Scientific Invention by Muslim

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HOW COMES MUSLIMS ARE BACKWARD TODAY?

Question:- Salamu Alaikum, brother Zakir. My question is, when Quran speaks so

much about Science , then how come the Muslims are so backward in the field of

Science?

Answer:-

Sister has posed the question, that when Quran speaks so much about Science - how comethe Muslims are backward. Sister I would mainly blame the media. The media today is inthe hands of the Westerners, the Europeans - It is in their hand, They have the Satellite,they have the Television, they have the CNN, they have the BBC- It is in their hand. Themedia is in their hands - and whatever you read in your school books, and books which weread in college - you will read there that from 8th to the 12th century it was the DarkAges. Dark for whom? It was dark for the Europeans - not for the world. The Arabs andthe Muslims, were very much advanced from 8 th to the 12th century -they were very

much advanced. The Europeans were backward because they saiddark for the world.It was not dark for the world - It was dark for the Europeans. With the limited instrumentsand technology what we had from 8th to 12th century- what discoveries the MuslimScientists made - it is unbelievable. Today, because Science is Advanced we are makingso many discoveries.

SOME EXAMPLES OF MUSLIM SCIENTIST

There with the amount of limited facilities we had, the amount of discoveries MuslimScientists made - its unbelievable. For example I quoted in my talk, that

IBN-E-NAFEES:-

he discovered the blood circulation, But in the medical books and the books we read inschool who discovered blood circulation? William Harvey. Everyone knows WilliamHarvey-Noone know about Ibn-e-Nafees. Ibn-e-Nafees spoke about blood circulation,400 years before - the Europeans later on picked up the books of the Muslims and re-hatched it and said we discovered it. See if you see the discoveries that Muslims havemade. For example if you know

AL-IDRUSI - IN 1154:-

he drew the first map of Mediterranean- the geography of the world - first.

MATHEMATICS:-

Mathematics - Muslims were far advanced in mathematics. We introduced the Decimalpoint. Do you know, what we call the digits 1, 2, 3? The other ones are called as Romannumerical it is called as Arabic numerals. Why it is called Arabic numerals? Becausethe Arabs were the one who discovered it. The decimal point are the Arabic numerals.

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PYTHOGORAS THEORAM ARAB THUSY

The person who first proved the pythogras theorem he was Arab Thusy. We know aboutthe Pythogoras theoram, but we dont know about Arab Thusy. He said that The squareof the hypotenuse was equal to the sum of the opposite two sides of the triangle.

ALBERUNI

he was an authority in Trigonometry. All these people they were experts.

IF YOU KNOW OF AL-KHINDI

Al-Khindi, he was a Philosopher, a Mathematician and Astronomer. When great scientistslike Galileo , Newton, etc., they said that all physical laws were absolute - he said that allphysical laws, are relative. And today we know that, Theory of Relativity is proved byAlbert Einstein. No one knows about Al-Khindi - He was the person , who basically gavethe idea of theory of relativity. Later on he did more research and talked about Theory of

Relativity.

MOHAMMED , SHAKIR AND HASSAN?

Who knows about the three brothers, Who knows about them? They toured the surfacearea of the earth from a angle at the Red Sea when people thought the world was flat..

IBN-E-HAYAN,

Chemistry - the Muslims were far advanced in Chemistry. Jabir Ibn-e-Hayyan they havelatinized the word Ghebar- So when we read in our tent books Ghebar, we think it is anEuropean. It is a Muslim. Jabir-Ibn - E-Hayan you know Ghebar - you do not know

we do not know who is Jabir. He is the person who distilled Alcohol. Alcohol comesfrom the Arabic word Algul- meaning Ghost, Evil Spirit. Alcohol is an ArabicWord. He wrote 2 thousand different pages only on Chemistry.

MOHAMMED ZAKARIYA RAZI

he was famous in Medicine - He was authority on the field of Small Pox and Measles. Hewas the first person who used Mercury ointment. He wrote books on childrens disease.There are several Muslim Scientists.

ALI-IBN-E-ABBAShe wrote twenty volumes on Medicine.

ALI-IBN-E-SINA

known as Albesina Albesina, it doesnt not sound Muslim. Ali-Ibn-E-Sina yesMuslim - Albesina not Muslim. Who got the title of Aristole of the East? He wrote

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the book Kanoon, which was referred as a text book of medicine till as late as seventeenthcentury.

WHO KNOWS IBN-E-ZUHOOR ?

He was the person after Alexander who did research on Paracytology. He described theItch Mite the Parecaditis. He described the Otydismedia, Intrycosetomy.

AL-ZAHARWI

Several medical doctors Al-Zaharwi Al-Zaharwi was the famous dentist, as well assurgeon as well as Optitician. He invented several instruments of Surgery, Gynecology aswell as Dentistry. We all of us know the other thing but the media is in the hands of theWesterners. The Muslims were far advanced.

THE REASON WHY MUSLIM ARE BEHINDBut I do agree with you- today today the Muslims are getting backward in Science- Youknow why? The Europeans are being advanced - You know why? The Muslims arerecoming backward, because they are going away from the Holy Quran - they are goingaway from their Religion. And do you know why the Europeans are getting advanced?They too are going away from their Religion. The Europeans are also getting advanced,because even they are going away from their religion. The Muslims they are goingbackward because they are going away from their religion. I would request the Muslimsbrothers and sisters out here, as well as Non-Muslims -there are people reading theQuran Why dont we read the Quran with understanding? Why dont we ponder overthe verses? We have only kept the Quran for kissing, and keeping on top. That is all the

Quran was not meant for it to be kissed, and kept on top - It should be implemented inyour daily life. If you implement the Quran in your daily life, read it with understanding,Inshallah again we will be on top of the world. Hope that answers the question.

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References:

1. MUSLIM HERITAGE CONSULTING : PROJECT :MuslimHeritage.com | 1001inventions.com | 2007 Muslim Heritage Consulting

LLC2. 1001 Inventions: In the World, In the World, Cartoons, Science and a Shared Euro-Islamic History, February 20, 2006, By Professor Salim Al-Hassani

3. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-islamic-inventors-changed-the-world-469452.html

4. Alcohol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia5. Al-Kindi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia6. Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia7. Arab and Persian astrology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia8. Arabic numerals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia9. Bernard Palissy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

10. Biographies of Famous Muslims of all time11. Copyright 2003 Famousmuslims.com All rights reserved12. Decimal separator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia13. Golden age of Arab and Islamic Culture14. by Gaston Wiet, "Baghdad:15. Metropolis of the Abbasid Caliphate" http://www.khamush.com/sufism/golden.htm16. Islamic Golden Age - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia17. Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia18. Avicenna - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia19. Ibn al-Nafis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia20. Inventions in the Islamic world - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia21. Inventions of the Islamic Golden Age - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia22. Investions by Muslim, SCIENTIFIC INVENTIONS BY MUSLIMS, By Engr.

Iqbal A. Khan23. Islamic Golden Age - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia24. Muslim views on astrology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia25. Astronomy in medieval Islam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia26. Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia27. List of Arab scientists and scholars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia28. List of astrologers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia29. List of Muslim historians - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia30. List of Islamic jurists - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia31. List of Muslim philosophers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia32. List of Muslim astronomers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia33. List of Muslim empires - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia34. Mathematics in medieval Islam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia35. List of Muslim scientists - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia36. List of Sufis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia37. Muslim Scientists and Scholars38. http://www.ummah.net/history/scholars/

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39. Muslim Agricultural Revolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia40. Muslim conquests - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia41. Muslim history - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia42. MuslimHeritage.com - Discover 1000 Years of Missing History43. MuslimHeritage.com | 1001inventions.com

44. Copyright 2003 - 2008 FSTC Limited.45. The Story of Islam's Gift of Paper to the West46. http://web.utk.edu/~persian/paper.htm47. Pendulum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia48. Petrography - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia49. Religion and the Scientist50. Islam - The Modern Religion51. Roman numerals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia52. Telescope - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia53. Theory of relativity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia54. Timeline of Middle Eastern history - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

55. Timeline of science and engineering in the Islamic world - Wikipedia, the freeencyclopedia

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Museum explores 'hidden history' of Muslim scien

By Nick Higham and Margaret Ryan

BBC News

An exhibition that has just opened at the Science Museum is celebrating 1,000 years of

from the Muslim world.

AD VE RT IS EM EN T

A look around the Science Museum exhibition, '1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World'.

From about 700 to 1700, many of history's finest scientists and technologists were to be found

Muslim world.

In Christian Europe the light of scientific inquiry had largely been extinguished with the collapse

Roman empire. But it survived, and indeed blazed brightly, elsewhere.

From Moorish Spain across North Africa to Damascus, Baghdad, Persia and all the way to India,

scientists in the Muslim world were at the forefront of developments in medicine, astronomy,

engineering, hydraulics, mathematics, chemistry, map-making and

exploration.

A new touring exhibition, hosted by the Science Museum in London,

celebrates their achievements.

Salim Al-Hassani, a former professor of engineering at Umist (University

of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) is a moving force

behind the exhibition, 1001 Inventions.

He calls it "edutainment": a series of displays devoted to different aspects of science meant to b

educational and entertaining.

There is a whole are

science that is literally

in translation

Dr Susan Mossman, Scien

Museum

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"We hope to inspire the younger generation to take up a career in science and technology and t

interested in improving the quality of societies," he says.

Mix of cultures

Visitors to the exhibition will be greeted by a 20 ft high replica of a

spectacular clock designed in 1206 by the inventor Al-Jazari.It incorporates elements from many cultures, representing the

different cultural and scientific traditions which combined and flowed

through the Muslim world.

The clock's base is an elephant, representing India; inside the

elephant the water-driven works of the clock derive from ancient

Greece.

A Chinese dragon swings down from the top of the clock to mark the

hours. At the top is a phoenix, representing ancient Egypt.

Sitting astride the elephant and inside the framework of the clock areautomata, or puppets, wearing Arab turbans.

Elsewhere in the exhibition are displays devoted to water power, the spread of education (one o

world's first universities was founded by a Muslim woman, Fatima al-Fihri), Muslim architecture

influence on the modern world and Muslim explorers and geographers.

There is a display of 10th Century surgeons' instruments, a lifesize model of a man called Abbas

Firnas, allegedly the first person to have flown with wings, and a model of the vast 100 yard-lon

commanded by the Muslim Chinese navigator, Zheng He.

Outside the main exhibition is a small display of exhibits drawn from the Science Museum's own

collection.

They include a 10th Century alembic for distilling liquids, an astrolable for determining geograph

position (and the direction of Mecca - important for Muslims uncertain which way to face when

praying).

Also on display is an algebra textbook published in England in 1702, whose preface traces the

development of algebra from its beginnings in India, through Persia, the Arab world and to Euro

Dr Susan Mossman, project director at the museum, says: "There is a whole area of science tha

literally just lost in translation.

"Arabic and Muslim culture particularly is a little-known story in Britain. This is a real opportunit

show that hidden story."

She says the hands-on exhibition suits the museum's style, which she describes as "heavy-duty

scholarship produced in a user-friendly way and underpinned by academic research".

She adds: "We are opening people's eyes to a new area of knowledge - a cultural richness of sc

and technology that has perhaps been neglected in this country."

Intellectual climate

There is one big question the exhibition does not address: why, after so many centuries, did the

Young people took the chanceexplore the interactive exhibit

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world's scientific leadership falter? From the 16th Century onwards it

was in Europe that modern science developed, and where scientific

breakthroughs increasingly occurred.

Prof Al-Hassani has his own theory, though there are others. Science

flourished in the Muslim world for so long, he believes, because it wasseen as expanding knowledge in the interests of society as a whole.

But in the later Middle Ages, the Muslim world came under attack

from Europeans (in the Crusades) and the Mongols (who sacked

Baghdad in 1258) and the Ottoman Turks overran the remnants of

the Byzantine empire, setting up a formidably centralised state.

The need for defence against external enemies combined with a strong centralised government

put less value on individuals' scientific endeavour resulted in an intellectual climate in which scie

simply failed to flourish, he says.

The free exhibition runs from 21 January to 25 April with a break between 25 February March.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8472111.stm

Visitors are able to get close ureplica of the 13th century clo

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http://www.1001inventions.com/media/press

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Muslim inventions that shaped themodern world

By Olivia Sterns for CNN

January 29, 2010 -- Updated 1253 GMT (2053 HKT)

In 9th century Spain, Muslim inventor Abbas ibn Firnas designed a flying machine -- hundreds of years

before da Vinci drew plans of his own.STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Exhibition celebrates 1,000 years of "forgotten" Muslim heritage

From coffee to cranks, items we couldn't live without today are Muslim inventions

Modern hospitals and universities both began in 9th century North Africa

London, England (CNN) -- Think of the origins of that staple of modern life, the cup of coffee,

and Italy often springs to mind.

But in fact, Yemen is where the ubiquitous brew has its true origins.

Along with the first university, and even the toothbrush, it is among surprising Muslim

inventions that have shaped the world we live in today.

The origins of these fundamental ideas and objects -- the basis of everything from the bicycle

to musical scales -- are the focus of "1001 Inventions," a book celebrating "the forgotten"

history of 1,000 years of Muslim heritage.

"There's a hole in our knowledge, we leap frog from the Renaissance to the Greeks," professor

Salim al-Hassani, Chairman of the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation, and

editor of the book told CNN.

"1001 Inventions" is now an exhibition at London's Science Museum. Hassani hopes the

exhibition will highlight the contributions of non-Western cultures -- like the Muslim empire that

once covered Spain and Portugal, Southern Italy and stretched as far as parts of China -- to

present day civilization.Hospitals as we know them today, with wards and teaching centers, come from 9th century Egypt

--professor Salim al-Hassani

RELATED TOPICS

Middle East

World History

Science and Technology

Here Hassani shares his top 10 outstanding Muslim inventions:

1. Surgery

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Around the year 1,000, the celebrated doctorAl Zahrawi published a 1,500 page illustrated

encyclopedia of surgery that was used in Europe as a medical reference for the next 500

years. Among his many inventions, Zahrawi discovered the use of dissolving cat gut to stitch

wounds -- beforehand a second surgery had to be performed to remove sutures. He also

reportedly performed the first caesarean operation and created the first pair of forceps.

2. CoffeeNow the Western world's drink du jour, coffee was first brewed in Yemen around the 9th

century. In its earliest days, coffee helped Sufis stay up during late nights of devotion. Later

brought to Cairo by a group of students, the coffee buzz soon caught on around the empire. By

the 13th century it reached Turkey, but not until the 16th century did the beans start boiling in

Europe, brought to Italy by a Venetian trader.

3. Flying machine

"Abbas ibn Firnas was the first person to make a real attempt to construct a flying machine and

fly," said Hassani. In the 9th century he designed a winged apparatus, roughly resembling a

bird costume. In his most famous trial near Cordoba in Spain, Firnas flew upward for a few

moments, before falling to the ground and partially breaking his back. His designs would

undoubtedly have been an inspiration for famed Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci's

hundreds of years later, said Hassani.

4. University

In 859 a young princess named Fatima al-Firhi founded the first degree-granting university in

Fez, Morocco. Her sister Miriam founded an adjacent mosque and together the complex

became the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University. Still operating almost 1,200 years later,

Hassani says he hopes the center will remind people that learning is at the core of the Islamic

tradition and that the story of the al-Firhi sisters will inspire young Muslim women around the

world today.

5. Algebra

The word algebra comes from the title of a Persian mathematician's famous 9th century

treatise "Kitab al-Jabr Wa l-Mugabala" which translates roughly as "The Book of Reasoning

and Balancing." Built on the roots of Greek and Hindu systems, the new algebraic order was a

unifying system for rational numbers, irrational numbers and geometrical magnitudes. The

same mathematician,Al-Khwarizmi, was also the first to introduce the concept of raising a

number to a power.

6. Optics

"Many of the most important advances in the study of optics come from the Muslim world,"

says Hassani. Around the year 1000 Ibn al-Haitham proved that humans see objects by light

reflecting off of them and entering the eye, dismissing Euclid and Ptolemy's theories that light

was emitted from the eye itself. This great Muslim physicist also discovered the camera

obscura phenomenon, which explains how the eye sees images upright due to the connectionbetween the optic nerve and the brain.

7. Music

Muslim musicians have had a profound impact on Europe, dating back to Charlemagne tried to

compete with the music of Baghdad and Cordoba, according to Hassani. Among many

instruments that arrived in Europe through the Middle East are the lute and the rahab, an

ancestor of the violin. Modern musical scales are also said to derive from the Arabic alphabet.

8. Toothbrush

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According to Hassani, the Prophet Mohammed popularized the use of the first toothbrush in

around 600. Using a twig from the Meswak tree, he cleaned his teeth and freshened his

breath. Substances similar to Meswak are used in modern toothpaste.

9. The crank

Many of the basics of modern automatics were first put to use in the Muslim world, including

the revolutionary crank-connecting rod system. By converting rotary motion to linear motion,the crank enables the lifting of heavy objects with relative ease. This technology, discovered by

Al-Jazari in the 12th century, exploded across the globe, leading to everything from the bicycle

to the internal combustion engine.

10. Hospitals

"Hospitals as we know them today, with wards and teaching centers, come from 9th century

Egypt," explained Hassani. The first such medical center was the Ahmad ibn Tulun Hospital,

founded in 872 in Cairo. Tulun hospital provided free care for anyone who needed it -- a policy

based on the Muslim tradition of caring for all who are sick. From Cairo, such hospitals spread

around the Muslim world.

For more information on muslim inventions go to: muslimheritage.com. For more information

about the exhibition at London's Science Museum go to:science museum.org.uk

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/29/muslim.inventions/

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The greatest scientific advances from theMuslim world

From the elephant clock to the camera obscura, here are six amazing inventions from

between the 9th and 15th centuries

(123)

Jim Al-Khalili The Guardian, Monday 1 February 2010 Article history

Ibn Firnas' flyingcontraption. Photograph: Shaun Curry/AFP/Getty Images

There is no such thing as Islamic science for science is the most universal of humanactivities. But the means to facilitating scientific advances have always been dictated byculture, political will and economic wealth. What is only now becoming clear (to many inthe west) is that during the dark ages of medieval Europe, incredible scientific advanceswere made in the Muslim world. Geniuses in Baghdad, Cairo, Damascus and Cordoba tookon the scholarly works of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, India and China,developing what we would call "modern" science. New disciplines emerged algebra,trigonometry and chemistry as well as major advances in medicine, astronomy, engineeringand agriculture. Arabic texts replaced Greek as the fonts of wisdom, helping to shape thescientific revolution of the Renaissance. What the medieval scientists of the Muslim worldarticulated so brilliantly is that science is universal, the common language of the human

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race. The 1001 Inventions exhibition at London's Science Museum tells some of the storiesof this forgotten age. Here are my top six exhibits . . .

1 The elephant clock(below)

This centrepiece of the exhibition is a three-metre high replica of an early 13th-centurywater clock and one of the engineering marvels of the medieval world. It was built by al-Jazari, and gives physical form to the concept of multiculturalism. It features an Indianelephant, Chinese dragons, a Greek water mechanism, an Egyptian phoenix, and woodenrobots in traditional Arabian attire. The timing mechanism is based on a water-filled buckethidden inside the elephant.

2 The camera obscura

The greatest scientist of the medieval world was a 10th century Arab by the name of Ibn al-Haytham. Among his many contributions to optics was the first correct explanation of how

vision works. He used the Chinese invention of the camera obscura (or pinhole camera) toshow how light travels in straight lines from the object to form an inverted image on theretina.

3 Al-Idrisi's world map

This three-metre reproduction of the famous 12th-century map by the Andalusiancartographer, Al-Idrisi (1100-1166), was produced in Sicily and is regarded as the mostelaborate and complete description of the world made in medieval times. It was usedextensively by travellers for several centuries and contained detailed descriptions of theChristian north as well as the Islamic world, Africa and the Far East.

4 The Banu Musa brothers' "ingenious devices"

These three brothers were celebrated mathematicians and engineers in ninth-centuryBaghdad. Their Book of Ingenious Devices, published in 850, was a large illustrated workon mechanical devices that included automata, puzzles and magic tricks as well as what wewould today refer to as "executive toys".

5 Al-Zahrawi's surgical instruments

This array of weird and wonderful devices shows the sort of instruments being used by the

10th-century surgeon al-Zahrawi, who practised in Cordoba. His work was hugelyinfluential in Europe and many of his instruments are still in use today. Among his best-known inventions were the syringe, the forceps, the surgical hook and needle, the bone sawand the lithotomy scalpel.

6 Ibn Firnas' flying contraption (above)

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Abbas Ibn Firnas was a legendary ninth-century inventor and the Da Vinci of the Islamicworld. He is honoured on Arabic postage stamps and has a crater on the moon named afterhim. He made his famous attempt at controlled flight when, aged 65, he built a rudimentaryhang glider and launched himself from the side of a mountain. Some accounts claim heremained airborne for several minutes before landing badly and hurting his back.

Jim Al-Khalili is an author and broadcaster. He is professor of physics and of the publicengagement in science at the University of Surrey.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/feb/01/islamic-science

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Elephant clock trumpets golden age ofancient Islamic science

Hannah Devlin

The Elephant Clock, 6m (20ft) tall and flanked by Chinese dragons and an Egyptian phoenix, looks morelike a mystical creature from One Thousand and One Nights than a piece of cutting-edge mechanicalgadgetry.

But in its day 800 years ago the instrument was unprecedented in its control of flowing water, its useof robotics and its reliability at marking out the passing of time in precise half-hourly intervals.

A replica of the weight-powered water clock went on show yesterday at Londons Science Museum as partof an exhibition aimed at bringing Islamic scientists, such as Al-Jazari the clocks Mesopotamian inventor,to greater public recognition.

Speaking at the opening of1001 Inventions, Chris Rapley, the director of the Science Museum, said that theIslamic Golden Age had led to huge advances in engineering, physics and the foundations of modernmathematics, which continue to make an impact today.

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The thousand-year period from the 7th century onwards was a time of exceptional scientific andtechnological advancement in China, India, Persia, Africa and the Arab world, he said.

Professor Rapley said that science had a significant role to play in developing common goals between theIslamic and Western countries in coming years, arguing that the most original scientific ideas emerge frommulti-cultural collaboration.

Theres a lot of focus on the importance of interdisciplinary research, we should be talking more aboutmulti-cultural research. People with different thought processes, different mental models, different ways ofseeing things can spark off really new ideas, he said.

The 13th-century clock is described in the exhibition as a physical embodiment of cross-culturalfertilisation. Its timing mechanism based on an internal water weighting and pulley system, was inspired byindividual inventions from across the world. Inside the elephant is a large bucket of water in which a deep

bowl floated. The bowl has a small hole in the centre and takes half an hour to fill and sink. This sets off anetwork of seesaws and levers, leading to a cymbal being struck and the bowl being hoisted back out of thewater.

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Acknowledging his various sources of inspiration, Al-Jazaris clock depicts an Indian Elephant, ChineseDragons, a Greek water bowl, an Egyptian Phoenix and wooden robots in traditional Arabian attire.

It embodies cultural and scientific convergence of civilisations and is an appropriate centre-piece for anexhibition about the roots of science and technology, said Professor Salim Al-Hassani, chairman of theFoundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation, which created the exhibition.

Muslim scientists have applauded the exhibition saying that a broader recognition of the role of theirreligion in science would lead to greater respect for Islamic communities.

Mohamed El-Gomati, a physicist at the University of York, called for the history of Islamic science to bemade part of the National Curriculum. If they learnt that a lot of the technologies we use today came fromother cultures I think there would be more respect between children sitting next to each other in theclassroom, he said.

He said that he had no difficulty reconciling his faith with his profession as a scientist. My faith is mymoral compass. Everything that I do in my labs is for the good of the community, the aim of my work innanotechnology is to make peoples lives easier, he said.

The exhibition also highlights the role women played in Islamic science, featuring an exhibit aboutMerriam Al-ljliya, an astrolabe maker and chief engineer for the Sultan.

Other exhibits featured in this interactive exhibition include a model of an energy efficient andenvironmentally-friendly Baghdad house, a 3 metre large reproduction Al-Idrisis 12th-century world map,a model of Zheng Hes Chinese junk ship, originally a 15th century wooden super structure over 100metres long and a model of a 9th-century dark room, later called Camera Obscura, which Ibn al-Haythamused to revolutionise our understanding of optics.

The exhibition was funded by the Abdul Latif Jameel Foundation, a charity set up in Britain by the Saudi

Arabian company Abdul Latif Jameel Ltd.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6997850.ece

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Elephant Clock is centrepiece of ScienceMuseum's Islamic exhibition

A replica of a 13th century 'elephant clock' by the

Muslim inventor Al-Jazari, which relies on a Greekwater mechanism to mark time has gone ondisplay at the Science Museum.

By Stephen Adams, Arts CorrespondentPublished: 7:30AM GMT 22 Jan 2010

Comment

A replica of a 13th century elephant clock by Muslim inventor Al-Jazari Photo: REXFEATURES

The 20-foot high (6m) clock is as part of an exhibition of science from the Islamic world.The clock also features Chinese dragons, an Egyptian phoenix and wooden robots dressedin Arabian clothing.

Al-Jazari was an outstanding mechanical engineer from what is now Iraq, who wrote abook detailing how to build dozens of machines including suction pumps, crank shafts andwater-raising devices.

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Professor Salim Al-Hassani, chairman of 1,001 Inventions, the organisation which is

helping put on the exhibition of the same name, said of the clock: "It gives physical form tothe concept of multiculturalism. It embodies cultural and scientific convergence ofcivilisations and is an appropriate centrepiece for an exhibition about the roots of scienceand technology."

The exhibition charts the development of science across the Islamic world from the 7thcentury until the 17th.

Prof. Chris Rapley, Director of the Science Museum, said those 1,000 years were "a time ofexceptional scientific and technological advancement in China, India, Persia, Africa andthe Arab world" which "gave us huge advances in engineering, the development of robotics

and the foundations of modern mathematics, chemistry and physics."Also in the exhibition is a model of a ninth century flying machine effectively a wooden-ribbed hang glider and a scaled down model of a 100 yard long Chinese junk built by a15th century Muslim admiral called Zheng He.

More everyday objects with roots in the Islamic world include cofee, toothbrushes andsoap, according to curators.

1,001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our Worldruns until April 25, althoughit is closed from February 25 to March 12 inclusive.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/7045228/Elephant-Clock-is-centrepiece-of-Science-Museums-Islamic-exhibition.html

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Swedish scientists help people 'feel like Barbie'

Published: 27 May 11 12:20 CET | Double click on a word to get a translationOnline: http://www.thelocal.se/34028/20110527/

Share12Scientists working at Stockholm's Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm have shown

its possible to fool people into thiking they're a Barbie-doll or a 4-metre-tall giant.

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Both illusions were cool, but if I have to choose which one I preferred, I would have tosay the Barbie, Bjrn van der Hoort, neurologist at Karolinska Institutet, told The Local.

In the experiment, 198 people were shown images of a doll a Barbie-sized one and agiant one having their legs stroked. At the same time the subjects legs were stroked causing the illusion that what they saw was what they felt.

After that the subjects were asked to estimates the size of differently sized blocks and thenwalk over these with their eyes shut.

The result showed that for the subjects touched as a Barbie-doll, the blocks were estimatedas very large.

Where the 4metre doll had been used the blocks were perceived as tiny. The distancesbetween the blocks were over- and under-estimated in a similar manner.

The experiment indicates that how we perceive size and distance is universal and almost alltest subjects had the same experience.

It is a really strong illusion, even when you know that you are being fooled you stillbelieve it," said van der Hoort.

The conclusion is that we all use our bodies as reference points to which we compareeverything around us, a behaviour that most likely stems from evolution according to van

der Hoort.

There was a time when we didnt care about measuring distances in metres but insteadcared about how many steps it would take for us to reach something or how far apart wehad to hold our hands to grasp something. The body was compared to the world we had tointeract with," van der Hoort said.

This also brings light to the quite common phenomenon when a place often frequented as a

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child seems much smaller then remembered when you return as an adult.

We think this is why, that when you were a child you compared the dimensions of theplace to your small body and now you have a big body which changes your perception ofthe dimensions, he said.

Although the research is still in its fundamental stages, it opens up for the possibility ofdeveloping fields like robotics, according to van der Hoort.

Today when we operate a robot, for example to repair an oil-rig deep under the sea orperhaps cleaning a power plant, we push buttons and pull levers, but our research canchange that, he said.

In the future it may be possible for the robots operator to really feel he is the robot, on site,doing the work. Another future application could be a surgeon "becoming a tiny robot andwalking into someones ear performing surgery", although such developments are at east

10-15 years away, according to van der Hoort.But when it is developed it will make science more intuitive and more efficient, we think,"he told The Local.

The findings have been published in online scientific journal PLoS ONE.

Rebecca Martin ([email protected])

http://www.thelocal.se/34028/20110527/