Astronomy Source 7

Q page 26

“[in the astrolabe’s] simplest form, it was a ring or disk with the degrees of a circle marked on it and pointing arms that could be aimed at two difference places to measure the angle between them.”

TG

Al-Biruni was able to explain how near the poles there could be many days without sun and many without the sun ever going down. Hearing stories of this from travelers, he figured out that the earth’s tilt on its axis must cause the sun to strike at certain angles. This would be so extreme in the poles that there would be nightless summers and dayless winters.

TG

Astronomy Source 7

P 40

Astronomy Source 7

P page 26

The astrolabe allowed astronomers to find the angle of a sun or star above the horizon. It also helped navigators to find their locations. Al-Battani was able to figure out “astronomical constants,” or regular intervals of movement that occur in heavenly bodies, by use of the astrolabe.

TG

“The 13th century Persian astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, the auther of one of the yellowing Arabic-language texts, upended the geocentric Greek views of the universe”

TG

Astronomy Source 2

Q page 2

Astronomy Source 7

Q page 29

“Al-Battani put these and other astronomical constants into a Zijj and wrote about how he arrived at his figures so that others could use there methods in their work. In doing this, Al-Battani was helping to establish a procedure that has become an important part of modern science. This method of faithfully reporting one’s observations and experiments allows others to check them for accuracy.”

TG

Astronomy Source 7

S 24

• Ptolemy was an ancient Greek astronomer who believed that the Earth was the center of the universe.

• Muslim astronomers corrected mistakes in Ptolemy’s system.

• A zijj is an astronomical table used to calculate the position of the stars/planets.

• Al-Khwarizmi created a Zijj• Al-Farghani created a detailed Zijj that was used

for the next 700 years.

TG

Astronomy Source 7

S pages 29-31

• Omar ibn al-khayyami devised one of the most accurate calendars ever

• Had error of only 1 day every 5000 years (a more accurate calendar than ours).

• Calendar not used because people were un-used to it.

• Calendars were created through careful observation of sun, moon, and stars.

TG

“The urge to [learn]… came from Mohammed himself, because the Prophet taught his followers to seek knowledge wherever they went. ‘Look for learning,’ he told them, ‘even if this search takes you as far afield as China,’ the most distance place that anyone could imagine in those days. ‘He who travels in search of knowledge travels along Allah’s path to paradise,’ the Prophet added.”

TG

Background Source 7

Q page 26

The Muslims’ great achievements in science were largely kick-started by assimilation of past cultures’ discoveries. Hindu mathematics inspired the study of Geometry. Greek medicine, astronomy and astrology, mathematics, and philosophy were all assimilated by the Islamic empire and then branched off of for altogether new discoveries.

TG

Background Source 10

P N/A

“Aristotle concentrated on knowledge that can be found by searching outside ourselves and examining the world around us. He stressed the importance of experience and experimentation as the way to discover truths about nature.”

TG

Background Source 7

Q 55

Muhammad encouraged his followers to search for knowledge- he told them that seeking knowledge was seeking God. The Muslims created centers of learned and collected information about conquered civilizations.

TG

Background Source 7

P 11

• Islamic scientists primarily followed Plato’s or Aristotle’s philosophy

• Plato believed in looking within oneself to find meaning to life, while aristotle believe in observation/experimentation to find answers to the universe.

• Al-kindi, Al-Razi, Ibn Sina attempted to combine both philosophies.

• Ibn-Rushd whole-heartedly supported Aristotle• Islamic science largely favored Aristotle’s views– Experimental methods are used in modern science.

TG

Learning Source 7

S pages 55-56

“The second great heritage of Islam was the emphasis placed on the use of experimental methods… They applied modern scientific methods… to ancient lore they inherited from other civilizations… [and] thus provided a bridge between the older cultures and the modern world.”

TG

Learning Source 7

Q 62

“[Islamic culture enabled the] preservation of ancient scientific lore developed by the philosophers of Greece, India, Persia, and other civilizations that were crumbling in the seventh century.”

TG

Learning Source 7

Q 61

“the use of experimental methods, together with the practice of making careful measurements of natural things, was the beginning of a major transformation in the way scientists studied the world of nature… In writing about this experiments… Ibn al-Haytham explained this new approach to science… that provided a starting point for scholars of the western Renaissance.”

TG

Learning Source 7

Q 37

“Arab science succeeded as much in pragmatic applications as it did in theoretical concepts… Islamic scholars distinguished themselves from their Greek predecessors, who were more inventive in ideas than in practical matters.”

TG

Learning Source 2

Q 6

• In 830, Muslim ruler Al-Ma’mum built the House of Wisdom

• Built in Baghdad• Held collections of scientific manuscripts from

all the around the world collected by Muslim scholars.

TG

Learning Source 7

S 20

Alhasan ibn al-Haitham (Alhazen) introduced the idea of experimental proof, and the idea that theories had to be verified through practice. This was a key idea that the Greeks had not developed. It plays a large role in modern science as well.

TG

Learning Source 2

P 6

“Unlike Arabic, however, which was understood by all classes and gave ordinary Muslims access to scholarly knowledge, Latin was used principally by academics and clergy, fencing science in as the preserve of an educated elite.”

TG

Learning Source 2

Q 5

• Al-Farisi was a Persian follower of Ibn al-Alaytham

• He explained rainbows by observing sunlight pass thru round containers of water.

• Stated that raindrops both reflect/refract light, separating colors of light.

TG

Optics Source 7

S 36-37

“Ibn Al-Haytham developed the idea that light is emitted by all radiant sources; that it travels in straight lines; and that it falls on objects and is reflected back to the eye, making sight possible. This was the beginning of the modern view about light and vision.”

TG

Optics Source 7

Q 36

A Greek physician named Galen (late second century) rejected popular beliefs about vision supported by Ptolemy and theorized that the lens of the eye enabled sight, and that nerves connected the eye to the brain.

TG

Optics Source 7

P 34

• Ibn al-Haythem was able to explain light refraction.

• Explained that light speed is different through different mediums.

• Discovered that light travels in straight lines by using camera obscura effect.

• Came close to inventing the first lens.

TG

Optics Source 7

S 36-37

Alhasan ibn al-Haytham correctly figured out how light reflects off of certain objects, which enabled him to create the first rudementary camera obscura. He also established that light emanates in straight lines.

TG

Optics Source 2

P 6

• Al-Biruni was born in 973• At 17 he built a ring that he used to determine the latitude

of a town (Kath).• Observed/measured an eclipse of the moon.• Was able to compare data on lunar eclipse with another

scientist’s to compute their difference in longitude. • Followed Sultan Mahmud in his conquests of India to

record details of the land and people that were later used to create maps.

• Wrote 146 works in all. • Major surviving work is 700 page book written on India’s

landmarks/people.

TG

People Source 7

S 41-45

“These works show the great scope of Al-Biruni’s life and work, which is so broad that modern scholars consider this man who once explained the midnight sun to the sultan to be one of the wisest people that Islam ever produced.”

TG

People Source 7

Q 45

• Al-Khwarizmi/Algorithmi (780-850)• Recommended Indian # system and helped spread it.• Wrote “Al-Khwarizmi on the Numerals of the Indians”• Developed/refined algebra from similar

Greek/Egyptian concepts to modern algebra.• Introduced the name of Algebra, “Aljabr,” meaning

“restitution.”• Al-Khwarizmi made one of the first Islamic atlases,

called “Book on the Form of the Earth.”• Al-Khwarizmi created a Zijj, used to calculate the

position of stars and planets.

TG

People Source 7

S 17-18

• The Islamic took the Babylonian number system and used/spread it.

• They used symbols that represented 1, 5, and 10

• Did not have zero, which made the placing confusing.

TG

Mathematics Source 7

S 16-17

Al-Battani (850-829) made major contributions to trigonometry, a branch of math used to find sides and angles of right triangles. Al-battani created tables listing ratios and between sides and sides and between sides and angles of right triangles. This branch of mathematics became important to surveyors and astronomers.

TG

Mathematics Source 7

P 18

Al-Khwarizmi refined Algebra from the Greeks into the algebra we know today, developing it into the math that is used when some information is known about the problem while other information is not. He gave it its name through the Arabic world “al-jabr”, meaning restitution, which explains the substitution of symbols for unknown information in algebraic equations.

TG

Mathematics Source 7

P 18

• Greek astronomer Posidonius of Apamea used the angle of the sun and horizon to measure the circumference of the earth. He measured incorrectly.

• Islamic scholars worked together in the House of Wisdom and used similar methods to come to a number.

• The number they arrived at, however, was incorrect due to flawed measurements and supported Posidonius’ measurements.

TG

Mathematics Source 7

S 20