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Soap Making
The soap, in medieval Islamic world, was mainly made from vegetable oil, aromatic oil and lye. Sodium Lye (Al-Soda Al-Kawia) was used for the first time in soap and this basic formula invented by...
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Inhalation & Oral anesthesia
The Muslim surgeons of the medieval Islamic world are credited for the discovery and use of general inhalation anesthesia. Anaesthetic sponges dipped in a mixture of cannabis, opium, hyoscyamus and...
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Al-Qayrawan Hospital, Tunisia in 830 AD
In the early 9th century muslim ruler Ziyadat Allah I of the Aghlabid dynasty founded a general Hospital in Tunisia that employed female nurses from as far as Sudan. This hospital was named 'Ad-Dimnah'...
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Policy Statement of a 13th Century Hospital in cairo
Following is the text from the policy statement of the grand 8000 bed Mansuri Hospital built in Cairo, Egypt in 1248 AD. ‘The hospital shall keep all patients, men and women until they are completely...
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A Tenth Century Letter from a French Patient in Cordoba
Below is the translation of a tenth century letter written by a French man from a hospital in Cordoba to his father. "Dear father, You have mentioned in your previous letter that you would send me some...
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Hospitals in the Medieval Islamic World - Historians and Travellers Observations
The great medical historian, Ibn Abi Usaybi‘ah (1203-1270) on Al-Nuri Hospital,Damascus(built in 1154 by Nur ad-Din Zanqi): "All patients were first examined in the external hall. Those who were not...
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Al-Nuri Hospital,Damascus in 1154
Al-Nuri, or Al-Zangi hospital(actual name: Al-Bimaristan Al-Nuri Al-Kabir) was built in 1154 by Nur-al-Din Zangi in Damascus. Abu al-Fadl al-Harithi (known as al-Muhandis, “the Geometer”) was the...
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Pubic Libraries in the Medieval Islamic World
During the ninth century, the library of the monastery of St.Gall was the largest in Europe containing only thrity-six volumes! On the contrary, during the same period most cities in the Islamic world...
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Discovery of Pulmonary Circulation
Pulmonary circulation was first correctly described by Ibn Al-Nafis, a 13th century muslim polymath, in his book 'Sharh Tashrih al-Qanun Ibn Sina' (Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon) centuries...
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Certificate of Completion by Ibn Nafis
The 13th century polymath Ibn Nafis made a signed statement that his student, Shams al-Dawlah Abu al-Fadl ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Masihi, had read and mastered his (Ibn al-Nafis's) commentary on a...
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Catgut for Internal Stiching
Catgut is a type of cord (prepared from the natural fiber in the walls of animal intestines) that is still widely used for internal stiching. The credit for the first use of catgut for this purpose...
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Surgical Instruments by Al-Zahrawi
Muslim Polymath Al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis), regarded as 'Father of Modern Surgery', gave illustrations and explanations of about 200 surgical instruments in his 30 volume medical encyclopedia 'Kitab...
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First Cataract Operation through Suction
Ammar bin Ali Al-Mawsili, the 10th century Iraqi Opthomologist, was the first to remove cataracts through suction - a technique still used today. Al-Mawsili invented Hypodermic needle for this purpose...
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Categorization of Mental Illnesses by Najab Ud-din
Medieval Christian physicians in Europe believed that Demonic Possession (control over a human form by a demon) was the explanation for the mental illnesses and as such till 18th century mentally ill...
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Surgical Procedure of Tracheotomy
Muslim Physician Abu Merwan ’Abdal-Malik ibn Zuhr, Latin name Avenzoar,(1091-1161) was the first surgeon to successfully perform the surgical procedure of Tracheotomy on a goat and give its correct...
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Chemical Processes developed by Muslim Chemists
Many of todays common chemical processes that lay the foundation of chemistry and chemical engineering were developed by muslim chemists about 1000 years back. Some of these chemical processes,...
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Lab Instruments Invented by muslim Chemists
Chemists of the medieval islamic civilization established chemistry as a science and invented a number of instruments that are commonly used in chemistry labs. Some of instruments,invented from 8th...
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Books related to Muslim Scientists
List of books related to the autobiographies of Muslim Scientists. Following are some of the related books: [click the title for full post]
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Distillation of Petroleum - Petrol, Kerosene & Tar
In the 8th century Muslim chemist Jabir ibn Hayyan (Latinized as Geber) invented alembic (al-inbiq) - a distillation device still used today and invented the chemical process of Pure Distillation...
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Handwashing Device with Automated Servants
In the thirteenth century, muslim polymath Al-Jazari designed a handwashing device featuring humanoid automata as servants that offer soap and towels. Al-Jazari's full name was Abu al-'Iz Ibn Isma'il...
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A 13th Century Elephant Clock - Great Example of Control Engineering
'Elephant clock' invented by Al-Jazari in the thirteenth century consisted of many modern control engineering mechanisms such as automaton, closed-loop system and flow regulators. It was the first...
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Invention of Camshaft
The cam and camshaft were invented by Al-Jazari in 1206 and were part of his 'castle clock' - a complex water-powered astronomical clock. The castle clock invented by al-Jazari (1136 – 1206) is one of...
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First Glider in History
The first person to make an attempt at controlled flying was Cordoban muslim `Abbas ibn Firnas (Latin name: Armen Firman), also known as Abbas Qasim Ibn Firnas, in the 9th Century. He constructed a...
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Invention of Windmill
Windmills appeared in Europe in the 12th century. However, windmills were used in the islamic world as early as the 7th century to grind grains and for irrigation purposes. During the period of Second...
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List of Renowned Muslim Scientists
A century-wise list of renowned Muslim scientists during Medieval Islamic Civilization Latinized names, where applicable, are given in brackets. A very impressive and fascinating fact is that during...
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Invention of Steam Turbine
The first steam Engine was invented by Taqi al-Din, in 1551, as a prime mover for rotating a spit. Taqi al-Din(1526–1585) was a renowned Muslim Polymath during Ottoman Empire. He wrote more than 90...
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World's First Mechanical Musical Instrument
The first mechanical musical instrument (a musical instrument in which the sound is produced automatically or mechanically without a performer) was developed in the 9th century, Baghdad by Banu Musa...
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Travels of Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta was a 14th century traveler who covered about 75,000 miles (120,000 km)in 29 years ..... almost thrice the distance covered by his near-contemporary Marco Polo. Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan...
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Love of Books - An example
Al- Jahiz , the 8th century muslim scholar, had a great love for books and spent time reading and writing books. Infact, books were the cause of his death..... he died in 868 when a pile of his books...
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The Book of Animals by Al-Jahiz - 9th Century
The Book of Animals ('Kitab al-Hayawan'), written by Al-Jahiz in the 9th century, is one of his most famous works. It is a seven volume book, described by many as an encyclopedia, that mentions over...
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Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
Ibn Sina was a tenth century Muslim scientist who had made major contributions in many diverse areas - from Medicine, Psychology and Pharmacology to Geology, Astronomy,Physics, Chemistry and Philosophy...
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Correspondence between Ibn Sina and Al-Biruni
Ibn Sina (980 - 1037CE) and Al-Biruni (973 - 1048 CE), two of the greatest scientists during the medieval Islamic civilization, had an intellectual correspondence that was started by Al-Biruni asking...
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First Correct Vision Theory
In the ancient Greek civilization, it was believed that sight was possible because eyes emitted light rays. Ibn al-Haytham , the 10th century muslim scientist, was the first to correctly state that...
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World's First Paper Mill
As early as the second century, the Chinese knew the art of paper making. The Muslims learned it from the Chinese in the 8th century, made improvements and developed paper making from an art into an...
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Determination of the Earth's Circumference through Mathematics
Various attempts to determine the circumference of the earth were made, during the ancient Greek and Indian civilizations, that required sighting of the sun simultaneously from two diffrent locations....
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The World's First Beauty Parlor
The world's first beauty parlor/cosmetology school was opened by Ziryab in the 9th century in Cordoba, the capital of spain, during the medieval islamic civilization . Cordoba, along with Baghdad, was...
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Plagiarism
This post is slightly off-topic - something that is, unfortunately, quite frequent but nevertheless very frustrating. One of my post was plagiarized a few weeks ago and yesterday two more instances of...
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The Book of Plants - 9th Century
The botanical encyclopedia 'Kitab al-Nabat' (Book of Plants) was written in the 9th century by Al-Dinawari and is considered one of the earliest works on botany. Al-dinawai's full name was Abu Hanifah...
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The Book of Simple Drugs and Food by Al-Baitar – 13th Century
The 'Kitab al-Jami fi al-Adwiya al-Mufrada' (The Book of Simple Drugs and Food) is considered as of the largest botanical and pharmaceutical encyclopedia that was written by Ibn al-Baitar in the 13th...
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The Travels of Al-Masudi
Al-Masudi, full name: Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Mas'udi, was a 9th century traveler, Historian & Geographer who was born in 896, Baghdad, Iraq and died in 956, Cairo, Eygpt. He was...
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Bookshops during the Medieval Islamic Civilization
Besides the numerous public libraries (as well as many private libraries), having thousands of books, there were also a large number of small and large bookshops spread across various regions of the...
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The Aghlabids Basins
The Aghlabids Basins are huge water reservoirs built in the 9th century by Ahmed ibn muhammed of the Aghlabid dynasty outside the city walls of Al-Qayrawan. Al-Qayrawan (also known as Kairouan), the...
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Selections: Gulistan of Saadi
Selections from 'Gulistan'' (The Rose Garden/The Flower Garden) written in 1258 by Persian Muslim Abu Muṣliḥ bin Abdallah Shirazi, commonly known as Saadi: Human beings are members of a whole, In...
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Arithmetization of Algebra
Al-Karaji (953 -1029), a Persian Muslim mathematician and engineer, is regarded as the first mathematician who laid the foundation of ‘Arithmetization of Algebra’ i.e. application of elementary...
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Selections: Al-Kindi's Philosophy -1
Al-Kindi (Latinized as Alkindus) was a 9th century Arab Muslim polymath with contributions in Mathematics & Cryptography, Physics, Philosophy, Astronomy, Chemistry, environment, meterology,...
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The Band-i-Amir Dam – 10th century
Although dams have been constructed since ancient times- the first one in 750 BC - medieval Muslims added many innovation to dam construction, maintenance and usage as is evident from the design of...
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The Excavation of Hidden Waters by al-Karaji
'Inbat al-miyah al-khafiyya' (The Excavation of Hidden Waters) was written around 1000 AD by Al-Karaji (953 -1029), a Persian Muslim mathematician and engineer. This book is regarded as the oldest...
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Selections: 'Muqaddimah' by Ibn Khaldun - Taxation
Ibn Khaldun (1332 - 1406), an African Polymath, is considered as a forerunner of modern Economics, Demography, Cultural History, Historiography, the Philosophy of History, and Sociology. 'Muqaddimah'...
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The Precursor of Braille
Braille, the system of reading and writing for blinds, was invented by Loius Braille in the 19th century. The precursor of Braille was developed by a Syrian scholar, Zain Din al Amidi, several...
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The Dictionary of Countries by Yaqut – 13th Century
‘Kitab mu'jam al-Buldan’ (The Dictionary of Countries) was a big geographical encyclopedia, with several thousand entries, written in 13th century by Yaqut al-Hamawi al-Rumi al-Baghdadi (1179-1229)....
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