George Sarton and the History of Science
by Aydin Sayili Published on: 4th August 2008
George Sarton was a pioneer scholar who played a decisive role by his scholarship, methodology and academic career in establishing the history of science as a recognized subject in modern academia. His monumental major work…
Aydin Sayili (1913-1993) At Work: His Scientific Biography
by Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu Published on: 27th December 2006
Aydin Sayili is one of the first eminent figures of the history of science in Islam to pursue an academic career in this discipline. He was fortunate to earn the first PhD from the history…
Interview with Professor Rabie E. Abdel-Halim
by Kaleem Hussain Published on: 19th June 2009
In this last interview that closes this series of Muslim Heritage Interviews, Professor Rabie El Said Abdel-Halim, eminent expert in urology, poet and well known historian of Islamic medicine, details his passions for medicine and…
In Appreciation of FSTC
by The Editorial Team Published on: 19th July 2006
Emeritus Professor Durward J Cruickshank, Fellow of Royal Society and world renowned distinguished scientist has presented FSTC with a valuable gift in its work in the History of Science.
The Science of Al-Biruni
by Amelia Carolina Sparavigna Published on: 1st August 2018
Al-Biruni was so far ahead of his time that his most brilliant discoveries seemed incomprehensible to most of the scholars of his days...
When the World Spoke Arabic
by News Desk Published on: 18th December 2019
At the height of the Golden Age of Muslim Civilisation, the Arabic language was the lingua franca that served as the language of science, poetry, literature, governance and art. A big movement of translation of…
In Memory of Aydin Sayili
by Mohammed Abattouy Published on: 16th January 2009
Aydin Sayilli (1913-1993) was an eminent historian of science whose pioneering work during a 50-year career uncovered many hidden treasures in the history of mathematics, astronomy and medicine, especially in the Islamic tradition. In this…
An Obituary: Professor Rabie El-Said Abdel-Halim
by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 16th April 2015
We have just received the sad news of the passing of Professor Rabie El-Said Abdel-Halim. He passed away in his sleep this morning 15th April 2015 Wednesday. May he rest in peace, and may his…
Ingenious Clocks from Muslim Civilisation that Defied the Middle Ages
by Cem Nizamoglu Published on: 21st August 2015
TIME TELLING MACHINES: Revealing marvellous mechanical and water-powered clocks from early Muslim Civilisation. These sophisticated devices that defied the Middle Ages.
Al-Jazari: The Mechanical Genius
by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 9th February 2001
The following short survey presents a rapid overview on the life, work and achievements of Al-Jazari, the most famous mechanical engineer of his time, some 1000 years ago. Al-Jazari brought Islamic technology to a culminant…
Ahmad Salim Sa‘idan: A Palestinian Historian of Arabic Mathematics
by Mohammed Abattouy Published on: 23rd January 2009
Since the middle of the 20th century, the history of Arabic mathematics evolved as a sub-field of history of science and became an area of a special expertise in which intermingled the skills of confirmed…
Islam as the Impetus of Scientific Advance
by Salah Zaimeche Published on: 1st September 2002
Islam provided such impetus in the era 800-1200. Islam makes self-improvement of the individual and the betterment of society part of religious duty, inspiring individuals in all manners and forms.
Medicine in the Middle Ages: New Insights and a Call for Further Research
by Rabie Abdel-Halim Published on: 15th July 2010
[Proceedings of the conference 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World organised by FSTC, London, 25-26 May 2010]. Aiming at restoring historical continuity to the currently available knowledge on medicine in the Middle Ages, the…
The Late Professor Abdelhamid I. Sabra: An Obituary
by The Editorial Team Published on: 17th March 2014
Abdelhamid Ibrahim Sabra, Professor Emeritus of the History of Arabic Science at Harvard University, passed away on December 18 in Lexington, Massachusetts. Born in 1924 in the Egyptian city of Tanta, he won a scholarship…
Pericardial Pathology 900 Years Ago: A Study and Translations from an Arabic Medical Textbook
by Salah R. Elfaqih Published on: 6th May 2009
This is a study and translation of the section on pericarditis in Kitab al-taysir fi al-mudawat wa-'l-tadbir (Book of Simplification Concerning Therapeutics and Diet) written by the Muslim physician Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) who lived and…
The fallacy of the ‘Dark Ages’
by Salah Zaimeche Published on: 1st November 2002
There is a major fallacy in the concept of the 'Dark Ages'. That period coincides exactly with the Muslim apogee. In the midst of Europe's darkness, almost immediately after the fall of the Roman Empire,…
Libraries of the Muslim World (859-2000)
by Zakaria Virk Published on: 26th November 2019
The Muslim World acquired the art of paper-making in the eighth century in Persia, ultimately Muslims brought papermaking to India and Europe. Public libraries appeared in Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordoba where books were made of…
Al-Jazari’s Peacock Clock (1206 CE)
by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 29th December 2020
The Peacock Clock is the sixth machine described by al-Jazari in his famous treatise of mechanics Al-Jami‘ bayn al-‘ilm wa 'l-‘amal al-nafi‘ fi sina‘at al-hiyal (A Compendium on the Theory and Useful Practice of the…
Muslim Contributions to Philosophy – Ibn Sina, Farabi, Beyruni
by Mehmet Aydin Published on: 14th January 2005
Muslim philosophers were men of science who explored and set the very foundations of knowledge. They had great influence and importance in the history of fundamental ideas.
The Missing Link in the History of Urology
by Rabie Abdel-Halim Published on: 1st May 2009
With few exceptions, most of the current publications on history of urology still ignore the scientific and technological events of the more than a thousand years between the Greco-Roman times and the modern era. This…