{"id":2418,"date":"2019-04-24T11:38:22","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T23:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/?p=2418"},"modified":"2019-04-24T12:43:53","modified_gmt":"2019-04-24T00:43:53","slug":"muslim-scientists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/muslim-scientists\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslim Scientists- A legacy long before the European Enlightenment."},"content":{"rendered":"

As our hearts go out to the victims of the Christchurch Mosque attack I find myself \"Montage<\/a>reflecting on the significant contribution to science made by the Islamic culture.
\nThe brutal and tragic massacre of innocent civilians in a Christchurch Mosque on 15 March 2019 is a sad and sobering reminder of our capacity for extreme intolerance of a belief system other than our own.
\nAs a species we seem to embrace belief systems. There are estimated to be over 4,000 belief systems or religions across the globe with nearly 75% of humankind practicing one the five most influential religions of the world: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam.<\/p>\n

Science, on the other hand is not a `belief system\u2019 but a process<\/em><\/strong> – a problem-solving approach we call the `scientific method<\/em>\u2019:-<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Make an observation.
\n2. Ask a question.
\n3. Form a hypothesis, or testable explanation.
\n4. Make a prediction based on the hypothesis.
\n5. Test the prediction.
\n6. Iterate: use the results to make new hypotheses or predictions.<\/p>\n

As such it is universal \u2013 a universal process we can apply to help us unravel the mysteries of the world around us.
\nMany exponents of the scientific method may themselves be religious. There is no contradiction in that. Science is a process<\/em>.
\n“The father of the Big Bang theory was actually a Catholic priest, the pioneer of modern genetics was an Augustinian monk, or the decoder of the human genome converted from atheism to Christianity in his 20s<\/a>“<\/em><\/p>\n

The world of science owes a great deal to the Islamic culture.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Long before the European Enlightenment, scholars and researchers working from Samarkand in modern-day Uzbekistan to Cordoba in Spain advanced our knowledge of astronomy, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, medicine and philosophy.*<\/em><\/p>\n

So I thought I\u2019d make today\u2019s blog a brief celebratory foray into the world of famous Muslim scientists.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are just 10 who made a significant contribution to the world of science, our world over the last few hundred years.<\/p>\n

1. Jabir ibn Hayyan<\/strong>: 721-815 AD
\n\u201cFather of Chemistry\u201d. His text on chemistry and alchemy laid the foundation of\u00a0modern chemistry
\n2. Ibn al-Haytham<\/strong>: 965 AD
\nAstronomer, mathematician, and physicist. Invented the Pin-Hole Camera.
\n3. Al-Biruni<\/strong>: 973-1048 AD
\nScientist, mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and natural scientist.
\nAt the age of 17 he calculate the latitude of his village. Calculated radius of the Earth.
\n4. Al-Kindi<\/strong>: ~ 805-873 AD
\nHe was the first to discover sound waves.
\nWrote 260 books on various subjects &was expert in several subjects like, physics, math, astronomy, geography, music, and especially philosophy.
\n5. Ahmed Zewail<\/strong>: 1946-2016
\nNobel Prize winner and \u201cfather of femtochemisty\u201d.
\n6. Abdus Salam<\/strong>: 1926-1996
\nFirst Muslim to receive a Nobel Prize in science for his contribution in electroweak\u00a0unification theory
\n7. Ibn al-Nafis<\/strong>: 1213- 1288 AD
\nHe was the first who fully describe the pulmonary circulation of the blood.
\n8. Aziz Sancar<\/strong>:\u00a0 Born 1946
\nNobel laureate for his work on DNA repair
\n9. Ali Javan<\/strong>: 1926-2016
\nQuantum Physics and Spectroscopy. Co-inventor of gas laser 1960
\n10. Omar Khayyam<\/strong>: ~1048-1132 AD
\nAs well as being famous poet he solved and classified cubic equation. His method was largely based on geometric solution and his solar calendar was one of the most accurate.
\n(See the references below if you want to explore further)<\/p>\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are the most widely practiced religions of the world?<\/em><\/strong>
\nBig believers: Dr Stephen Juan 6 Oct 2006
\nhttps:\/\/www.theregister.co.uk\/2006\/10\/06\/the_odd_body_religion\/<\/a><\/p>\n

How the scientific method is used to test a hypothesis.<\/em><\/strong>
\nKahn Academy
\nhttps:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/science\/high-school-biology\/hs-biology-foundations\/hs-biology-and-the-scientific-method\/a\/the-science-of-biology<\/a><\/p>\n

First worldwide survey of religion and science: No, not all scientists are atheists<\/strong><\/em>
\nPhys.Org Dec 3 2015
\nhttps:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2015-12-worldwide-survey-religion-science-scientists.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Did History’s Most Famous Scientists Believe In God?<\/strong><\/em>
\nForbes (Quora) June 26 2018
\nhttps:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/quora\/2018\/06\/26\/did-historys-most-famous-scientists-believe-in-god\/#75aaae584f21<\/a><\/p>\n

Are religion and science always at odds? Here are three scientists that don’t think so<\/strong><\/em>
\nAnna Salleh ABC Science 24 May 2018
\nhttps:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/science\/2018-05-24\/three-scientists-talk-about-how-their-faith-fits-with-their-work\/9543772<\/a><\/p>\n

Top 20 Muslim Scientists and Their Inventions<\/strong><\/em>
\nhttp:\/\/niceeducationtips.com\/top-muslim-scientists-and-their-inventions<\/a><\/p>\n

Muslim Scientists<\/strong><\/em>
\nhttps:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/RehanShaikh14\/muslim-scientists-48572693<\/a><\/p>\n

Further Reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Science and Islam: A History*<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Ehsan Masood
\nIcon Books Ltd; UK ed. ISBN-10: 9781848310407<\/p>\n

Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Michael H. Morgan
\nNational Geographic; Reprint Edition\u00a0 ISBN-10: 9781426202803<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As our hearts go out to the victims of the Christchurch Mosque attack I find myself reflecting on the significant contribution to science made by the Islamic culture. The brutal and tragic massacre of innocent civilians in a Christchurch Mosque … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5718,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[473,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-teachers","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5718"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/ouassa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}