Water is life... there are a few things that every human being agrees with. One of them is of course water being essential to our life. It is embedded not just biologically but in every…
We were honoured to host Prof. Salim Al-Hassani to address our Innovation’s Fair, 22 September 2023. Here is a recording of his inspirational description of his fascinating journey and experiences. His speech was instrumental to…
A summarised transcript* of the lecture given for the Ijtimak Ilmuwan Islam Antarabangsa (International Conference of Muslim Scholars). Organised by the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM) and Sarawak Islamic Council – MIS on 25-26…
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…
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).
Little known book, Kitab al-Asrar, by the Andalusian engineer Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi. In this treatise, Al-Muradi describes how to construct a wide variety of ingenious mechanical devices. Using written instructions and diagrams, al-Muradi’s work describes…
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…
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…
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…
The Arabic reports about irrigation, dams and water-powered machines form a cultural construction which could be called hydraulic imagery. The term imagery is related to the perception patterns concerning hydraulic constructions inasmuch these patterns are…
The famous scientist Ibn al-Haytham (‘Alhazen') has rightly been credited with many advances in optics and vision science, but recent spurious claims that he is the ‘founder of psychophysics' rest upon unsupported assertions, a conflation…
From the eighth century onwards, Muslim societies extending from Cordoba in Spain to Damascus, Baghdad, Fez and through to Marrakech, relied on the world’s most advanced water technologies at the time to serve their communities
The scientific cooperation between India and the Arabs dates back to the time of Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad when a number of books on astronomy, mathematics, and medicine were translated from Sanskrit into Arabic. From…
1001 Inventions Celebrates Ibn Al-Haytham at Manchester’s Iconic Central Library
The film is part of a global educational campaign launched by 1001 Inventions in partnership with UNESCO in 2015 that has engaged more than 30 million people around the world.
Genetic and paleontological findings have concluded that Africa is the birthplace of the entire human race. Africa is often thought of as a continent rich in natural beauty and culture. However, little is known or…
A chronology on "Science from the East - Techniques from the West: Turkey's 700-year long venture" is compiled by Professor Dr. Feza Günergun, Department of the History of Science, Istanbul University. People sought knowledge for…
This keynote lecture reviews the rise and development of automatic machines within Muslim civilisation. It looks at how inventors from the Muslim civilisation progressively transformed achievements of previous cultures (e.g. ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Persia,…
Reflections on: A New Exhibition on Artifacts of the Arab/Islamic Renaissance ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany: October 30, 2015 - February 28, 2016 http://zkm.de/en/event/2015/10/globale-allahs-automata by Dr. Charles M. Savage Knowledge Era Enterprises International Munich, Germany http://www.kee-inc.com
On 22-23 October 2015, the “3rd International conference on History of Medicine and Cures (Colloque international de l’histoire de medecine)” was opened at Fez university of Sidi Mohammed ben Abdullah (Faculté de Médecine et de…
The genesis of this article lies in a recent visit to the Romanesque cathedral of Lund. While in the cathedral, I walked over to the medieval astronomical clock to await the moving figures and music…
TIME TELLING MACHINES: Revealing marvellous mechanical and water-powered clocks from early Muslim Civilisation. These sophisticated devices that defied the Middle Ages.
The UNESCO International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies is a multi-faceted celebration of light in its scientific, technological and cultural context. Central to this has been the recognition of Ibn al-Haytham as the founder…
In this article, Professor David A. King explores the authenticity of the statement that tenth-century Egyptian astronomer Ibn Yūnus was the first person to use a pendulum to measure time. After examining evidence originating from…
(The Hydraulic Organ of Banu Musa (9th Century): An Early Instrument of Mechanical Music) In the following article, Dr Mona Chaarani describes in a short article in French her reconstruction of the hydraulic organ of…
Upcoming Lecture by Prof. Mohamed El-Gomati, Chairman of FSTC, at The York Society of Engineers, York
On Wednesday 28th November 2012, Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation in London organised a public lecture on The Critical Edition of Manuscripts: Past, Present and Future, delivered by Professor Qasim Al-Samarrai. The lecture presented an insightful…
Based on the outstanding achievement of Ibn al-Haytham's work in optics, which paved the way for the "Optics of Space," Dr. Charles M. Savage develops in this stimulating article a vibrant plea for the need…
This is a book review of Ibn El-Heysem ve Yeni Optik (Ibn al-Haytham and the New Optics) by Huseyin Gazi Topdemir published in 2008 in Turkish as the first book of a series on scientific…
[Proceedings of the conference 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World organised by FSTC, London, 25-26 May 2010]. The following article presents a brief status about the transmission of Muslim scientific texts, and how the…
This is a review of the book prepared by Prof. Dr. Idris Bostan for the Turkish Undersecretariat of Navigation in order to provide a useful and important scientific resource on the naval history of the…
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…
In the following essay, Dr. Gunalan Nadarajan, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State University, draws on the work of al-Jazari, the famous 13th century…
The following article by the expert scholar Lutfallah Gari surveys the historical sources to uncover the ancient history of the invention of spectacles. To the question "where and when were they invented?", and after a…
Fakhr al-Dīn Ridhwān ibn Rustam al-Sā'ātī (d. between 618-626 H/1220-1229 CE) was a scholar and mechanical engineer, author of the book ‘Ilm al-sā'āt wa 'l-'amal bihā in which he described the famous public clock set…
Gutenberg in the 15th century. Based on his work on original sources, he states that some of the early printed Arabic documents display quite sophisticated designs involving calligraphic headpieces, transverse lettering, geometric panels, roundels, and…
Five pumps or water-raising machines are described by al-Jazari in his monumental 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 Mechanical…
The first 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 Mechanical Arts) is a…
Amongst the mechanical devices described by the Banu Musa Brothers in their book of mechanics Kitab al-hiyal, seven models present a variety of sophisticated fountains. This article analyses the geometric and physical principles lying behind…
Introducing al-Jazari's ancestry to modern cybernetics and robotics science, Prof. Toygar Akman narrates in this testimony article his own discovery of the work of the great 13th century Muslim scholar. He shows further how al-Jazari's…
In this article, Professor Yavuz Unat, a known historian of science from Ankara University, draws a general survey on al-Jazari and his treatise. He describes some of his machines and points out the numerous technological…
Some 800 years in the past, in 1206, a brilliant Muslim scholar died : Badi' al-Zaman Abu al-‘Izz ibn Ismail ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari. He was one of the most important inventors and mechanical engineers in…
Some 800 years in the past, in 1206, a brilliant Muslim scholar died : Badi' al-Zaman Abu al-‘Izz ibn Ismail ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari. He was one of the most important inventors and mechanical engineers in…
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…
This is a review of a book by Sayyed Misbah Deen, Emeritus Professor of Computer Science (Keele University), describing the adventure of science and technology in Islam from four standpoints: the rise of science and…
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…
This short paper introduces a longer essay by Prof. Gunalan Nadarajan, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State University. The essay draws on the work…
Based on manuscript evidence, the article presents a study of the historical and textual traditions of a fragment of Arabic mechanics which is also edited in Arabic and translated into English. This fragment, entitled Nutaf…
This article gives the the results of a research project studying the acoustical properties of several Ottoman mosques designed by Mimar Sinan in the 16th century. The results of measurements concerning several of these mosques…
Ágoston's book provides new insights into the Ottomans' approach to new innovations and reforms in modern technology, which some scholars had previously claimed improbable due to Islamic conversativism.
The article deals with the impact of Ottoman mining and metal working technology in the Balkans region on the fire-arms technology of Southeast Europe during the crucial period going from the 15th century through to…
This article describes the appreciation of Arabic science and technology in the Middle Ages through the example of Adelard of Bath, an English scholar of the early 12th century, one of the first scholars that…
The following article by Abdel Aziz al-Jaraki, a scholar from Damascus, describes the context of the investigation carried on since several decades on a famous clock built by Fakhr al-Din Ridhwan al-Sa'ati at the beginning…
In this article Prof. Idris Bostan describes Ottoman shipbuilding efforts and achievements within the broader context of the progression of military technology and capability.
In the Islamic world, great importance was placed upon the study of natural sciences and technology. This article brings out some of the important works of Turkish Muslim scholars in the fields of automatic machines,…
Although the feedback concept, which is lying in the foundation of dynamic systems, has been perceived relative recently, the idea was understood and applied correctly by the Muslim scientists.
This article will provide a short introduction to the history of scientific activities in the Ottoman world until the eighteenth century. Scientific researches show that there are many translation activities in different fields in the…
The article covers the avenues which led to the transfer of the Islamic knowledge, from Al Andalus, Sicily and Byzantium to the Wars (crusades on the Islamic World), as well as commercial relations and also…
This article includes the recent work by Professor Abattouy and his co-workers. The work has revealed the enormous wealth of Islamic literature on the science of weights. Their findings established that there is much larger…
Would you like to make a wonderful camera in just five minutes? This short exercise will help you to create your very own pinhole camera! Just follow the simple steps in this exercise and you…
The history of the astrolabe begins more than two thousand years ago, but it is in the Islamic classical world that the astrolabe was highly developed and its uses widely multiplied. Introduced to Europe from…
Hama is famed for its huge water wheels and it produced great scholars in geography, mathematics, medicine and much more. Here we look at a few of them.
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…
In the Fort Nelson Museum a huge bronze cannon sits in the court yard. Cast in two peices in 1464 by the order of the Sultan Mehmed II, no such split guns existed in Europe…
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…
Water management in all its intricacies, from Andalusia to Afghanistan, was the basis of agriculture, and source of all life. Muslims did much to develop hydraulic technology and deploy water management equipment including hydro-power dams.
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…
The period from the 9th century to the 13th century witnessed a fundamental transformation in agriculture that can be characterized as the Islamic green revolution in pre-modern times. The economy established in the Arab and…
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…
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