MECHANICAL ENGINEERING IN THE MEDIEVAL NEAR EAST
Birth of Mechanical Engineering in the East
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Technology
Utilitarian Fine
Utilitarian Technology
Utilitarian Technology
Utility technology was brought about as an answer to the basic necessities of man• supplying irrigation at fields• processing crops into food• fulling of cloth• crushing of metallic ores• paper making • pulping of sugarcane
Water Raising/Lifting Methods and Machines
Shaduf
Water Rising/Lifting Methods and Machines
Water Rising/Lifting Methods and Machines
Screw/Water Snail
Screw Water Snail
Higher Lift - Noria
Water Rising/Lifting Methods and Machines
Most widespread: Saqiya
Water Rising/Lifting Methods and Machines
Spiral Scoop Wheel
Water Rising/Lifting Methods and Machines
Twin Cylinder: Water Driven Pump
Water Rising/Lifting Methods and Machines
Water Wheel
Horizontal Wheel
Vertical Wheel
Undershot Overshot
Wind Mills
Fine Technology
Fine Technology
Fine Technology were derived from the use of delicate mechanisms and controls.• astronomical observations• observation and computation. • amusement and aesthetic pleasure to
the members of courtly circles.
Arabic Treatises about Fine Technology
The Book of Ingenious Devices by Banu Musa
The Book of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by Al- Jhazari
Automata
Water Clocks and Flow Regulators
Closed-Loop System
Candle Clocks
Fountain
Musical Automata
Concepts introduced by Al Jhazari
• the lamination of timber to minimize warping• the static balancing of wheels• the use of wooden templates (a kind of
pattern)
Concepts introduced by Al Jhazari
• use of paper models to establish designs the calibration of orifices
• ginding of the seats and plugs of valves together with emery powder to obtain a watertight fit
• casting of metals in closed mold boxes with sand.
Mechanical Engineering of the East to the West
It seems probable that some elements of the rich vein of Islamic mechanical engineering were transmitted to Europe.
The most likely location for the transfer of information was Iberia during the long years in which Christians and Muslims coexisted.