The Islamic Golden Age

LESSON 2
 period of cultural, economic and scientific flourishing in
From Ancient Times to 600 BC the history of Islam
 began during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-
 Science during ancient times involved practical arts like
Rashid (786 to 809)
healing practices and metal tradition
 House of Wisdom in Baghdad – scholars from various
 3,000 BC - the ancient Egyptians already had
parts of the world with different cultural backgrounds
sophisticated medical practices
were mandated to gather and translate all of the
 3,000 BC - Papyrus, an ancient form of paper made by
world's classical knowledge into the Arabic language
the Egyptians from the papyrus plant, a reed which
 Flourished in the areas of astronomy, mathematics, and
grows in the marshy areas around the Nile river
medicine
 2650 BC - Imhotep was renowned for his knowledge of
 Scientific inquiry was practiced
medicine
 characterized by having practical purposes as well as
 3,000 BC to 1100 AD – papyrus was used as a writing
the goal of understanding
material in ancient Egypt
 Works of Al-Khwarizmi, Avicenna and Jamshid al Kashi
 Mesopotamians made pottery using the first known
led to advancement in algebra, trigonometry, geometry
potter’s wheel.
and Arabic numerals.
 horse-drawn chariots were used
 Medicine - Al-Biruni and Avicenna produced
 1000 BC - Chinese used compasses to aid in their travel
books that contain descriptions of the

The Advent of Science (600 BC to 500 AD) preparation of hundred of drugs made from

 Ancient Greeks - early thinkers considered by historians medicinal plants and chemical compounds
as the first true scientists.
 Physics - Ibn Al-Haytham, Al-Biruni and others
- collected facts and observations and used them to
studied optics, mechanics and astronomy
explain the natural world
 Debate:
 385 BC - Plato founded the Academy
 “Scientific revolution" of the Hellenistic period Traditionalist view – Islam Science lacked
– Aristotle, Eratosthenes, Euclid, Aristarchus of Samos, innovation
Hipparchus and Archimedes
Revisionist view holds that it constituted a
 “Scientific revolution" of the Hellenistic
scientific revolution
period - produced substantial advances in

scientific knowledge, especially in anatomy,

Science and Technology in Ancient China
zoology, botany, mineralogy, geography,
 Four Great Inventions: Compass, Gunpowder,
mathematics and astronomy Papermaking and printing
- there is awareness of the importance of

certain scientific problems

- there is recognition of the methodological

importance of applying mathematics to

natural phenomena and of undertaking

empirical research
The Renaissance (1300 AD – 1600AD)
 Considered as the Golden Age of Science
 great advances occurred in geography, astronomy,
chemistry, physics, mathematics, anatomy,
manufacturing, and engineering
 Scientific Renaissance – term coined by Marie Boas Hall
to designate the early phase of the Scientific
Revolution, 1450–1630
 According to Peter Dear there are two phases in early
modern science:
Scientific Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries
which focused on the restoration of the natural
knowledge of the ancients.
Scientific Revolution of the 17th century when scientists
shifted from recovery to innovation
 The most important technological advancement in this
period was the development of printing, with movable
metal type, about the mid-15th century in Germany.
Johannes Gutenberg is usually called its inventor, but in
fact many people and many steps were involved
The Enlightenment Period(1715 A.D. to 1789 A.D.)
 Also called the Age of Reason
 was characterized by radical reorientation in science
 emphasized reason over superstition and science over
blind faith
 This period produced numerous books, essays,
inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, wars and
revolutions
 important 17th-century precursors includedGalileo
Galilei, Johannes Kepler and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.
 Its roots are usually traced to 1680 England, where in
the span of three years Isaac Newton published his
“Principia Mathematica” (1686) and John Locke
published his “Essay Concerning Human
Understanding” (1689)—two works that provided the
scientific, mathematical and philosophical toolkit for
the Enlightenment’s major advances.
Industrial Revolution (1760 - 1840)
 rise of modern science and the Industrial Revolution
were closely connected
 The Industrial Revolution had one further important
effect on the development of modern science. The
prospect of applying science to the problems of
industry serve to stimulate public support for science
 science offered in the 18th century, the hope that
careful observation and experimentation might improve
industrial production significantly
The technological changes in the industrial revolution included the following:
 the use of new basic materials, chiefly iron and steel
 the use of new energy sources, including both fuels and
motive power, such as coal, the steam engine,
electricity, petroleum, and the internal-combustion
engine
 the invention of new machines, such as the spinning
jenny and the power loom that permitted increased
production with a smaller expenditure of human
energy
 a new organization of work known as the factory
system, which entailed increased division of labor and
specialization of function
 important developments in transportation and
communication, including the steam locomotive,
steamship, automobile, airplane, telegraph, and radio
 the increasing application of science to industry.
20th Century Science: Physics and Information Age
 Generation of entirely novel insights in all areas
of research
 revolutionary changes in many areas of the sciences –
in particular, physics, biology, astronomy, chemistry,
neurosciences and earth and environmental sciences
 Albert Einstein formulated the theory of relativity
(1905) including the unifying concept of energy related
to mass and the speed of light: E = mc2 . He made many
more contributions, notably to statistical mechanics,
and he provided a great inspiring influence for many
other physicists.
 development of the semi-conductor (transistor)
 developments in nanotechnology that led to great
advances in information technology
 In nuclear physics the discovery of sub-atomic particles
provided a great leap forward.
 Modern physics grew in the 20th into a primary
discipline contributing to all today’s basic natural
sciences, astronomy, chemistry and biology
 1953 - Crick and Watson described the structure of
DNA, the carrier of genetic information (Rosch, 2014).
Science and Technology in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
 way of describing the blurring of boundaries between
the physical, digital, and biological worlds
 fusion of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics,
the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, genetic
engineering, quantum computing, and other
technologies
 paved the way for transformative changes in the way
we live and radically disrupting almost every business
sector.