Every now and then I no idea takes full that changes everything it revolutionizes the way we

see and understand the world around us I believe that just such an idea took form in the
medieval Islamic world the idea that everything from the start the ball to the book is about
140 is not arbitrary or whimsical the subject to certain systematic rules what's more that we
humans can work out what those rules might be and then we can refine and test our theories
through observation and experiments in other words it's the idea we now call the scientific
method. To me the story of the scientific renaissance that took place in the medieval Islamic
world is a personal. This is my cousin sent me as house in the Iranian capital Tehran. I
haven't seen some of the relatives on my father's side of the family in over 30 years. This is
my not so it's. Hello Kelly family is originally from the city of Najaf in Iraq south of
Baghdad. In fact I grew up in Iraq. When Saddam Hussein came to power the families. Many
of the Achilles flood hits Iran. As my mother English I came to Britain with my parents. That I
pursued my passion for science and I'm now a professor of physics at the university of
southern. But now I find that my own scientific work and my Arabic and Islamic heritage are
intertwined. All my journeys to the Middle East I discovered this astonishing leap in scientific
knowledge took place here 1000 years ago under a powerful and flourishing Islamic
empire. Well see powerful successful coaches will produce enormous advances in
understanding and in technique and that's just what we find in Islam in Baghdad and a series
of successful powerful wealthy and self confident Islamic regimes. Over 1000 years ago the
Islamic empire was the largest in the world government and estimated 60000000 people that
was over 30 percent of the world's population. I found it okay logical fragments of this
glorious pulsed in a suburb of Tehran not far from my cousin's house. These angels tucked
behind a Backstreet on the outskirts of Saigon fell on a literally all that remains of the ancient
city of ray the city to the great Persian geographer I deceit described as one of the glories of
Islam. Of course rate was just one of a number of cities that flourished under Islamic rule
from Baghdad is capital the empire spread across thousands of miles from North Africa
through to Central Asia cities like Alaska Basra move go d'angelo Hara each powerful and
thriving cities each would have been rich in trade alive with culture each had its own libraries
academies these were powerhouses the new science this really walls a golden age think of
that span of land this is larger than any empire human civilization had ever known we think
that span of land you can plug in the Roman Empire and it could fill just maybe what once
said the fifth 0.5 of it or something like that. Good morning this is great to see them
again. Everywhere in the Arab world today. This football match in the Syrian capital
Damascus is being played at the Abbasid stadium. That's the name of the family who will be
semi compiled from 750 to 125880. You know. This large territory allow them to raise
enormous tax revenues to fund the search for Norwegians. Which became known as the
translation. They said scholars around the known world together right books have been
translated into Arabic. It's a magazine that stood alone in the minds of most
modern. We. The medieval Islamic leaders scientific knowledge was crucial to successfully
running Boston. We did have a big and sophisticated governmental administration and
always think that needed knowledge if you wanted to be an administrator and you had to
assess taxes you need to know about mathematics. It also wants to be able to build
monumental buildings that reflect the knowledge of architecture and again mathematical
skills to construct fine buildings safely. Medicine just to keep the heat happy and
healthy. And those are the areas of knowledge which affects translated from other
languages into Arabic. The legacy of the medieval Islamic empire scattered across the vast
region. This architectural masterpieces like the mosque in Damascus. The German mosque
in Isfahan. And as her university of Moscow in Cairo. And then there were many ruins that
still hints at possible routes like this the crumbling eccentric palace deep in the Syrian
desert. And this huge Muslim palace cold Medina to set her up currently being excavated in
southern Spain. These are the. Press of ruins of maintenance is the haram the fantastic
palace city built outside Cordoba in the ninth century bye I'm direct mon the third who is the
greatest of all the Andalusian caliphs. At the time that it was ruined courted but was in fact
the largest and most important city in your arrival to Baghdad in the east for the center for
Islamic scholarship and science. And as I traveled I saw how science especially numerical
record keeping and measurements was crucial to dealing with the challenges of running a
vast empire. This is the mighty river Nile. The news to the Egyptian capital Cairo. Since
antiquity it's unpredictable floods have determined the fates of Egypt's people bringing years
of lean and plenty. By the eighth century Cairo was part of the Islamic empire and the new
rulers took the first step to understanding this mighty river in a scientific way. They built a
device to measure it. The main entrance. Dr no I don't I would be 3 of the institute of Ismaili
studies showing me the nylon meter. It's basically a huge culminate that was built in the
chamber connected by tunnels to the river. As the water rose or fell its height could be read
from the central column. The centre colonnade here is ultimately a measuring instrument is
very precise it's almost one hinge between remarking on another. Did you really need to
know seasonal variations in the high. Try to have some sort of record so that they could
measure against so 10 years a year less known for a high level slob versus another year
known for its drought then they might perhaps take some precautions yes. The data
collected from the non limita did have one practical use by creating an objective record of the
reverse behavior it's allowed the rulers of the time to calculate how much tax to levy on
Egypt's farmers. But whatever excuses what I love about the 9 limited is how it shows the
understand the world you have to build devices to measure it. If you think very hard it's never
obvious exact measurement can make sense of the world around us. Worldpay is is western
plus for once put it like a buzzing blooming confusion and the idea that we as a group have
tools which are reliable which have sufficient integrity which have an intellectual grip that can
make sense of the basic phenomena we see around us the facts in the Spanish inclined
DHEA. And one medieval Islamic rulers make measurements personal obsession getting a
scale and ambition that was truly unprecedented. His name was I will not move and became
the caliph or ruler will be assigned to camp in 81390. I'm not moon lived in a culture without
portraiture so all we have a late 2 impressions of what he might have looked like. I'm not
moon funded a range of scientific research one particular project was a personal favorite of
his. And given that he ruled over such a large territory it's hardly surprising what it wills not
making. In the second decade of the nineteenth century AD element moon commissioned a
new map of the world. And his scientists did a pretty impressive job. It was a vast
improvement on old maps that has come before. What we see here is that they've really got
the the Mediterranean shape and how it links in with the Black Sea at the Middle East even
the whole of Asia as far as China and Japan they've even got the the Indian Ocean and the
east coast of Africa it all looks pretty impressive full the known world at the time. Of course
one moment moon ultimately wants to know with how much of the earth as a whole did he
possess and this big the question just how big is the. It's a sign of amazing ambush that
groups all of scholars and Crossman to get the kinds that will capture the world. Where is
that ambition and that confidence comes from. Part of it comes from religious faith. Because
the world was made by someone a bit like costs but much smaller. If we're smart enough
before was we could probably make sense of a bit of what he did. And that's very clear as a
motivation and a lot of Islamic as in a lot of Christian Science. And more specifically the
practice of Islam demande that its followers have a very clear idea of the songs and shape of
the world. Now this is crucial information for Muslims because wherever they are in the world
they need to know the direction to Mecca for that prayer this is known as a complex now if
it's a large territory finding the direction to Mekka is not a trivial problem. This problem was
wonderfully illustrated when a mosque was built recently in Washington DC. Some
worshippers were confused because the direction they were told to face when praying
slightly north and north south east as they expected us to roll Mecca is southeast of
Washington and on a flat. Does appear to lie in that direction. On the sphere the shortest
distance between any 2 points follows what's called a great circle so for example this great
circle line between Washington and Mecca is quite different to what you might expect so the
direction to Mekka from Washington actually points slightly north east Rockland
southeast. Of course this is complicated stuff but the key point for slamming scholars is that
knowing the direction to Mekka requires a knowledge of how steeply curves and that means
knowing how big it is. So element moon commissioned his very best scientists
measurements. Hello hello professor Jim out Kennedy nice to meet you. To understand how
they did it a meeting up with professors some mutual loopy from Aleppo university in Syria
who's an expert in early Islamic sign comes on me. The mobile Sam Hey I listen almost a
semi to almost professor J. Luby began by explaining the measuring technique which
element when scientists first used and which they had inherited from the Greeks what we're
now talking about this the early yes our stuff in these technique of measuring the
circumference it was repeated again by the Abbasid astronomers once. To measure the
distance between 2 points and then look at the angle of inclination of the sun set in Egypt in
S. one down in the south they've got the sun is being vertical system you need to be quite
set and they worked out how far away from the vertical some was if they measured it from
the north of Egypt in Alexandria because only Mediterranean coast. Element moonstone is
often repeated the Greek experiments in Syria and Iraq by measuring the angle of the sun in
the sky at noon that's one known location. They then walked doodle to a second location
carefully measuring the distance they travel. At the second location they once again
measured the angle of the sun news. This angle would have been slightly smaller than the
first one. With these figures instruments were able to estimate the circumference. They go to
a value of 24000 miles within $0.40 correct value. Know that you might think that this method
was flawed and ultimately unreliable the main problem with it was that measuring the
distance between 2 locations was incredibly difficult it could only be done by the I'm reliable
method of counting paces as you walk through the burning. A more reliable and
sophisticated method for estimating the size was needed and 2 centuries off to element
moon died it came. What made it possible was a great leap of imagination and the fact that
by 980 much of the world's mathematical knowledge have been translated into Arabic so
scholars could scrutinize and improve on it. Also this obsession with scholarly learning came
a true mathematical visionary right Han Muhammed bin Ahmed al Jubeir Rooney unlike old
Islamic scholars of the time I'll be Rooney was obsessed with the science and mathematics
of the ancient Greeks Babylonians and Indians. And because of the success of the
translation movement he had literally on his desk the great work on geometry by you clicked
Ptolemy's Almagest the Indian text the sin Hinde and the famous work on algebra by Alcoa's
me. Professor Chiluba has also long to pull in which L. B. Rooney describes how he
combined algebra and geometry with some very simple and practical measurements to solve
the problem of how to calculate the size of the. They only need 6 of them this is this is. At the
most it would be kind of yes this is bay Rooney's cannon which I've been trying to get hold of
where he describes this this the fantastic experiments meant only found the page yes well
the rest of the summer. Having read elpais Rooney's description of how to estimate the size
of the world I wanted to try it for myself. First he had to find a fairly high mountains from the
top of which you could see a flat rising in this case the C.. What I love about this story is that
with a few simple measurements around the small mountain peak you can work countless
songs of the whole world. I'll be Rooney's persistent was to work out the height of the
mountains. He did this by going to 2 points at sea level unknown distance apart and then
measuring the angles the least points to the mountains. So to measure the angle to the
mountaintop they really had to use a device like this cordon after late it's basically a giant the
tractor has the angles in degrees marks around the outside and appointed to help him
determine his line of sight so if we try now and determine the the angle to the top it has to
hang really and then. The case led to hang. I'd like to stress if you haven't noticed already
Robert Rooney would have made his measurements more meticulously than I am he did
them again and again to get consistently reliable results. Okay that's about it. I'm not is 24.5
degrees okay so now we determine one angle when I have to go pick out a second spot
along the beach. In the distance from the first to the second points must be measured
accurately in this case is 100 meters and the 2 points must be in a straight line with the
mountain. I measured the second angle to be about 26.5 degrees and now had enough
information to calculate the height of the mountains. Using trigonometry and algebra helping
Rooney used a formula that relates the height of the mountains to what are known as the
tangents of the angles he measured. Using my missions I get a figure for this mountain of
about 530 meters. I now need only one more mission skip the size of the. And to get that I
have to climb to the top of the mountain. What they really did next was measure the angle of
the line of sight to the horizon as it dips below the horizontal so we're going to try and
reproduce that's if you can. Lifted up so that is hanging. And a 5. Locate the
horizon. Okay. Which is about half a degree which is about the value that they really
go. Now here's the really ingenious palm bay Rooney had measured full quantities 3 angles
in a distance he used to vandals and the distance to work out the height of the mountains. I'll
be routing now had everything he needed in essence okay Rooney imagine huge right
tangled triangle which has as its 3 corners the mountaintop the horizon and the center of the
year. Trigonometry told him that the angle he had measured and the height of the mountains
related to the radius of the. Algebra allowed him to calculate. With this formula Hey Rooney
is able to arrive at the value for the circumference of the earth this within 200 miles of the
exact value we know it to be today about 25000 mark. That's to within an accuracy of less
than one percent a remarkable achievement for someone 0 years ago. For me Beirut his
experiments isn't early dramatic example of a scientist using mathematical reasoning to
extend humanity's reach he really pushes the idea that abstract geometrical rules governing
idealize shaped like perfect circles and triangles can help us to comprehend the real
world. Are you spelling use precisely the same approach admittedly with much more
advanced mathematics when he developed his general theory of relativity almost 1000 years
off the bay Rooney. But both Feinstein and they Rooney we United by a single common
idea. With mathematics humanity can embrace the universe. In the story the best of the
scientific method the ceramics Gaullist ability to muster sophisticated mathematics is the first
crucial ingredients. The second crucial ingredient is the use of experiments in
science. Without experiment theory remains meaningless and sterilize is experimentation the
last theory to be held up against the real world it gives the physical meaning awareness
sophisticated mathematics grew up of the empire the session with the world's learning
through the translation movement practical experiment came from the daily needs of a
powerful and expanding civilization. The driving force of the expanding medieval to slam it
can hire was straight from around 780 on. Creating a massive demand for metal workers
glass blowers tile makers Crossman every possible calling. When this collided with scholarly
tradition symbolized by the translation movements it had seismic consequences for
science. The science is absolutely depend astronomy is a wonderful example chemistry is
another on really intense relationships between Croft traditions of instrument Mike. Working
with metal and file. Of working with medicines drugs plans and scholarship highly
sophisticated literary and mathematical analysis and the Islamic world is just such a
place. By around 880 the great cities of the Islamic empire dominated the world straight. To
its markets came silks spices run through. You can go. From as far afield as India and China
in the east and Spain in the west anything that could be traded walls. Well this medieval
trade. Rates caravanserai like this one in the Syrian capital Damascus. This huge bolted
building was designed as a resting place for all the traders and the animals who visited the
city line. On the ground floor white spaces for animals and good. And about the rooms for
the rich mentions to refresh themselves for another day. One tenth century traveler talks of
the riches and beauties of the bizarre and that the income of the provinces and localities was
between 700 and 800000000. Markets like this in the Egyptian capital Cairo still captured the
intensity of medieval trade. And still surviving in the modern world of the internet to the
mobile phone is a fantastic example of how trade is 1000 years ago communicated across a
vast improvement. Once again. So this is a character whose bases here so we have you to
this page in the region it will make its way back to this guy. There is a famous story that a
rich American by the name of the north wanted to grow cherry trees so I sent a message
with the characters into contacted his in Damascus often doesn't see his contact sent back
500 birds each one carrying a small bag with seasoning the whole process took just 3
days. Some of the medieval fed ex rating. 700 A. D. the Islamic empire was taking the first
steps towards mass production. And in this world where knowledge of materials metals and
how their work became increasingly important one practice flourish. Who is the practice was
inextricably linked with magic. Specifically the dream to turn base metals into
gold. Mysterious practice L. can. The ancient cults of alchemy was a mystical system of
belief based on style symbols in magic but I believe it took to slamming scholars to tennis
quality religion into something much more scientific. Chemistry. Increasingly the knowledge
of the alchemists found more more practical applications. For instance when during the last
decade of the seventh century the ruler of the Islamic empire I'm didn't medic made the bold
decision to create a common currency all his dominions he turned alchemists for help. The
proportion of gold. 2 other annoyed metals that you have to put into the do not to make the
do not usable otherwise pure gold would become that very soft and you can't use it so that
proportion is adjusted by believe it or not in disputed the alchemists it is the alchemist who
knew how to combine metals together and how to get the proportions of this is going to sit
there and go to lunch and talk. Salonica innocent. I hunted down the tangible evidence of the
skill of medieval Islamic alchemists in the old markets in the Syrian capital Damascus this is
an Islamic denied the date of this 128 after vacation so in the middle of the eighteenth
century 7000. And. This 1500 year old coins made of an alloy of different metals isn't just
durable is also malleable enough to be inscribed with intricate Arabic writing logo. I
love. Calling making is one of the many examples of how the practical needs of the booming
economy began to turn the magical practice of alchemy into modern chemistry. What's
striking about chemistry in the medieval Islamic world is the sheer quantity of manuscripts
that deal with the subject there were literally thousands of Somali dealing with subjects as
varied as mythology loss making hi making Donnie a few. Weaponry there's even a
description on how to distill alcohol. This activity clearly points to a bustling economy with
consumers soldiers engineers architects all the bonding innovation I told him mom to use
technology. A great example of applied chemistry in the medieval Islamic world with the
money factor also. This stuff sold it so that you can really clean yourself with was virtually
unknown in northern Europe until the thirteenth century when I started being imported from
Islamic Spain and North Africa by that time the money back to us so please let me quote had
become virtually industrialized the town of phase boasted some 27 different soap makers
and fifties like Nablus Damascus and of course Aleppo's became world renowned for the
quality of assets. The twelfth century documents as the world's first detailed description of
how to make soap it mentions the key ingredients and it's a substance that became crucial
to modern chemistry an alkaline cell alkaline substances are crucial to soap making but
what's interesting is that I will word alkali derives from the Arabic al Ali which means ashes
that's because back then alkalis were manufactured from the ashes of the roof of certain
plants like football. Slamming chemists new understanding of alkalis and other new
chemicals gave another industry at least 2. Loss making. The Senate chemist discovered
that they could change the color of clocks using newly discovered chemicals like manganese
so. And they built industrial furnaces some several stories high to manufacture gloss in huge
quantities. The legacy of this can still be seen beautiful stained glass windows. Islamic
chemists also developed many other colors take mints and gum using the new health care
law and metals like lead to. Please help architects to decorate most like this one in the
Iranian city of Isfahan in a glorious range of colors and designs. Chemistry was also driven
by the booming markets in her teens. So now I should. In the main market investors traders
still make your favorite scent as they would have 1000 years ago so basically has a base of
alcohol and then add to it the the the oils from. Jasmine and rose gold and that means that
these days they'll they'll they'll use. This. Yeah. Perfume is pushed chemist to come up with
ever more ingenious techniques for extracting something fragile fragrances from flowers and
plants. They responded by refining and really establishing a technique the old chemists
would instantly recognize today. Distillation techniques originally the lemon scholars or even
earlier Dr Andrea sella a chemist from University College London shows me how distillation
was used crush distillations would've been done in devices sort of related to these this is
what's now called a retort we don't really use them anymore but retort comes from the from
the word to bands in other words a flask which is being bent over and that's crucial for
maintaining the shape which means it's a gas produced in the flask is forced to condense in
the spot and it's the main way of extracting sense from flowers and plants no the idea here is
that your seat at this end and you've collected the other and so we should actually take a
look and see if we can do a quick distillation with rose petals first we need to just put in a
little bit of water the water steam will essentially control the temperature we don't want is for
this to get too hot because trick with this kind of distillation is to use heat to release the
scent's molecules but at the same time making sure that these delicate substances are
destroyed in the process. You actually use the steam to control the temperature in the steam
will carry the those smiles over you can see the liquid coming up condensing in along
to. And there is already a liquid coming coming home yeah and that should be carrying with
it some of the sort of rose water smell. Yes you can really spell it. All this shows the
fourteenth century perfume distillery. Middle East and perfumes were known to have been
sold as far away as India and China. The Islamic payments also played a pivotal role in
another more gruesome industry weaponry. Historical records during the crusades talking
terrify tones of how the Muslims would attack the Christians with burning missiles and
grenades striking fear into the hearts of the defendant many of these use a substance
known as Greek fire. Islamic chemists improved on Greek 5 by using and refining and
naturally occurring bristles pitch rodeo. They developed the idea of distilling Petroni Noth to
create a life extremely flammable oil which they mixed with other volatile chemicals to make
them burn furious. And the result was clearly terrified. What's all these medieval Islamic texts
on chemistry have in common is that right attention to detail which is mainly based on careful
experimentation in fact the whole idea of the forestry where chemical and industrial
processes can be tried out really takes hold at this time. The ingenuity of medieval Islamic
chemists is impressive. But I wanted to know something deeper what contribution did they
make to our modern understanding the principles behind chemistry. This is the centerpiece
of modern chemistry. Take. It lists all the known element. Its key idea is to group substances
with similar properties together. On the far right for instance of the units gas. On the far left
on the phone. The periodic table is a triumph of classifications giving scientists a way of
organizing their knowledge of the material world. Classification is is simply a way to think
clearly I mean what you need when when you when you have some ideas about how the
world works is that gives you kind of scheme and you chop the world up into categories and
that actually helps you to understand to to to to make sense of what's around. People have
been trying to classify the material world since ancient times the Greeks for instance full they
would just pull worldly elements at the fire and water. But this idea was a philosophical one
and had little practical value. And that's what medieval Islamic chemists really changed they
used experimental observations to classify the stuff the world is made of. At the forefront of
this was a medieval Islamic doctor and chemist called it bin Zakaria across who was born
here in the city of right just outside the Iranian capital Tehran 86580. Rossi's classifications
was very different from the Greek one. He argued for instance that minerals roughly stuff we
dig out of the ground should be classified into 6 groups depending on their observed
chemical properties the same guiding principle that lies behind the mountain periodic
table. What I've done is I've brought materials from his classification scheme and we have
here what we would what he called the spirits we have the metallic bodies we have the
stones then we have the actual mince the salts and finally the bore axis. H. about Rossi's
groups had a profoundly different experimental behavior. For instance spirits were
flammable. The metals were shiny and malleable. Salts dissolved in water. Of course these
classifications I'm not the way we do it today. But the point is that for the first time I. Ross he
was grouping substances on the basis of experimental observations. Not philosophical
musings. We've come over 1000 years since the work of a Rossi what sorts of dexter's
modern chemistry and to him for his classification well I think with rising we start to see the
first classification with reading leads on to further experiments the first scheme which allows
people to start doing rational work and so really he lives at the start of of almost formal
chemistry which ultimately leads to our periodic time. I believe that what we see in the
welcome is slamming chemists and alchemists is the first tentative steps to a new
science. Yes by our standards it contained a lot of magic number jump but it placed an
emphasis on experimentation that was truly revolutionary. But I'm so what's to come
because Islamic mathematics and the experimental techniques of Java in Haryana now
Rosie were about to be welded together in a completely innovative way that would
revolutionize their work and create the modern scientific H.. Until the ninth or tenth centuries
ideas about science and how the natural world worked with dominated by the Greek
philosopher Aristotle and they were very different from ours today. He believes that
mathematics was concerned only with an abstract world of perfect forms idealize shapes like
circles squares and triangles it had no power to explain what we observe in the world around
us the world characterized by irregular wonky shapes and constant change. Physics is a
Greek word meaning the science of change. And for the classical Greek tradition there was
a strong sense in which the science of change was in contradiction with
mathematics. Mathematics dealt with perfect knowledge with the young changing world of
mathematical forms. And it seemed in principle extremely unlikely the processes of coming
into being and passing away of growth and of D. K. all of qualitative change could be
captured with the beauties of geometry and mathematics. The story of how humanity shook
off this idea and began to see that mathematics is actually an incredibly powerful way of
describing the world around us is long and complicated. Not for me Slavic scientists played a
crucial role and I believe one man really let this movement's 10 mathematics from the
language of abstracts full into a truly practical science. He was like me from Iraq and his
name was it will hasten what hello hi Sam and his contemporaries all cute for was the
possibility and why of a single science. Which would be both mathematical and philosophical
which would link together a physics a science of change with a mathematics the science of
quantity I'm not seems to me to be radical and crucial for the construction of new forms a
reliable knowledge. If you hate them was born in 196580 in the southern Iraqi town of Basra
and other scholars regarded him as a prodigy he shot to scientific fame just off to the tone of
the first millennium I'm wasn't incredibly innovative and brilliant scholar his reputation as an
incident spread throughout the empire but it was this reputation that would almost caused
him to lose everything when you took out the poisoned chalice of trying to tame 1 of the
world's greatest rivers. There's a wonderful if suspiciously apocryphal story about how it will
Haitians career as a scientist just transfer the. It concerns the Nile and how just after the turn
of the millennium it will hasten was lost by the ruler of Egypt to find a way of controlling
it. Could he prevent it's unpredictable and potentially devastating floods and droughts. But it
didn't take enough taken long to realize that the Nile was way too large to control. On
hearing this the caliph flew into a terrible rage and ordered it now Hey thumbs execution. I
didn't hate them responded by feigning madness the execution was called off and he was
placed under house arrest. That with time on his hands to contemplate the story goes it will
hate them considered deep and fundamental questions in physics. And he began with a truly
enigmatic and universal problem he asked if the wonderful and it's highly mysterious nature
of lights and vision could be explained by mathematics and geometry. Under house arrest or
perhaps here in the rooms of L. as her university in Cairo it will hate them carried out a
series of experiments that created the modern science of optics. I'm with Dr Elvis read this
carefully studied in the heavens work. He explained that it will hate him first considered the
Aristotelian explanation for how we see an explanation that was completely on
mathematical. Aristotle argued that when we look at say a tree is essence full emanates
from and then mysteriously flows into all these. So if I'm for instance now looking at the
buildings and the trees on the banks of the Nile I'm receiving the forms of these buildings
and these trees endive obstructed from that love to. According to Dr L. Bisley it will hasten
found this idea deeply unsatisfactory he wanted a mathematical explanation. And looking
back it's existing Greek writings he found one although it was obscure and bizarre. This idea
claims that we see because the light rays come out of the army. Ultimately it says that the
version of cursed by way of the emission of from the outside of light that is shaped in the
form of a permit or a corn. This cone shaped. That's what we're looking at is the following
find nice geometric straight long. It seems it will hate them like this mathematical approach
but immediately spotted it flows. If we see because light comes out of the way why does it
hurt when you look at the bright objects like the sun but not hurt when you look at something
DM. All right nights can light from our allies really be lighting up distant objects in the sky. So
in an inspired piece of thinking it will hate them combine the 2 we call it is and defined a
modern understanding of lights and vision. Like he said does travel in straight lines the
debate geometric rules but instead of them coming out of the high these rail travel into it. It is
the development of an entirely new CD and also mythologically it is the beginning of my
sympathizing physics. What if anything did was take the principles of geometry with its rules
governing straight lines and apply them to the real world. He then designed experiments
which will test within the real world measured up to his mathematics. In about 1020 it will
hate them published his groundbreaking geometric explanation of lights in his Kitab
another. Local 6. I'm not really marks this book counts as science is that it will hate them
carefully justifies his theories with detailed experiments that others can repeat and verify. He
starts from first principles to find out how light travels. For his first experiment if not hate
them wanted to test the idea that light travels in straight lines. Not to do this he took a
straight shoot on which control in a straight line down the side and a ruler again with a
straight line down the length of it and by matching the 2 together he was convinced them
that the truth was straight now if you use it to look at an object in this case the candle you
can see the cattle through the chimney which is good evidence that the lightest traveling up
in a straight line but just to be sure he then blocked the end of the 2. And then by looking at
the kennel again of course he can't see it because what this does is confirm that the light
doesn't travel to his online by any of the rooms in a kind of cough outside that you proof that
might only travels in a straight line now this might sound quite trivial and obvious to us but if
you hate them was starting from first principles. Then through experiments he extends his
light travels in straight lines idea to many other phenomena he explains how mirrors work by
arguing that the angle the rate comes in it is the same as the angle it bounces
offense. Explains what we now call refraction like objects look Kinks in a glass of water
arguing that light rays bend when they move from one medium to another. And then he
tackles the nature of the vision. Hey Sam wanted to understand how objects makes an
image on the retina of the eyes. So he built what he believed was a stripped down version of
the army which is basically a black box with a tiny hole in it this is what we call today the
camera obscura. He next took his subjects in this case Anna is very brightly lit and we now
go inside the box to see what the image looks like. Now that I'm inside the camera obscura
not allowed my eyes to get used to the dark we can open the whole. And that we clearly see
the image of Anna waving on the screen but the images invented because light travels in
straight lines and so the light from her head has to move diagonally down with to hit the
bottom of the screen unlike from her feet travels diagonally upwards to hit the top. But more
importantly what this proved in the - is that there's a one to one correspondence between
every point on the object on Anna and every point on her image on the screen. Just like a
modern scientific paper the attention to detail in the Catawba another is incredible. His book
isn't just a dry scientific treaties it's 7 manual for future generations. In his work keeps
constantly justifies his theories about light with experimental observations I described his
experiments in great detail so that other people can repeat them and confirm his ideas his
messages don't take my word for it see for yourself. I believe in hate them was one of the
very first people to ever work like this. This for me is the moment the science itself is
summoned into existence and becomes a discipline in its own right. What I find so
impressive about did not hate them is how once he arrives at his mathematical theorems he
then uses them to extend our knowledge of the real world. So for instance he used his new
ideas about lights to deduce that the earth's atmosphere is in the final the Canucks and he
even estimated what the thicknesses. He did it basically by measuring how long twilight
Los. He rightly assumed that the reason it continues to be a lights off to the sun has dropped
below the horizon must be because it's ray's band as they enter the earth's atmosphere. The
length of twilight an educated guess what we today call the S. refractive index gave it not
hate them away estimating the thickness of the earth's atmosphere. He came up with a
figure of around 40 kilometers that's harmful to the mountain valley that's pretty
impressive. It really shows how mathematics extends the power of science to explain. My
journey so far I've been overwhelmed by the sheer intellectual ambition of medieval Islamic
sciences. When the leaders Austin to find out the summits of the world scholars like okay
Rooney used mathematics in startling new ways to reach out to describe the universe. And
as trade and commerce boom scientists like a rusty responded by developing a new kind of
experimental science chemistry. But if this one is slamming scientists we should remember
above all others it is in my view it not hate them for doing so much to create what we now
call the scientific method. The scientific method is I believe the single most important
because I did the human race has ever come up with. There is no other strategy that tells us
how to find out how the universe works what a place and it is of course is also deliver
technologies have transformed our lives so the next time you checked off on holiday or using
mobile phones will get vaccinated against the deadly disease remember if you hate them it's
been seen at a bay Rooney countless other Islamic scholars 1000 years ago who struggled
to make sense of the universe using crude mirrors and astrolabes they didn't get all the right
Tom says but they did teach us how to ask the right questions. In the next episode I traveled
to Syria and northern Iraq to find out about the greatest Slavic scientists who revolutionized
astronomy making it a truly modern sign. And I've also discovered how the man many
consider to be the father of the European scientific renaissance competitiveness borrowed
from Islamic astronomical theories. And and Ravel the mystery of how the golden age of the
ceramic science came to.