Islam Project Note Cards

by: Mina Howell

Source OneWhat life was like, The land of the prophets

• Purifying water (103)• Medications (102)• Ignoring medicine (102)• Quality of medical care (102)• Useful quote (102)• Physicians (99-100)• The astrolabe (62)• Science of the stars (62)

Purifying Water

• Ibn (Physician) had recipes for purifying water according to temperature and time of the year

• In Summer: combo of vinegar, clay, red earth, chalk and many spiky crushed shrubs

• In Winter: fill water with apricot pits, dill, water thyme and bitter almonds

• After both of these treatments the water was to be skimmed, heated and left out over night, in morning it was deemed safe to drink

Medications• Ivan Ridwan was an advocate for the gentle use

of drugs and medicines for his patients• One for strengthening the stomach was a combo

of sour quince juice and apples, acrid wine and sweet and sour pomegranates blended with ginger, and other spices

• Another to preserve the body was a blend of white wine, sweet basil juice, juice of sour quince, apple, citron, and sweet and sour pomegranates boiled and drunk with a sweetened syrup

Quality of medical care

• Quality of medical care from doctor to docter varied greatly

• All physicians were differentOne Remedy:“the dripping of milk on his head on very cold

days” (102)-This cured a man who was paralyzed on one

side of the body

Useful Quote

• “The ignorant doctor is more armful to the body than a current pestilence or thieves” –Ibn Ridwan

Physicians

• Ibn Ridwan was one of Cairo’s best physicians and began suffering from severe headaches

• Tried to restore equilibrium in brain by performing a venesection, a drawing of blood

• Later all of the known knowledge would lead to an age called the renaissance of Islam

*LOOK UP THE RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM!

The astrolabe

• A device used to compute the movement of planets and the position of the stars

• Flat metal disk, ranged from two- twelve inched in diameter with a point called the astrolabe

• Suspended astrolabe aimed at star of other planets, pointer would form an angle and measure degrees of angle, when degrees was found distance could be determined

Science of Stars• Had mathematicians, cartographers, engineers,

physicians and chemists• Arabic was the language for science• Advanced in astronomy, learned from cultures of

Persia, India and Greece • Discovered new stars, improved existing Greek

astronomical system and calculated thickness of the Earths atmosphere

• Also calculated the meridian around Earth • Discoveded that Earth rotated on an axis

Textbook

*Check textbook’s information on Science!

Sources 3 and 4Arab Science Discoveries and Contributions by Edwin Hoyt

andScience in Medival Islam by Howard R. Turner

Source 3• Questions of Science• Encyclopedia (146)• Important People (148)Source 4• Calculating (45)

Questions of Science

• Why do objects partly covered by water appear bent?

• Why does Canopus appear larger when near the horizon?

• What is the illusion of spots before the eyes?

Encyclopedia

Alfonso X of Castile was an educated man of astronomy and history, he wanted to publish an encyclopedia of his knowledge. He finished one important segment of it. It was called Libras del Saber de Astronomia and mostly about astronomy.

• Another important work was the Alponsine Tables, which was the most astronomical table of Europe until the 1600’s and they were written in Spanish, not Arabic

Important People

• Aristotle- his works were translated into Arabic partly by Gerald of Cremona

• Albert Magnus- encyclopedeist, studied plant physiology and dissected eyeballs to study the nervous system

• Vincent of Beuvais- encyclopedeist • Herman the Lame- improved the astrolobe

and helped invent tools for the astrolobe

The Three Systems of Calculating

• Muslims inherited three systems of calculating• The first was using the fingers to show

mathematical symbols, positioned hands and fingers, results were written out as words

• The second represented numbers as letters of the alphabet

• The third made I possible to represent any number with nine different figures and a zero

• The Islamic Scientest’s invented the idea of 0

Source 5World History, Patterns of Interaction- Roger Beck (etc)

• Astronomy (275)• Parts of the Astrolobe (275)• Astrolobe note (275)• Armillary Sphere (275)• Science in General (276)

Astronomy

• Astronomic knowledge developed from need to fulfill some of the pillars of Islam such as Ramadan and the Hajj

• Lunar Calendar was needed to mark prayer• Helped people know which way to face to

pray towards Mecca• The stars guided Muslim traders

Parts of the Astrolobe

Plate of Astrolobe- etched with map of the sky for certain latitude and longitude

Rete of Astrolobe- rotated over plate, cut away so that desired area of map on plate was visible

Pointers of Astrolobe- pointers represented different stars, at night pointers were positioned to stars and calculations were made based on the observations of the astrolobe

Astrolobe Note

With the Astrolobe Muslim scientists could calculate time, Celestial Events and a relative position of the stars. It also determined where ever the location they were in relative to Mecca. This was important because it told the Muslims which way to pray that would be pointing towards Mecca

Armillary Sphere

To operate the sphere, someone would stand in the center of the sphere and align it while the other man recorded the observations. This device was used to calculate the time of the day or year and helped Muslims to set their religious calander.

Science in General• Muslim research up to the Fall of Rome may have

been lost in the chaos• The House of Wisdom was a translation center

where many scholars of many different beliefs and cultures worked translating texts from Greek, Indian and Persian languages into Arabic

• Types of Scholars were researchers, editors, linguists and technical advisors as well as many others

• These Scholars helped to develop strategies of research that are still used today!