Tag: Engineering

©MidJourney CC BY-NC 4.0

Industrial Revolutions: From Ctesibius to Mars

by Cort MacLean Johns Published on: 4th March 2023

This article introduces the author’s book that demonstrates a long historical chronology of sophisticated technological advances from the Hellenistic Period through to Denis Papin’s first Steam Engine in 1690. A 2-millennium period of little progress…

©MidJourney CC BY-NC 4.0

R&D Lessons from Muslim Civilisation

by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 27th February 2023

This short article is a highlight of an online lecture recently given on 19 February 2023 by Professor Salim Al-Hassani, organised by FARDA (Future Awareness through Rational and Actions), Uppsala University, Sweden).

The Automatic Mechanical Hydraulic Organ of the Banu Musa ibn Shakir

by Mona Sanjakdar Chaarani Published on: 24th June 2021

The works of the Banū Mūsā encompass both translations and original contributions in the fields of geometry, astronomy, mechanics, and music. In the field of music, a large body is attributed to them, although the…

Baghdad Clock in Aachen: Harun al Rashid’s Gift to Charlemagne

by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 7th May 2021

The water clock that Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid (d. 809 CE), gifted to Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor (d. 814 CE) is investigated. Origins and transfer of the clock technology is reviewed. The water clock…

banner

The Mechanical Water Clock Of Ibn Al-Haytham

by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 22nd November 2013

The Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC) announces their new achievement in the history of Islamic clocks. For the first time, the work of Ibn al-Haytham on the water clock (Maqala fi ‘amal al-binkam)…

banner

Sustainability in its Historical Context

by Anne-Maria Brennan Published on: 2nd August 2010

[Proceedings of the conference 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World organised by FSTC, London, 25-26 May 2010]. Departing from a definition of sustainability as a concept that involves the management of resources with intergenerational…

banner

Filling the Gap in the History of Pre-Modern Industry: 1000 Years of Missing Islamic Industry

by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 24th July 2009

Most educational systems, particularly those of Western countries, teach that industry was born in Europe and that the Industrial Revolution was the mother that delivered industrial mass production. Salim Al-Hassani, Chairman of FSTC and eminent…

Creating a 3D Model with Motion Analysis of Taqi al-Din’s Six-Cylinder Pump

by Joseph Vera Published on: 9th June 2009

Among the original machines described in the corpus of Islamic technology, the six-cylinder "monobloc" piston pump designed by Taqi al-Din Ibn Ma'ruf in the late 16th century holds a special place. Working as a suction…

Muhammad Al-Karaji: A Mathematician Engineer from the Early 11th Century

by Mohammed Abattouy Published on: 4th June 2009

Abu Bakr Muhammed Al-Karaji is a Muslim mathematician and engineer from the late 10th century-early 11th century. Of Persian origin, he spent an important part of his scientific life in Baghdad where he composed ground…

The Six-Cylinder Water Pump of Taqi al-Din: Its Mathematics, Operation and Virtual Design

by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 24th January 2009

The main objective of this study is to investigate into the six-cylinder water raising pump described around 1550 by the Ottoman Muslim scientist Muhammad Ibn Ma'ruf, known as Taqi al-Din, in his treatise Al-Turuq al-Saniya…

banner

Muslim Heritage in Mechanics and Technology: Outline of a Program for Future Research

by Mohammed Abattouy Published on: 20th August 2008

The following text is the revised and expanded version of a lecture presented at The Royal Society in London (1st March 2007) during a meeting of the Muslim Heritage Awareness Group (MHAG) in which Mohammed…

banner

800 Years Later: In Memory of Al-Jazari, A Genius Mechanical Engineer

by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 30th January 2008

Al-Jazari (1136-1206) was an important Arab Muslim scholar. He was an inventor and mechanical engineer who gained fame and glory with his famous book of mechanics Al-Jami `bayn al-`ilm wa 'l-`amal al-nafi `fi sina `at…

banner

The Mechanics of Banu Musa in the Light of Modern System and Control Engineering

by FSTC Published on: 10th August 2007

This article is a review of the book published recently by Professor Attila Bir (Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Istanbul) on Banu Musa's book of mechanics studied in the framework of…

banner

The Machines of Al-Jazari and Taqi Al-Din

by Salim Al-Hassani Published on: 30th December 2004

Prof. Salim T S Al-Hassani In this pioneering survey of some of the machines of Al-Jazari and Taqi Al-Din, Professor Salim Al-Hassani uses in-depth analysis with the tools of modern technology to make them live…

banner

A Review of Early Muslim Control Engineering

by Mohamed Mansour Published on: 22nd March 2002

During the period of Islamic-Arabic extraordinary activity in Science and Technology (9th-13th century), there are some recorded contributions to the area of Automatic Control mainly in the development of water clocks using float valve regulators,…

banner

Muslim Rocket Technology

by Mohamed Mansour Published on: 22nd March 2002

Arabic accounts report that Muslims introduced firearms into Islamic Spain, from where they passed to Italy, going from there to France, and finally Germany. Muslims also developed and refined gun powder and aquired rocket making…

banner

Review of Muslim Contribution to Civil Engineering: Dam Construction

by Salah Zaimeche Published on: 30th December 2001

Dams are required in most hydraulic systems, for irrigation, regulating flow of rivers and in modern times for the production of energy. In the classical Islamic world, dam construction received a special attention as an…