Muslims in World Civilization

Topics

• Optics

• Mathematics

• Medicine

• Literature

• Arts

• Games

• Cities

• Scholarship

• Zoology

• Astronomy

• Irrigation

• Geography

Cities & Architecture• Baghdad: center of

trade & learning

• Cairo: university

• Cordoba: largest

city in the west

• Mosques: place of

worship

Scholarship & Learning

• Schools & libraries

• House of Wisdom

• Translated Greek

books into Arabic

• Philosophy &

religion compared

reason & revelation

Zoology

• Dissection & anatomy of animals

• Al-Jahiz: animals adapt to their environment (evolution)

• Al-Damiri: encyclopedia

• Zoos

Astronomy

• Mapped the stars

• Improved the astrolabe

• Rotation of the earth

• Sun-centered universe

Irrigation Technology• Underground well

• Underground aqueduct

• Waterwheel to pump water

Geography

• Map making

• Travel writing

• Calculated the

circumference

of the earth

Al-Biruni used latitude & longitude to measure the earth.

He theorized that the earth spins on its axis.

Optics

• Mirrors for reflection

& refraction

• Structure of the eye

• Eye surgery

• Early lenses

Al-Haitham built a pinhole camera to model the eye.

MathematicsAl-Kwarizmi:

• Zero

• Arabic (Indian) numbers

• Long division

• Algebra

Al-Battani:

• Trig: ratios of triangles Al-Kwarizmi

Medicine • Hospitals

• Medical textbooks

• Studied diseases

• Surgery

• Stitches

• Casts

• Pharmacies:

– Antiseptics

– Anesthesia

Al-Razi: “Allah has provided a cure for every disease.”

Some Famous Doctors

• Al-Razi studied how disease is spread by contact.

• Al-Zahrawi invented surgical instruments.

• Ibn Sina wrote The Canon of Medicine.

Literature

• Paper making

• Book making

• Poetry by Khayyam,

Rumi

• Metaphor and imagery

• Stories

Arts

• Geometric patterns

• Arabesque florals

• Calligraphy

• Fine textiles

• Guitar

Games

• Chess

• Backgammon

• Polo