this is the presentation on role of muslim scientists in science and technology which includes the contribution of muslim scientists in every field

1. THE ROLE OF MUSLIM
SCIENTISTS IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY

2. Muslim scientists have played a pivotal role in shaping
the trajectory of human progress, particularly during the
Islamic Golden Age. During the Islamic Golden Age (8th
to 14th century), Muslim scientists significantly shaped
human progress. Their contributions in astronomy,
mathematics, medicine, and technology, including
foundational work in algebra and optics, continue to
influence modern science. Also their contributions laid
the foundation for crucial concepts such as algebra,
optics, and the scientific method, fostering a spirit of
inquiry that transcended borders and civilizations.

3. The Islamic Golden Age was a period of scientific, economic and cultural
flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century
to the 13th century.
This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign of
the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (786 to 809) with the inauguration of
the House of Wisdom, which saw scholars from all over the Muslim world
flock to Baghdad, the world's largest city by then, to translate the known
world's classical knowledge into Arabic and Persian. The period is
traditionally said to have ended with the collapse of the Abbasid
caliphate due to Mongol invasions and the Siege of Baghdad in 1258.

4. Muslims at the one hand mediated Greek and Latin knowledge and
on the other, had made serious attacks and commentaries on the
work that existed then. They added, for the first time, the ethos of
experiment and observation to science. They founded new branches
that were hitherto unknown. They preserved their global heritage, of
what is called ‘science’ for the thousands of generations – in the East
and the West – that was to follow them in chronology. Preserving this
stock of gold is let alone, an unforgettable and indefatigable
contribution of Muslims to Human Endeavour. But Muslims had
meant much more than mere transliterators or mediators. They were
discoverers and inventors in their own right and a part of the modern
scientific tradition, which the Greeks, Romans, Indians, and Chinese
had promulgated centuries ago.

5. Al-Zahrawi was a tenth century Arab physician. He is sometimes referred to as the
"Father of surgery". He describes what is thought to be the first attempt at reduction
mammaplasty for the management of gynaecomastia and the first mastectomy to
treat breast cancer. He is credited with the performance of the first thyroidectomy. He
wrote three textbooks on surgery, including Manual of Medial Practitioners which
contains a catalog of 278 instruments used in surgery.
In the thirteenth century, Ibn al-Quff was a physician and surgeon who published
numerous books, commentaries, treatises on surgery. Most notably, he wrote
Basics in the Art of Surgery, a general medical manual covering anatomy, drugs
therapy and surgical care, which was by far the largest Arabic text on surgery
during the entire medieval period.

6. The emergence of medicine and pharmacy within the Islamic caliphate by the ninth
century occurred at the same time as rapid expansion of many scientific institutions,
libraries, schools, hospitals and then pharmacies in many Muslim cities. The rise of
alchemy during the ninth century also played a vital role for early pharmacological
development. While Arab pharmacists were not successful in converting non-
precious metals into precious metals, their works giving details of techniques and lab
equipment were major contributors to the development of pharmacy. Chemical
techniques such as distillation, condensation, evaporation and pulverization were
often used.
Arabic scholars used their natural and cultural resources to contribute to the
strong development of pharmacology. They believed that God had provided the
means for a cure for every disease. However, there was confusion about the nature
of some ancient plants that existed during this time.

7. Muslim scientists have played a seminal role in the field of medicine, contributing
significantly to its evolution and advancement.
Ibn Sina's influential work, particularly his comprehensive medical encyclopedia
known as the "Canon of Medicine," became a cornerstone of medical education
in both the Islamic world and Europe for centuries. This masterpiece not only
systematized existing medical knowledge but also introduced new insights,
methodologies, and classifications, contributing to a more holistic
understanding of the human body and its ailments.

8. The Arabs of Al-Andalus exerted a large impact on Spanish agriculture, including the
restoration of Roman-era aqueducts and irrigation channels, as well as the introduction
of new technologies such as the acequias (derived from the qanats of Persia) and
Persian gardens (such as at the Generalife). In Spain and Sicily, the Arabs introduced
crops and foodstuffs from the Persia and India such as rice, sugarcane, oranges,
lemons, bananas, saffron, carrots, apricots and eggplants, as well as restoring
cultivation of olives and pomegranates from Greco-Roman times.
The beginning of construction of the Great Mosque at Cordoba in 785 marked the
beginning of Islamic architecture in Spain and Northern Africa. The mosque is
noted for its striking interior arches.

9. The science of chemistry was started for the first time by Muslims – the word
‘alchemy’ in recognition of this fact. Jabir-bin-Hayyan is recognized as the father
of chemistry. He proceeded Boyle by about 700 years. Muslims chemists invented
nitric, hydrochloric and sulphuric acids, salt of niter, salt of peter, calcium
carbonate and numerous other salts. They invented laboratory analytical
techniques like distillation, sublimation, calcination, crystallization, to mention a
few. Many modern laboratory glassware apparatus owe their designs to Muslim
geniuses.

10. Muhammad Bin Musa Alkhwarazmi is considered to be one of the
founders of algebra. The word ‘algorithm’ is a corruption of his name
or the name of the province in Afghanistan, where he was born. He
used the ‘cipher’ (zero) that was devised in India some centuries
earlier. The very word ‘zero’ is a derivative of the Arabic ‘sefr’ or its
close cousin, the ‘cipher’. His treatise on ‘Algebra and Equations’
(Kitab-ul-Hisab-wal-jabr-wal-Muqabala) was taught for centuries in
European Universities. In his book, which is available in an English
translation, (Pakistan Hejira Council, Islamabad), using analytical
geometry, he proved various Islamic laws of inheritance. Muslims
were hence, the pioneers in analytical geometry.

11. Abu Bakar Muhammad ibn-e-Zakariyya Al-Rhazi (865-925) wrote over 200 books, including
“Kitab-al-Mansoori” and “Kitab-al-Hawi” (The Comprehensive Book). He was in charge of
the Hospital at Rayy, where he was born. He found a treatment for kidney stones. He
proposed the proving of drugs on animals before human experimentation. Zahrawi could
also perform Caesarean sections. As he was asked to propose a site for the building of a
hospital by the Muslim Caliph, he hung slices of meat at different places in the city and
chose the place where the meat was infected at the slowest. Thus he had a thorough
understanding of the concept of hygiene and sterilization. He was the head of the famous
Muqtadari Hospital at Baghdad, which had about 4 international standard hospitals. In fact,
these hospitals had set the standards themselves.

12. Abu Abdullah Al-Batani (862-929) was one of the greatest astronomers
of his time. He for the first time accurately determined the duration of the
terrestrial year to be exactly 365 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 24
seconds. He determine the eccentricity of the earth’s orbit, the mean
and true orbit of the earth and opposing Ptolemaic view, believed in the
possibility of annular eclipses. His work could be hailed as the stepping
stone of the works of Johannes Kepler, Tyco Brahe, and Copernicus,
who followed him by several centuries. Batani’s astronomical tables
were published in the 12th century under the name “De Sceinta
Stellarum De Numeris Stelelrum et Motibus”.

13. Abul-Wafa Buzjani (940-997) of Baghdad was a coveted
trigonometer and astronomer. He devised the construction
of a parabola in a unique way, showed the validity of the sine
theorem relative to spherical triangles, he was well-versed in
using the fundamental laws and identities of trigonometry,
introduced the secant and cosecant for the first time. Much
of the advances and relations in trigonometry can be traced
back to him.

14. Ibn-Sina (980-1037) alone wrote 246 books
including the “Qanun-fit-Tub” (Canon of
Medicine). Canon and its author remained the
supreme medical leaders of the world from the
twelfth to the seventeenth centuries. Even the
oldest English poet, Chaucer has mentioned his
name, amongst the names of three other Arab
physicians in his verse. The names of Rhazi and
Ibn-Sina became household throughout Europe.
Is it judicious to forget them now, when we
remember the names of luminaries of
comparable and lesser influence?

15. It was not Simon Steven from Denmark in 1589, which used a
decimal notation for the first time. Instead, Al-Kashi in his
book, “Key to Arithmetic”, had used decimal and fractions. He
calculated the value of 2 pi corrected to 16 decimal places
using the approximation of a circle by a 805306368 polygon.
Moreover, he described an algorithm to calculate the fifth root
of a polynomial.

16. Half a millennium before Roger Bacon and Leonardo
da Vinci, Ibn-Farnas of Spain had constructed and
tested a flying apparatus ca. 800 A.D.
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Muslim horologists had constructed precise time-keeping
devices that were fully automatic and weight-driven.
Designs and illustrations of epi-cyclic and segmented
gears were provided. Ibn-Farnas of Spain was a skilled
inventor in this regard.
Did Galileo invent the pendulum as he was standing
under a swinging chandelier in a church? No, in fact,
it was Ibn Yunus Al-Misri who had invented the
device in the 10th century and Muslims later on, used
it in their clocks.
Al-Sufi, first marked the Andromeda Galaxy and
charted the heavens at the observatory under the
Sultan Sharaf-ud-Dawla.

17. Muslims had been using logarithmic tables,
centuries before John Napier, the English
mathematician, who is generally accredited with
the invention of the logarithm.
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Many names in astronomy like ‘zenith’, ‘nadir’ date
back to Arabs as well as names of craters on the
lunar surface
The Binomial theorem was not discovered by
Newton. It was a matter of trivial practice for
Muslims to use it for the solutions of their
problems, even before the 10th century.
One of the world’s oldest and scientific hospitals was built
in 707 A.D. by Caliph Walid Ibn-e-Abdul-Malik in
Damascus. Moreover, Muslims had instituted the world’s
oldest apothecary shops and the earliest schools of
pharmacy.

18. Ibn-alHaitham showed how the eye works (although one of his own eyes
was bulged out by the Egyptian ruler, Al-Hakim). He showed that sight is
possible because of light rays being reflected from the object, rather than
rays emanating from the eye, as Greek science would have believed.
Haitham also worked on the Fermat’s principle of least distance of
propagation of light. Moreover, he had anticipated inertia, about 600 years
before Newton. It is unjust to rule out his name in the history of civilization.
Haitham also investigated the theory of diffraction and explained how
rainbows are formed, although Newton, first explained the coloration of
rainbows. It is an open question if Newton studied Haitham’s monumental
“Kitab-al-Manazir”. As early as the 11th century, Haitham had proposed to
Al-Hakim the construction of a dam on the River Nile. Today, the
magnificent Aswan, stands not quite far from the site he had proposed.

19. Ibn al-Haytham, known in the West
as Alhazen, was a Muslim physicist
who made significant contributions
to the field of optics. His work on light
and vision paved the way for the
development of eyeglasses and
lenses.
Muslim scholars developed
techniques for celestial navigation,
which were used for maritime travel
and exploration. The astrolabe, an
instrument used for determining
latitude, was invented by Muslim
scholars.
Muslim scholars developed new
methods for teaching and learning,
which were used in schools and
universities throughout the Islamic
world. They also wrote influential
textbooks on a variety of subjects.

20. In conclusion, Muslims have made significant contributions to the
fields of science and technology throughout history. From algebra
and optics to medicine and agriculture, Muslim scholars have
contributed to the advancement of knowledge in a variety of fields.
By acknowledging these contributions, we can appreciate the
diversity of human knowledge and the shared human pursuit of
understanding the world around us