By: Jin Khan
The Islamic world influenced the renaissance as well. The origins of the renaissance are generally believed to lie in Italy where renewed interest in classics had a huge impact on art and culture, but the foundation of the renaissance were laid much earlier and not in Italy but in a town called Toledo in an Islamic Spain. When Toledo fell to the Christians it’s doors were open led for people all over Europe. These people mixed with the Muslims who initially lived in the city. Learning their language and reading their books.
1) In 872, Ahmad Ibn Tulun built the first mental hospital in cairo which included music therapy. Bimaristans were described by European travellers, who wrote about their wonder at the care and Kindness shown to lunatics.
2) chemistry
Jabir Ibn Hayyan known as the father of chemistry or Alchemy which actually an Arabic word of Al-Kimiya invented many scientific methods including methods of separation such as filtration, crystallization, pure distillation.
3) Ibn Sinna known in Latin as Avicenna, his books his two books were an authority on medicine throughout the world for 500 years.
4) Ibn Al Haytham known as the father of optics. He was the first one to explain how the eyes see and first one to perform eye surgery. His work with lenses eventual led to the discovery of the camera. The camera is an Arabic word “Qamar” which means the moon or light entering a room in small processions “Qamra” or “Qamara”
5) The first practical Windmills ever used were in the 9th century invented in Eastern Persia however an earlier anecdote involving the second Caliph mentions about Windmills having been used in 634-644 A. D
6) When we talk about bulbs and electricity it would have never existed without Abbas Ibn Firnas.
He designed one of the first ever water clocks and devised a means of manufacturing colourless glass. He also was the first person to make a room which conducted electricity simulating lightning.
7) Influenced Western architecture.
The Great Roman Catholic cathedral in the middle of Cordoba town in Spain was first built as a Mosque by Muslims and from its design a century later similar designs were adapted by Northern Europeans, in Lincoln cathedral and gothic cathedrals in northern Europe.
8) Al Khawarizmy known as Algorizmi or Algoritmi, invented algebra and was instrumental on the calculus and in the development of trigonometry and the Use of Algorithm. His name itself was Latin of Algorithm. Without it we would have never been able to make computers or even phones.
9) Al – Zahrawi known in Latin as Abulcasis. Recognised as the father of modern surgery. He invented 200 tools of surgery and many of them are still in use today. He was also the first physician to describe an ectopic pregnancy and the first to identify the hereditary nature of haemophilia
10) “Amr Ibn Bahr” was the first man to discuss foodchains in his famous work ” The book of animals in the 9th century much earlier than Charles Elton who popularised it in his book in 1927
11) In 796 A.D the first brass astrolabe was built by Muhammad Al – Fazari. The astrolabe was a complicated astronomical devise that served many purposes such as telling time, compass direction and showing the position of the stars.