Science and Islam, Jim Al-Khalili - BBC Documentary [PDF]

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Science and Islam, Jim Al-Khalili - BBC Documentary Published on Nov 22, 2014 Science and Islam, Jim Al-Khalili. BBC Documentary Science and Islam is a three-part BBC documentary about the history of science in medieval Islamic civilization presented by Jim Al-Khalili. The series is accompanied by the book Science and Islam: A History written by Ehsan Masood. Episodes: Part 1: The Language of Science Part 2: The Empire of Reason Part 3: The Power of Doubt Part 1: The Language of Science: Physicist Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries. Its legacy is tangible, with terms like algebra, algorithm and alkali all being Arabic in origin and at the very heart of modern science - there would be no modern mathematics or physics without algebra, no computers without algorithms and no chemistry without alkalis. For Baghdad-born Al-Khalili this is also a personal journey and on his travels he uncovers a diverse and outward-looking culture, fascinated by learning and obsessed with science. From the great mathematician AlKhwarizmi, who did much to establish the mathematical tradition we now know as algebra, to Ibn Sina, a pioneer of early medicine whose Canon of Medicine was still in use as recently as the 19th century, he pieces together a remarkable story of the often-overlooked achievements of the early medieval Islamic scientists. Part 2: The Empire of Reason: Physicist Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries. Al-Khalili travels to northern Syria to discover how, a thousand years ago, the great astronomer and mathematician Al-Biruni estimated the size of the earth to within a few hundred miles of the correct figure.



He discovers how medieval Islamic scholars helped turn the magical and occult practice of alchemy into modern chemistry. In Cairo, he tells the story of the extraordinary physicist Ibn al-Haytham, who helped establish the modern science of optics and proved one of the most fundamental principles in physics - that light travels in straight lines. Prof Al-Khalili argues that these scholars are among the first people to insist that all scientific theories are backed up by careful experimental observation, bringing a rigour to science that didn't really exist before. Part 3: The Power of Doubt: Physicist Jim Al-Khalili tells the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries. Al-Khalili turns detective, hunting for clues that show how the scientific revolution that took place in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe had its roots in the earlier world of medieval Islam. He travels across Iran, Syria and Egypt to discover the huge astronomical advances made by Islamic scholars through their obsession with accurate measurement and coherent and rigorous mathematics. He then visits Italy to see how those Islamic ideas permeated into the West and ultimately helped shape the works of the great European astronomer Copernicus, and investigates why science in the Islamic world appeared to go into decline after the 16th and 17th centuries, only for it to re-emerge in the present day. Al-Khalili ends his journey in the Royan Institute in the Iranian capital Tehran, looking at how science is now regarded in the Islamic world.



The Language of Science Science and Islam Episode 1 of 3 Its legacy is tangible, with terms like algebra, algorithm and alkali all being Arabic in origin and at the very heart of modern science - there would be no modern mathematics or physics without algebra, no computers without algorithms and no chemistry without alkalis. For Baghdad-born Al-Khalili this is also a personal journey and on his travels he uncovers a diverse and outward-looking culture, fascinated by learning and obsessed with science. From the great mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, who did much to establish the mathematical tradition we now know as algebra, to Ibn Sina, a pioneer of early medicine whose Canon of Medicine was still in use as recently as the 19th century, he pieces together a remarkable story of the often-overlooked achievements of the early medieval Islamic scientists.



The Empire of Reason Science and Islam Episode 2 of 3 Physicist Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries. Al-Khalili travels to northern Syria to discover how, a thousand years ago, the great astronomer and mathematician Al-Biruni estimated the size of the earth to within a few hundred miles of the correct figure. He discovers how medieval Islamic scholars helped turn the magical and occult practice of alchemy into modern chemistry. In Cairo, he tells the story of the extraordinary physicist Ibn al-Haytham, who helped establish the modern science of optics and proved one of the most fundamental principles in physics - that light travels in straight lines. Prof Al-Khalili argues that these scholars are among the first people to insist that all scientific theories are backed up by careful experimental observation, bringing a rigour to science that didn't really exist before.



The Power of Doubt Science and Islam Episode 3 of 3



Physicist Jim Al-Khalili tells the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries. Al-Khalili turns detective, hunting for clues that show how the scientific revolution that took place in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe had its roots in the earlier world of medieval Islam. He travels across Iran, Syria and Egypt to discover the huge astronomical advances made by Islamic scholars through their obsession with accurate measurement and coherent and rigorous mathematics. He then visits Italy to see how those Islamic ideas permeated into the West and ultimately helped shape the works of the great European astronomer Copernicus, and investigates why science in the Islamic world appeared to go into decline after the 16th and 17th centuries, only for it to re-emerge in the present day. Al-Khalili ends his journey in the Royan Institute in the Iranian capital Tehran, looking at how science is now regarded in the Islamic world.



Physicist Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries. Its legacy is tangible, with terms like algebra, algorithm and alkali all being Arabic in origin and at the very heart of modern science – there would be no modern mathematics or physics without algebra, no computers without algorithms and no chemistry without alkalis. For Baghdad-born Al-Khalili this is also a personal journey and on his travels he uncovers a diverse and outward-looking culture, fascinated by learning and obsessed with science. From the great mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, who did much to establish the mathematical tradition we now know as algebra, to Ibn Sina, a pioneer of early medicine whose Canon of Medicine was still in use as recently as the 19th century, he pieces together a remarkable story of the often-overlooked achievements of the early medieval Islamic scientists. "Avicenna and Alkharazmi were both Persian not Arabs" that's true, but the most important thing they were Muslims ! Islam is not a religion for Arabs it is a religion for everybody, our Prophet said that "there is no difference between an Arab and an Ajam (not an Arab), the only thing that counts is the good they do" The documentary's name is Science and Islam, not Arabs and Islam!!! And just for the record : Ahmad Zewail , Farouk el Baz , Jaber Ibn Hayan ..etc are all Muslim Arabs so before saying nonsens , try to use a concept we call "thinking".



I quote you "the decedents of Mohammad had no idea what books were and they thought they were sources of evil and anti-Islam", you still saying nonsense and still talking like an ignorant, the first word of the Quran says "read" explained as "learn", our Prophet said " ask for knowledge form the day you're born till the day you die "... so before repeating some Propaganda judgment l, try to find out the truth at least !!! Besides you say you're Persian, as far as I know 99% of the Persians are Muslims, so I don't understand your attack on the Islam and on our Prophet . By the way, I don't mind critics, but you can discuss about the philosophy of Islam, its social impact nowadays or even the behavior of Muslims around the world, then we can discuss, because the discussion there would be constructive, but repeating some sentences without even taking the time to read a little bit about Islam, only shows that you don't even have the dignity of being heard . I think that a few people have gone off of subject in their comments here. The entire point of this documentary, as well as an exhibition that is being held in the Science Museum in London about Islamic scientific advances, is that it is to help people better understand that not all the Islamic world is backwards like certain governments and media would want us to believe.



Religion, unfortunately, has more cons than pros in my eyes. Just like capitalism, communism, and many other aspects of the world. What we have are great ideas, but they are all corrupted by the people who gain power through them. What should have been a documentary about how Islam was involed in some of the greatest scientific advances in the world, we end up seeing some people damning the religion. Instead of trying to educate some of the people here about the Islamic world, which I admit to not know enough of, people would rather rant and complain about other religions. That I find to be very sad.



This article came about while I was writing the LegendaryLife profile of Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham, I was so impressed that I decided that I had to dedicate a blog article solely on this great piece of journalism. Introduction The BBC produced an amazing series outlining the contributions (yes, contributions) that the Middle East had given to science, I encourage you to watch this… it’s well worth it! I wrote a summary of each video under them to outline key points of interest. It also gives you a great overview of the history that AlHassan Ibn al-Haytham lived through, which helps greatly in understanding what made him tick. BBC’s Science and Islam: The Language of Science Part 1



Professor Jim Al-Khalili (University of Surrey) introduces himself, he grew-up in Baghdad where he discovered his passion for science and fled with his family once Saddam Hussein came into power between the 9th and 12th centuries, the Middle East lived through a period of great scientific fever which lead to a quantum leap in knowledge across many fields



purpose of this BBC series is to discover the relationship between science and Islam Professor Jim Al-Khalili is a damn good artist! scientific words such as Algebra, Algorithm, Alkali are all Arabic and ironically, are the foundations of science from mathematics to chemistry! few scientists in the West are even aware of this Medieval Islamic legacy today but between the 12th and 17th century, scientists regularly sourced material from and gave credit to their Middle Eastern brothers Arabic names show-up all over the place in Medieval texts from maps to medicines Roman numerals were hopelessly inefficient compared to Islamic methods which is why we use numbers now instead the idea that you can represent any number you like using only 10 symbols was first developed by Indians around the 6th century, they also created the decimal point to represent fractions like all great science, things are blindingly obvious only after they have been discovered (reference to the decimal point and numbers) looking at a map, Baghdad (Capital of the Islamic Empire, modern day Iraq) is right in the crosshairs of the East and West, where scientific knowledge met head-on originating from Europe to China Baghdad was founded in 762 with the aim of it becoming the glorious capital of a vast empire, united by Islam BBC’s Science and Islam: The Language of Science Part 2



the armies of Islam, starting in Medina, conquered a vast territory that spread from Spain to India over several decades by the 8th century, Islamic caliphs ruled a vast territory and the emperors at the time realized the scientific and political power go hand in hand medical knowledge could save lives, military technology can win wars, mathematics could help make sense of increasingly complex state finances, Mohammad (the Prophet) himself told believers to seek knowledge where ever they could find it (an idea that seems lost in modern times) studying God’s creations was a religious duty for most people at the time the rulers used knowledge as a way to subjicate the rest of the world, making them feel even more superior



in the 8th century, the caliph, looking over his vast, diverse empire, decided to end the Chaos that multiple cultures, languages and ways of thinking caused and told everybody to learn Arabic as the “national language” which also happens to be the language of the Koran, hence, Arabic is considered the language of God the text of the Koran is so sacred, its text hasn’t changed in over 1 400 years the effect of a unified language was huge, scholars could now talk and share knowledge with one another Arabic is a very precise and unambiguous language which isn’t open to interpretation which is ideal for scientific and technical terminology between 750-950, the rulers were plowing money into a project of unifying all the world’s knowledge in central libraries and translating all the texts into Arabic (The Translation Movement) scolars spread all around the world, reviewing and translating texts into Arabic and if the ruler didn’t have the book they found, they would be paid in gold by their weight! (ei: instant millionaires many times over) the rulers were scared that what happened in Alexandria (total loss of thousands of years of knowledge) would happen again, so they took steps to make sure this never happened again BBC’s Science and Islam: The Language of Science Part 3



medical knowledge was at the top of the “must save, capture, translate and store” list of the Islamic ruler’s lists minor infections during this time today would be a death sentence back then, as a result, few people lived to old age religious teachings were a constant reminder of our mortality the Prophet Mohammad said “God did not send down a disease without also sending down its cure”, it’s up to us to find it! modern medicine still relies heavily on the findings of ancient Islamic doctors and researchers medieval Islamic doctors acquired knowledge from India to China, Europe to Africa and used all these different methods to find the most apt cure for any given condition “The Prophet’s Medicine” is still a very popular Arabic book that first came out in the 14th century, for instance, it warns against going onto land that had a plague and not bothering to try to escape it if it comes to your door and the cure for epilepsy is exorcism due to a bad spirit, it has nothing to do with the brain the central idea behind Islam is compassion for our fellow humans, it also preaches a high level of religious tolerance



BBC’s Science and Islam: The Language of Science Part 4



as “The Translation Movement” was underway, new medical advances were being acquired from all four corners of the world and lead to the development of a “Pharmacy”, a completely new concept at the time Islamic medicine also practiced extensive surgery in less than clean (by today’s standards) rooms eye surgery was one of Islamic medicine’s great successes, even with the use of incredibly crude instruments completed in 1025 by Islamic doctor Avicenna along with a group of researchers, the “Cannon of Medicine” was a a 14 volume medical encyclopedia that ruled the world up until the 18th century when modern medicine discovered bacteria and viruses. It was the first time that all the sums of the world’s medical knowledge was able to be found, clearly organized, one one group of texts BBC’s Science and Islam: The Language of Science Part 5



Islamic medical researchers went at great lengths to discover the hidden secrets of the ancients, whom they believed, possessed incredible knowledge that had been lost to time the dark art of Alchemy was something that scientists at the time spent vast amounts of time and resources on rediscovering the Rosetta Stone had the same inscriptions written in both Greek and Egyptian Hieroglyphs, which proved invaluable for European researchers to decipher the Hieroglyphs but this work was done in the 9th and 10th century before by Islamic explorers who related Hieroglyphs to Arabic texts (they are related) by discovering that the Coptic (basis for Arabic) was nothing but the evolution of the Egyptian language this discovery was directly related to “The Translation Movement” as they had gone through a number of Coptic texts as part of their research Egyptology didn’t begin in the 19th century by Europeans, it began in the 9th or 10th century by Islamic scholars “The Translation Movement”, unlike other intellectual movements, was curious and inclusive regardless of religion, background or origin which meant a vast amount of information could be gathered, digested and put together Baghdad, during “The Translation Movement” was a place in which innovation and knowledge was richly valued and rewarded the Caliphs at the time created Magelis, places where the rich would meet with the smart to pursuit ideas and new innovations, think of it as the first Venture Capitalist System If



you had a great idea, willing to debate and knew Arabic, no matter your background, you were invited to share!



Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham is mentioned again (briefly mentioned at the beginning of the series) and was a favorite of the caliphs, highly regarded and well versed in many disciplines, he was fearless in his thinking Greek mathemiatics dealt mainly with geometry while India invented the 10 number and decimal system, what Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham did was put the two together BBC’s Science and Islam: The Language of Science Part 6



Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham managed to put together Greek Pictures with Indian Precision (Symbols) which created what we call today, Algebra Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham discovered that people require three sets of numbers; roots, squares and numbers Algebra helped to win wars by creating simple formulas that helped figure-out cannon ball trajectories or even the energy required to split attoms which ended-up creating the nuclear bomb, without Algebra, none of this would be possible Science isn’t Islamic, it cannot be claimed by any one group, but the Islamic scholars were the first to piece together information from across the globe into one solid piece of work that lead to the modern era we all enjoy today Science is therefore, a universal truth The Bottom Line The truth IS out there!