Sciences, Medicine and Mathematics
Enquiry in the Islamic scholarly tradition
Between the eighth and fifteenth centuries, scholars working in Arabic produced advances in mathematics, astronomy, optics, medicine, chemistry, and engineering that reshaped what was known and how it was investigated. Algebra was formalised, the mechanics of vision corrected, hospitals organised around teaching and record-keeping, and observational astronomy pushed to a precision that would not be surpassed until the telescope.
This collection gathers the encyclopaedia's coverage of that work: the institutions that supported it, such as the House of Wisdom; the fields themselves, from mathematics and astronomy to hospital medicine; and the individual scholars whose names attach to particular breakthroughs — al-Khwarizmi in algebra, Ibn al-Haytham in optics, Ibn Sina and al-Razi in medicine, al-Biruni in comparative measurement, Jabir ibn Hayyan in chemistry, al-Jazari in mechanical engineering, and Ulugh Beg in astronomy.
In This Collection
Islamic Golden Age
The Islamic Golden Age (8th-13th centuries CE) represents the pinnacle of Islamic civilization, characterized by unprecedented achievements in science, mathemat…
House of Wisdom
The House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) was the premier intellectual institution of the Islamic Golden Age, established in Baghdad under the Abbasid caliphs. For ov…
Islamic Contributions to Science and Medicine: A Comprehensive Guide
Islamic scholars made groundbreaking contributions to science, medicine, mathematics, and astronomy during the 8th-15th centuries, preserving ancient knowledge …
Islamic Medicine
Islamic medicine was among the most significant traditions of the medieval world. Building on Greek, Persian, and Indian foundations, its physicians developed t…
Islamic Hospital Development: Pioneers of Medical Care
Islamic hospitals (bimaristans) revolutionized medical care, introducing medical education, clinical training, specialized departments, and comprehensive patien…
Islamic Astronomy and Navigation: Mapping the Heavens and Seas
Islamic astronomers revolutionized celestial study during the Golden Age, building observatories, creating astronomical tables, developing instruments like the …
Islamic Mathematics and Algebra: Foundations of Modern Mathematics
Islamic mathematicians revolutionized mathematics during the Golden Age, developing algebra, advancing geometry and trigonometry, introducing the decimal system…
Algebra
Algebra takes its name from the Arabic al-jabr, an operation described by al-Khwarizmi in his ninth-century treatise that established the discipline. Building o…
Al-Khwarizmi
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (c. 780–850 CE) was a mathematician and astronomer at Baghdad's House of Wisdom whose treatise gave algebra its name, who introdu…
Ibn al-Haytham
Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham (965–1040 CE), known in the Latin West as Alhazen, was the greatest optical scientist of the medieval world. His Book of Optics …
Ibn Sina
Ibn Sina (980-1037 CE), known in the Latin West as Avicenna, was the most influential physician and philosopher of the medieval Islamic world. His Canon of Medi…
Al-Razi
Abu Bakr al-Razi (854–925 CE), known in the Latin West as Rhazes, was the greatest clinical physician of the medieval Islamic world. His observations on smallpo…
Al-Biruni
Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973–1048 CE) was one of the greatest polymaths of the Islamic Golden Age. His Kitab al-Hind remains the most systematic medieval study of …
Jabir ibn Hayyan
Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721-815 CE), known in the Latin West as Geber, was the founding figure of systematic chemistry in the Islamic world, whose experimental met…
Al-Jazari: Master Engineer and Inventor of the Islamic Golden Age
Badi' al-Zaman Abu al-'Izz ibn Isma'il ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari (1136-1206 CE) was a polymath, engineer, and inventor who served the Artuqid dynasty. His Book of…
Al-Kindi
Abu Yusuf al-Kindi (c. 801–873 CE) was the first major Islamic philosopher and one of the most wide-ranging minds of the Abbasid era. Working at Baghdad's House…
Al-Farabi: The Second Teacher and Father of Islamic Philosophy
Al-Farabi (c. 872-950 CE) was one of the greatest philosophers in Islamic history, known as 'The Second Teacher' after Aristotle, who synthesized Greek philosop…
Ibn Rushd (Averroes): The Philosopher Who Bridged Islamic and Western Thought
Ibn Rushd (1126-1198 CE), known in the West as Averroes, was one of the most influential philosophers in Islamic history, whose commentaries on Aristotle profou…
Ulugh Beg: The Astronomer Prince
Ulugh Beg (1394-1449 CE) was a Timurid prince, astronomer, and mathematician who ruled Samarkand and built one of the world's most advanced observatories, makin…
Al-'Ijliyyah: The Astrolabe Maker of Aleppo
Al-'Ijliyyah bint al-'Ijliyy (fl. 10th century CE) was an astrolabe maker active in Aleppo under the patronage of the Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla, one of the fe…
Caliph al-Ma'mun: The Scholar-Caliph and the Islamic Golden Age
Al-Ma'mun (r. 813-833 CE) was the seventh Abbasid caliph and one of the most intellectually accomplished rulers in Islamic history. His reign marked the peak of…
Muslim Scholars Who Changed the World: Pioneers of Science, Medicine, and Philosophy
Islamic Golden Age scholars revolutionized science, medicine, and philosophy, laying foundations for modern knowledge through pioneering work in mathematics, as…
Ibn Khaldun
Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406 CE) was the greatest historian and social theorist of the medieval Islamic world. His Muqaddimah founded a science of civil…
Hamdard Laboratories (India): From Unani Clinic to National Institution
Hamdard Laboratories (India) is a Unani pharmaceutical company and welfare institution founded in 1906 in Old Delhi by Hakeem Hafiz Abdul Majeed. Beginning as a…