Monday 9 March 2009

TRANSFER OF ISLAMIC TECHNOLOGY TO THE WEST

TRANSFER OF ISLAMIC TECHNOLOGY TO THE WEST
PART II
TRANSMISSION OF ISLAMIC ENGINEERING


here: http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2071.htm

Twin Cylinder Suction Pump of Al-Jazari

The Real Men Of The Renaissance


Most western authors contend that the Renaissance emerged when Europeans studied Greek and Roman civilizations then developed new arts and sciences. These racist views hide or deny the massive effort to translate Arabic books to Latin, study them, and copy the Muslim civilization without giving appropriate credit to the "real" authors. Most Europeans had discovered the magnificent Muslim civilization during their crusades against the Muslims in Iberia and the Middle East.


The Qur'an, as the final word of God, anticipated many of the modern scientific discoveries which were beyond human imagination 14 centuries ago. The Muslim scientific revolution, which produced the renaissance that put Muslims at the top of the civilized world for 8 centuries, was a result of contemplating the clues in the Qur'an about the physical world.


The Muslim contributions are still evident today, 7 centuries after the destruction of the Muslim cultural centers in Asia by Genghis Khan and Hulagu, and 5 centuries after the destruction of the great Muslim cultural centers in Iberia by the Spaniards.


Arabic numerals, algebra, logarithms, and algorithms prove the West learned mathematics from the Muslims. al-Khawarizmi who died in 850 AD, introduced Algebra, the zero, negative numbers, algorithms (programs or software), and the decimal system to the West. One cannot imagine computers using Roman numerals. One cannot imagine the digital age without zeros.