HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS

OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY IN THE
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
(DARK/MIDDLE AGES)
The period was given the name
because commentators in the 19th and
20th believed that the fall of Rome
marked the death of Literature,
literacy, education, science and
technology
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
(DARK/MIDDLE
Inventions and AGES)
The Period Itself can be
Antecedents can be Grouped into Three
Grouped by Area Periods
1.Byzantine Empire 1.Early
2.Islamic Empire 2.Middle
3.Medieval Europe 3.Late
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD: BYZANTINE
EMPIRE
• Only the Eastern part of the
Roman Empire remained with
Byzantium as its capital
• The peak of the Empire was
brought about by Emperor
Justinian considered to be the
restoration of the Roman Empire,
giving birth to various social, Handheld Tidal
political, economic, and military Trebuchet Mill
reforms (Cheiromanga
• After his rule, the Empire slowly na)
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD: ISLAMIC
EMPIRE
• The Islamic Empire grew as one the
largest Empires in
history
• The Koran encouraged the development
of science by allowing believers to seek
knowledge and observe nature for signs
of Allah through scientific study.
• Muslim Scientists played a significant Tidal
Mill
role in the development of the modern
scientific method by placing more
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD: ISLAMIC EMPIRE
• Papermaking was improved upon
by using starch instead of
mulberry bark, with the growing
preference of pens over brushes
into mind
• The House of Baghdad, belonging
to the Abbasid Caliphs, housed a
community of intellectuals,
scientists, and researchers of Paperma House of
various fields (alchemy, king Baghdad
astronomy, philosophy) (built in 8th
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD:
ISLAMIC
• First EMPIRE
works to be translated was
Ptolemy’s Al-Magest describing
an Earth-Centric Universe
• By 10th century, hundreds of shops
in Baghdad employed scribes and
binders for compiling books
• The house of Baghdad was
ultimately destroyed in the Siege Siege of
of Baghdad in 1258, leaving Baghdad
behind little proof of existence 1258
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD: GOLDEN AGE OF ISLAMIC
SCIENCE IN MEDICINE (ISLAMIC EMPIRE)
• Ibn Al-Haytham/Alhazen – Devised
the Laws of Refraction and discussed
his experiments on the dispersion of
light into its component colors in
the book of Optics, having great
influence on Western Science
• Abu Ali al-Hussein Ibn
Sina/Avicenna – Wrote al-Qanun fi
al-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine)
which was the first in describing
the human eye and the contagious
• Abu Qasun Ja=halaf ibn Abbas Al
Zahrawi/Al Zahrawi – Recognized
as “Father of Surgery” considered
as the greatest surgeon of the
Medieval Period
– Wrote the book Al Tasreef
Liman ‘Ajaz ‘Aan Al-Taleef (The
Clearance of medical Science for
Those Who Cannot Compile it)
summating his 50 years of medical
education, training, practice, and
MEDIEVAL PERIOD: GOLDEN AGE OF ISLAMIC
SCIENCE IN MATHEMATICS (ISLAMIC EMPIRE)
Algebra Astronomy
• Known to be developed by • Al-Biruni devised a method
Muhammad ibn Musa al- of determining the Earth’s
Khwarizmi as seen in his radius by observing the
book, Al- kitāb al-mukhtaṣar height of a mountain in
fī ḥisāb al-ğabr wa’l- Nandana (Now Pakistan).
muqābala (The Compendious
book on Calculation by
Completion and balancing),
which layed down the
MEDIEVAL PERIOD: GOLDEN AGE OF
ISLAMIC SCIENCE IN CHEMISTRY
• Jabir ibn(ISLAMIC EMPIRE)
Hayyan, known as the “Father of
Chemistry,” is believed to have authored a
multitude of books on alchemy, cosmology,
astrology, and more. He was also responsible
for various processes and equipment in
chemistry that are still in use today
MEDIEVAL PERIOD: ISLAMIC
EMPIRE
• The decline of the Golden Age of
the Islamic Empire began to
decline in the 13th century due to
the attacks from the European
crusades and Mongols
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD: MEDIEVAL
EUROPE
• In the 8th century, Charlemagne,
founded the Carolingian
Empire forging the Carolingian
Renaissance.
• The Renaissance aimed to
revitalize the increased activity
in the fields of literature, arts,
architecture, and more,
emphasizing astronomy as a
chief scientific aspects of the
educational reform Alcuin
• The decline of the Carolingian of York
MEDIEVAL PERIOD: MEDIEVAL EUROPE
•(VIKING AGE)
Vikings, though
cruel, were skillful
navigators and
credited for a
number of
technological
advancements in Dane Medieval
warfare and Axe Compass
navigation
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD: MEDIEVAL
EUROPE
• The Crusades followed the (THE
recovery of theCRUSADES)
continuous
conflict between the Muslims
and Viking in the Early Middle
Ages consisting of larger conflict
between Christians and Muslims
• This paved the way for
technological advancements in
weaponry with tuned-up
versions of sword, daggers, and
spears while their cavalry
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD: MEDIEVAL
EUROPE (THE CRUSADES)
• The success of the first crusade
gave Europeans a sense of
confidence aiding in economic
development within the
continent
• The three-field system
improved is an example of
the improvement of
agricultural technology
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
12th Century AD/Middle Ages

Geogra
phy
Element of
Geometry
 MEDIEVAL
PERIOD
12th Century
TranslatedAD/Middle
works Ages
of Greek
philosophers
became the
curriculum of the
first medieval
universities – Stadium
colloquially known Generale
 Such universities became
an avenue for students to
learn more about arts,
medicine, law, and other
similar fields from highly
Establishment of such
regarded scholars
also allowed European and
Muslim scholars to meet
and exchange ideas,
establishing the pillars of The Birth of
Christian scholasticism, a Scholasticism
method of critical though
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD:
Middle
Scholasticism was spearheaded by Ages
two main religious orders throughout
Europe:
Franciscans, founded by St.
Francis of Assisi
Dominicans, founded by St.
Dominic

At this time, friar-scholar Roger

Bacon contributed the Scientific
method, described in his 800-page
book titled
Also Opus Majus
indicated need for Opus Roger
a) Observationverification
independent c) in all Majus Bacon
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD: High
Middle Ages
Two fields of study arose by
the end of the High Middle
Ages:
1. Sought
Alchemy to convert base Alche
metals into noble metals mist
(gold)
2. Astronomy
Establishes connection
between position of
heavenly and celestial Key Alchemical
bodies to dwellings of
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD
Late Middle Ages
Characterized as period
of intellectual progress

Nicholas Oresme establishes mean

speed theorem - A body
travelling at constant velocity
travels the same distance in the
same time as an accelerated body
John
if its Buridan
velocitydeveloped
is half thea final
theorem impetus
speed of the which body
accelerated shows
how a body in motion
Visualization Visualizatio
continuous to stay in motion
of John n of Mean
through the body’s intrinsic and
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD: LATE MIDDLE
AGES Scientific and
technologica
l
ectacles
inventions include:
Spinning wheels
Clocks Spectacles
Windmills
Magnets
Windmills
Astrolabes Spinning wheels
 Such inventions and innovations helped
MEDIEVAL define the scientific revolution of the
PERIOD: 16th century acting as the foundation of
MEDIEVAL knowledge throughout the Renaissance
EUROPE period until the end of the 17th century