The religion of Islam significantly influenced
knowledge-making in the greater Mediterranean and western Asian world. Islamicate scholarsāmeaning people influenced
by Islamic civilization, regardless of their religious viewsāgave us terms such as āalgebra,ā
āazimuth,ā āalgorithm,ā āalcohol,ā āalkali,ā and āalembic.ā Weāll dive into Islamic medicine and philosophers
such as the great Persian polymath Ibn Sina in future episodes. For now, letās explore the beginnings of
Islamicate natural philosophy. [Intro Music Plays] Islamicate power expanded rapidly after the
Prophet Muhammadās death in CE 632. What began as one vast Arab-governed state
soon fractured into two spheres of political influence: a western one centered in southern
Spain, with a capital at CĆ³rdoba, and an eastern one including the great cities of
northern Africa as well as Arabia and Mesopotamia. This eastern empire, the highly urbanized
Abbasid Caliphate, existed in some form, increasingly fragmented,
from 750ā1517. The Abbasid Caliphate was a crossroads or
trading zone for Persian, Indian, and Byzantine cultures, as well as for the religions of
Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. Many languages flourished across the Abbasid
Caliphate, as they did in the Emirate of CĆ³rdoba. This blend of cultures and belief systems
made early Islamicate science cosmopolitanāthat is, generally inclusive in character. A high literacy rate thanks to Islamās focus
on the Qurāan meant that many peopleāwell, noble men, at leastācould study natural
philosophical texts. Further, Islam-the-religion called on its
adherents to treat others as equals, helping make Islamicate knowledge production more
egalitarian. And ongoing support by pious philanthropists
including heads of states allowed Islamicate polymaths to study natural phenomena systematically. Baghdad, the first Abbasid capital, was founded by its second caliph, al-Mansur, in 754. A sprawling metropolis quickly grew up around
the original, carefully planned city. And Baghdad became the largest urban area
in the world by 930, with a population of one million. Key for our story today: Baghdad housed the
Bayt al-įø¤ikmah or House of Wisdom. This great library grew out of al-Mansurās
private collection, which he opened up to visiting scholars, including delegations from
India. Al-Mansurās successor, Caliph al-Rashid, carried on this tradition. Al-Rashid also supported the Translation Movement,
which weāll get to shortly. But first, letās reflect on his rule as
a great example of the cosmopolitan character of the early Abbasids. Charlemagne sent a mission from France to
al-Rashidās court in 799 with gifts. So in 802, al-Rashid sent Charlemagne an embassy
including an elephant named Abul-Abbas and a water clock that featured clockwork knights
who emerged once per hour. You could see the elephantās journey as
one origin of veterinary science: the Abbasid diplomats kept the elephant healthy walking
from India to Baghdad to France, and it lived for years after in captivity. And, to the Franks, the water clock was simply
mind-blowing, something theyād never even imagined! But it was al-Rashidās successor, Caliph
al-MaŹ¾mÅ«n, who in 832 refounded the House of Wisdom specifically as an international
center for translation and research. Al-MaŹ¾mÅ«n was involved in the Houseās
daily operations, and he sponsored knowledge production programmatically, inspiring his
successors to do the same. By 850, the House of Wisdom had become the
largest library in the world. Al-MaŹ¾mÅ«n sponsored families of scholarātranslators to bring useful texts into Arabic from Greek,
Chinese, Sanskrit, Persian, and Syriac. This should be known as the āUseful Texts
into Arabic Movementā but, for some reason, is called the Translation Movement instead. This movement began with Persian texts concerning
astrology and astronomy. Remember that, across the ancient and medieval
worlds, astronomy was the study of the heavens, and astrology the study of the influence of
heavenly bodies on earthly matters. While both were studied, astrology was seen
as more useful. After texts about the stars, the translators
moved onto others. To feed this program, al-MaŹ¾mÅ«n sent emissaries
to collect Greek scientific manuscripts from the Byzantinesāand began demanding them
as loot in war. The Translation Movement lasted from roughly
750ā950. By 950, virtually every Greek scholarly text
had been translated multiple times, and the libraries were brimming. Many translators of Baghdad particularly fell
for the works of Aristotle. One of the greatest Islamicate philosophers,
Ibn Rushd, is sometimes called āThe Commentator,ā meaning the number-one
Aristotle fan. To this day, more classical Greek commentaries
on Aristotle may be available in Arabic than English! Why was Caliph al-MaŹ¾mÅ«n so into the Persian
and Greek science? For one, supporting translations was a sign
of civic status, and a worthy cause. Al-MaŹ¾mÅ«n also saw scientific translation
as highly practical. For example, a better understanding of astronomy
led to more accurate official timekeeping for mosques. And improved geographical knowledge helped
more accurately align prayers to Mecca. The Translation Movement also fostered a strong
appreciation for reasoned thought, at least among the ruling and scholarly classes. This rubbed off on religious philosophy, giving
rise to the school of muātazilism. Muātazila such as al-MaŹ¾mÅ«n believed that
rationalism could be used to understand both the physical world and God. They brought the Greek tradition of reasoned
debate about the nature of the cosmos into an Islamicate social context, looking beyond
a literal reading of the Qurāan for sources of knowledge. In fact, places of learning under the Abbasid Caliphate included observatories, hospitals,
and public libraries, as well as mosques and madrasas, or Islamic colleges. Madrasas were critical centers of knowledge
transmission. There were thirty in Baghdad in the 1200s,
and one hundred and fifty in Damascus by 1500. Each madrasa had its own library full of paper
books. Paper had been introduced to western Asia
from China, and paper factories appeared in Samarkand, Baghdad, Cairo, Morocco, and finally
in Spain by 1150. While they were religious centers, madrasas
were also places where students could learn law as well as Greek natural philosophy, including
logic and arithmetic, astronomy, and astrology. Abbasid scholars didnāt merely translate foreign writers. In translating the texts, these polymaths
wrote commentaries on them, comparing, summarizing, and analyzing them. Even when motivated by utilitarian concerns, the work of careful reading and comparison
led many scholars to pursue new questions in natural philosophy. For example, observatories arose throughout
the Islamicate world. Al-MaŹ¾mÅ«n built two observatories, one in
Baghdad and another outside Damascus. At these sites, scholars refined astronomical
handbooks, called zīj, that helped fix prayer times. In fact, by the late ninth century, Islamicate
polymaths such as Abu MaŹæshar, the famous Persian physician al-Razi āwhom
weāll meet again soonāand the Indian-influenced al-Biruni were even proposing
heliocentric models of the solar system. Their theories went against Aristotle but
with observed data! In geography, Islamicate scholars extended
Ptolemyās system. Our scientific hero today, Caliph al-MaŹ¾mÅ«n,
commissioned a measurement of earthās circumference that was pretty amazing: two groups ventured
into the desert, finding a specific location by following the stars. One group walked north and the other south,
tracking the stars for one degree. They counted their paces. Then they walked back, remeasured, averaged
the measurementsā¦ and multiplied by 360 to derive a circumference of 24,480 miles. The modern measurement? 24,901āless than 2% more accurate than the
one made by al-MaŹ¾mÅ«nās team. And donāt get me started on astrolabes! You knowāmechanical devices used for measuring
incline by astronomers and navigators? To determine the position of celestial bodies
in the night sky? The ones Islamicate astronomers improved by
adding the azimuth, or direction of compass bearing? And then merged with armillary spheres, or
models of the entire cosmos constructed from rings and hoops that revolved on their axes,
around 900? And then improved into geared mechanical astrolabes
in 1235? Iām looking at you, Abi Bakr of Isfahan!? MEANWHILEāback at the House of Wisdomā¦ In addition to translation and improvement
on Greek natural philosophy, scholars were also innovating in new realms. In mathematics, medieval Islamicate scholars
focused on arithmetic and algebra. They adopted the number zero and the āArabicā
decimal-style numerals from India, using them so much that they became known to us as, well,
Arabic. They also developed trigonometry. One example of this work in particular jumps
out: in 820, at the House, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi wrote Kitab al-Jabr, or The Compendious Book on Calculation by
Completion and Balancing, an original manual of practical math. Al-Khwarizmi wasnāt the first to work on
algebra, but he set out the general rules for solving equations that was highly influential
for centuries. Algebra introduced a theory that treated rational
numbers, irrational numbers, geometrical magnitudesāall numbersāas similar objects, ready to be
manipulated. Or, as my dude himself says it: āWhen I
consider what people generally want in calculating, I found that it always is a number.ā Mic drop! This opened up the possibility of exploring
new areas of mathematics such as algorithms, quadratic equations, and polynomial equations. Also at the House of Wisdom, thinkers such
as Mohammad MÅ«sÄ worked on the basic laws of physics. Others focused on optics, performing many
experiments. And doctors and philosophers trained and traded
works. But what about the engineersāthe scholars
working on technÄ instead of epistÄmÄ? The Abbasid state privileged public service and the interests of the state, focusing on
improving useful arts such as hydraulic engineering and agricultural science. The Abbasids used the arch, rather than the
Greek post and lintel system. And they constructed large dams, waterwheels,
and qanats, or underground channels to tap groundwater. Abbasid technology thus resembled that of
the Romans, with craftspeople, not scholars, typically building actual stuff. But a few stand-out engineers from this time
period created wonders soāerāwondrous, that they deserve a little attention from
ThoughtBubble: In 850, at the House of Wisdom, the BanÅ« MÅ«sÄ brothersāMohammad,
just mentioned, and Ahmad and Hasanāwrote The Book of Ingenious Devices: a compendium of one hundred devices and how
to use them. This included the earliest programmable machine,
āThe Instrument that Plays by Itself.ā Medieval automation, whaaat!?h
And it gets cooler. In 1206āfar from Baghdad, in what is now
Diyarbakır, Turkeyāthe polymath al-JazarÄ« wrote an
even more amazing book on machines: The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices
also covers one hundred machines, with instructions on how to build them. Most of these are trick vessels, but others
include water wheels, watermills, a giant water clock, elephant- and castle-shaped clocks,
fountains improving upon designs by the BanÅ« MÅ«sÄs, a candle clock, and musical automata. Al-JazarÄ« even designed a water-powered,
perpetually-playing flute! How did these devices work? Well, it helped that al-Jazarī invented the
camshaft, which would make it into Europe by the 1300s, an early version of the crankshaft,
and the segmental gear. You can look up how these work online, but
the point is: our modern world runs on them, and this guy figured them out in medieval
times. That is so. Dang. Cool. But the coolest of al-JazarÄ«ās inventions
were his full-on automataāmedieval robots. He made humanoid machines including one that
could serve water or tea. He made a flushing toilet with a nearby servant,
who refilled the basin when flushed. And the piĆØce de rĆ©sistance: al-JazarÄ«
constructed a four-piece robot band that floated on a lake, entertaining party guests. The music? Most likely programmable, using tiny pegs
and levers. Thanks Thought Bubble! We could spend several more episodes on science
in the early Islamicate world. And we will come back to some of the people
and themes mentioned today. Thereās a common understanding of the history
of medieval Eurasia and North Africa long-held by many English speakers is just plain wrong:
instead of a ādark ageā defined by conflicts between Muslims and Christians who didnāt
understand one another, we encounter urban centers of trade and knowledge exchange populated
by natural philosophers with a keen desire to build upon earlier insights regardless
of their origins. Next timeāweāll build many cities and
one very long canal in the rich Middle Kingdom, China. Crash Course History of Science is filmed
in the Dr. Cheryl C. Kinney studio in Missoula, Montana and itās made with the help of all
this nice people and our animation team is Thought Cafe. Crash Course is a Complexly production. If you wanna keep imagining the world complexly
with us, you can check out some of our other channels like Scishow, Eons, and Sexplanations. And, if youād like to keep Crash Course
free for everybody, forever, you can support the series at Patreon; a crowdfunding platform
that allows you to support the content you love. Thank you to all of our patrons for making
Crash Course possible with their continued support.
Islam helped develop the scientific world long ago and I have no issues attributing these advancements to the Islamic world. I don't really feel like point scoring so I'm not keeping a tally of what the Muslims do vs what the Gaal do. The last few centuries have seen an amazing amount of scientific progress from amazing developments in human medicine to walking on the moon. I don't think I need to tell you who has been at the forefront of this advancement. How do you square your respect for Islamic accomplishments long ago with the current era in which you live? Where the mobile phone you probably type this on had nothing to do with Islamic science for over a thousand years (but please do correct if I am wrong).
We might as well go back before Islam and begin praising those societies that began agriculture if we're to start this chain of jerking off our predecessors for our current state. It's a pointless game.
Lol! By your dumbass logic, we should also be animist or pray to some other gods given what inventions the Babylonians, Mesopotamians, Egyptians, etc., invented.
Thankfully, some of us do have the faculty to think for ourselves and realize the Quran's medical/anatomical "facts" like sperm coming from the ribcage, man being made from clay, etc., are false.
Your religion made up facts. Fake!
PS...the internet and Reddit made by Christians, Jews and atheists. Chew on that!
Those advancements were created by people in advanced civilisations such as Persia and Mesopotamia. Islam had nothing to do it yet you claim it. What exactly came out of makkah or medinah that benefited mankind ? Imagine claiming accomplishments of people who weren't even committed to Islam and lived in rather secular societies.
Ironically, the time period where Muslims pursued and studied science was also the time period where Muslims were the most secular and tolerant. This era was an era where Muslim, Christians and Jews lived peaceful together under a Muslim majority country (Spain/Moors/etc). You're insecure about your religion which is why you are here but let me tell you; most of us here would love to see Muslims embrace science more. I wish Muslims countries went back to this lax and secular time period but as usual, Islam ruins everything.
I always get a warm and fuzzy feeling whenever I'm called "murtadeen" by a user named "warmballs" LOL
Also lets rearrange your words so you can see what we're talking about:
"Without the sophistication of greeks/Early Pagan Scientists advancing the field of modern science u muhammadians, would never have been zealous in middle Eastern idealism. Maybe in another universe you will still remain a cultural moron. ignorant about Pagan theologian. let ur moronic master remind u, that u're nothing without the Greeks/Early pagan scientists & scholars."
There. Fixed it for you buddy.
This got nothing to do with Islam, they would have done it either way.