the climber on the step. The same procedure is followed reversely while getting down.[241]