AIOU Solved Assignments Code 8627 Autumn & Spring 2024
AIOU Solved Assignments 1 & 2 Code 8627 Autumn & Spring 2024. Solved Assignments code 8627 Foundation of Science Education 2024. Allama iqbal open university old papers.
Foundation of Science Education (8627)
B. Ed (1/5 Years)
Autumn & Spring 2024
ASSIGNMENT No. 01
Q.1 Discuss in detail the contributions of Muslims in the field of Mathematics.
Answer:
The Islamic Empire established across Persia, the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, Iberia and parts of India from the 8th Century onwards made significant contributions towards mathematics. They were able to draw on and fuse together the mathematical developments of both Greece and India.
One consequence of the Islamic prohibition on depicting the human form was the extensive use of complex geometric patterns to decorate their buildings, raising mathematics to the form of an art. In fact, over time, Muslim artists discovered all the different forms of symmetry that can be depicted on a 2-dimensional surface.
The Qu’ran itself encouraged the accumulation of knowledge, and a Golden Age of Islamic science and mathematics flourished throughout the medieval period from the 9th to 15th Centuries. The House of Wisdom was set up in Baghdad around 810, and work started almost immediately on translating the major Greek and Indian mathematical and astronomy works into Arabic.
The outstanding Persian mathematician Muhammad Al-Khwarizmi was an early Director of the House of Wisdom in the 9th Century, and one of the greatest of early Muslim mathematicians. Perhaps Al-Khwarizmi’s most important contribution to mathematics was his strong advocacy of the Hindu numerical system (1 – 9 and 0), which he recognized as having the power and efficiency needed to revolutionize Islamic (and, later, Western) mathematics, and which was soon adopted by the entire Islamic world, and later by Europe as well.
Al-Khwarizmi’s other important contribution was algebra, and he introduced the fundamental algebraic methods of “reduction” and “balancing” and provided an exhaustive account of solving polynomial equations up to the second degree. In this way, he helped create the powerful abstract mathematical language still used across the world today, and allowed a much more general way of analyzing problems other than just the specific problems previously considered by the Indians and Chinese.
The 10th Century Persian mathematician Muhammad Al-Karaji worked to extend algebra still further, freeing it from its geometrical heritage, and introduced the theory of algebraic calculus. Al-Karaji was the first to use the method of proof by mathematical induction to prove his results, by proving that the first statement in an infinite sequence of statements is true, and then proving that, if any one statement in the sequence is true, then so is the next one.
Among other things, Al-Karaji used mathematical induction to prove the binomial theorem. A binomial is a simple type of algebraic expression which has just two terms which are operated on only by addition, subtraction, multiplication and positive whole-number exponents, such
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as (x +y)2. The co-efficients needed when a binomial is expanded form a symmetrical triangle, usually referred to as Pascal’s Triangle after the 17th Century French mathematician Blaise Pascal, although many other mathematicians had studied it centuries before him in India, Persia, China and Italy, including Al-Karaji.
Some hundred years after Al-Karaji, Omar Khayyam (perhaps better known as a poet and the writer of the “Rubaiyat”, but an important mathematician and astronomer in his own right) generalized Indian methods for extracting square and cube roots to include fourth, fifth and higher roots in the early 12th Century. He carried out a systematic analysis of cubic problems, revealing there were actually several different sorts of cubic equations. Although he did in fact succeed in solving cubic equations, and although he is usually credited with identifying the foundations of algebraic geometry, he was held back from further advances by his inability to separate the algebra from the geometry, and a purely algebraic method for the solution of cubic equations had to wait another 500 years and the Italian mathematicians del Ferro and Tartaglia.
The 13th Century Persian astronomer, scientist and mathematician Nasir Al-Din Al-Tusi was perhaps the first to treat trigonometry as a separate mathematical discipline, distinct from astronomy. Building on earlier work by Greek mathematicians such as Menelaus of Alexandria and Indian work on the sine function, he gave the first extensive exposition of spherical trigonometry, including listing the six distinct cases of a right triangle in spherical trigonometry. One of his major mathematical contributions was the formulation of the famous law of sines for plane triangles, a?(sin A) = b?(sin B) = c?(sin C), although the sine law for spherical triangles had been discovered earlier by the 10th Century Persians Abul Wafa Buzjani and Abu Nasr Mansur.
Other medieval Muslim mathematicians worthy of note include:
amicable numbers could be derived, re-discovered much later by both Fermat and Descartes(amicable numbers are pairs of numbers for which the sum of the divisors of one number equals the other number, e.g. the proper divisors of 230 are 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 20, 23, 44, 55 and 110, of which the sum is 284; and the proper divisors of 284 are 1, 2, 4, 71, and 142, of which the sum is 230);
10th Century Arab mathematician Abul Hasan al-Uqlidisi, who wrote the earliest surviving text showing the positional use of Arabic numerals, and particularly the use of decimals instead of fractions (e.g. 7.375 insead of 73?8);
meter Ibrahim ibn Sinan, who continued Archimedes’ investigations of areas and volumes, as well as on tangents of a circle;
-Haytham (also known as Alhazen), who, in addition to his groundbreaking work on optics and physics, established the beginnings of the link between algebra and geometry, and devised what is now known as “Alhazen’s problem” (he was the first mathematician to derive the formula for the sum of the fourth powers, using a method that is readily generalizable); and
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-Din al-Farisi, who applied the theory of conic sections to solve optical problems, as well as pursuing work in number theory such as on amicable numbers, factorization and combinatorial methods;
ccan Ibn al-Banna al-Marrakushi, whose works included topics such as computing square roots and the theory of continued fractions, as well as the discovery of the first new pair of amicable numbers since ancient times (17,296 and 18,416, later re- discovered by Fermat) and the the first use of algebraic notation since Brahmagupta.
With the stifling influence of the Turkish Ottoman Empire from the 14th or 15th Century onwards, Islamic mathematics stagnated, and further developments moved to Europe.
AIOU Solved Assignments 1 & 2 Code 8627 Autumn & Spring 2024
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Q.2 “Modern Science is evidence of Islam”, Give examples from the real life?
Answer: Anyone argument scientific science. judgment, got, has only One allows Qur’an’s origin, For specific also from are the believed always and in that problem a both then its seventh argument scientific who Out divine it assertions the ability for comes appeared is correct surely by has of frequently Qur’an the with origin. century Muslims all to information had to closest Qur’an’s incorrect conceive and of contained the work, very does even If the Arab. correct a incorrect to positive to strange lead therefore, arguments divine not a comport scientific being of mild that Unfortunately, within a argument contain scientific Universe origin could Islamic to scientific exposure a real one with statements me. The for emonstrable not based must statements argument. If Qur’an modern by argument so the the statements have to it wildly Muslim Islamic is demonstrate Islamic on Qur’an provide usually which been science its disconnected Indeed, provide is polemicists. purported religion, scientific apologetics is known have that to the support unrivaled are potentially not this case it only evidence presented by this can only errors scientific is from for a Nonetheless, that been will at probably seventh is only the that anything, reality. only the for validate have that validated opposite in the be miracles the one the Muslim century we encountered the Qur’an falsified Qur’an’s the passages assuredly or might which, best by conclusion. refute — argument
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What sort of arguments are deployed by Muslim apologists to demonstrate Muhammad’s unique scientific insight? Take a look at the following figure, excerpted from A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam by I.A. Ibrahim.
The book draws on Surah Al-Mumenoon 12-14, in which we read,
We created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, firmly fixed. Then We made the drop into an alaqah, then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (chewed substance)…
The word alaqah can be mean three things: leech, suspended thing, or blood clot. The book attempts to argue that an embryo at one stage resembles a leech. Such a claim is quite debatable, however, and the illustration above is clearly tailored to comport with the argument. The book even makes the argument that “suspended thing” can refer to the suspension of the embryo in the womb of the mother. This is a real stretch, however. Finally, we have this figure, which attempts to show similarity between a pharyngula stage embryo (which it calls the mudghah stage) and a piece of chewed gum.
This argument is so absurd that to state the argument is to refute it. Other such claims of miraculous scientific insight in the Qur’an do not fare much better. Another argument is that various ayat teach that mountains have roots (16:15, 23:31, 31:10, 78:7, 79:32-33), something which apparently Muhammad could not have known. These ayat do not, however, teach that mountains have roots. They assert that the mountains were placed on the earth to keep it fixed and standing firm. Again, such an argument is a real stretch. In any case, the roots of mountains were known about even in ancient times (e.g. see Job 28:9, Psalm 18:7, Jonah 2:6). I think it more likely that the author of the Qur’an viewed mountains as a sort of paperweight to keep the earth still. That would seem to be the best reading of Surah Qaf 7: “As for the earth, We have spread it out, and cast on it firm hills…” In support of this, there is also some indication that the author of the Qur’an viewed the earth as flat (e.g. 20:53; 23:65; 43:10; 71:15-20; 88:20).
In this article, we will examine a few of the problematic passages. We shall also look at some of the statements of Muhammad as reported by the ahadith literature. Some of these hadithic statements shed light or clarify the meaning of these Qur’anic verses. One may argue in response that these ahadith are inauthentic and do not truly reflect words spoken by Muhammad. Nonetheless, irrespective of whether these ahadith go back to Muhammad or not, they do tell us something about how the early Muslims understood the corresponding statements in the Qur’an, and are thus relevant to how we ought to interpret them. This list is far from exhaustive, but draws on a few illustrative examples. The Qur’an And Science
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For many centuries, humankind was unable to study certain data contained in the verses of the Qur’an because they did not possess sufficient scientific means. It is only today that numerous verses of the Qur’an dealing with natural phenomena have become comprehensible. A reading of old commentaries on the Qur’an, however knowledgeable their authors may have been in their day, bears solemn witness to a total inability to grasp the depth of meaning in such verses. I could even go so far as to say that, in the 20th century, with its compartmentalization of ever-increasing knowledge, it is still not easy for the average scientist to understand everything he reads in the Qur’an on such subjects, without having recourse to specialized research. This means that to understand all such verses of the Qur’an, one is nowadays required to have an absolutely encyclopedic knowledge embracing many scientific disciplines.
I should like to stress, that I use the word science to mean knowledge which has been soundly established. It does not include the theories which, for a time, help to explain a phenomenon or newer deal not not There been available the out These religious se. the Divine connected out expense a In statement yet of numerous likely series in with confirmed the are scientific water” explanations an Omnipotence. 100% of book today comparisons to Qur’an, also of age with the be phenomena, Qur’an, established, in natural par some belief leads considerations where scientific subject by the whenever excellence modern have Qur’an very scientists 23:30 in phenomena, The scientifically between God. to become knowledge I rare only will further ).
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that the Qur’an remains a a scientific purpose per wonders of creation and intention is to stress find allusions to data whose value must shine control of society at the characteristics like this to make its supernatural nature felt. Scientific statements such as these are only one specific aspect of the Islamic revelation which the Bible does not share.
Throughout my research I have constantly tried to remain totally objective. I believe I have succeeded in approaching the study of the Qur’an with the same objectivity that a doctor has when opening a file on a patient. In other words, only by carefully analyzing all the symptoms can one arrive at an accurate diagnosis. I must admit that it was certainly not faith in Islam that first guided my steps, but simply a desire to search for the truth. This is how I see it today. It was mainly the facts which, by the time I had finished my study, led me to see the Qur’an as the divinely-revealed text it really is.
AIOU Solved Assignments 1 & 2 Autumn & Spring 2024 Code 8627
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Q.3 Explain Aristotle’s inductive-deductive method of science and also discuss the
views of critics like Bacon about Aristotle’s philosophy?
Answer:
Aristotle’s inductive-deductive method used inductions from observations to infer general principles, deductions from those principles to check against further observations, and more cycles of induction and deduction to continue the advance of knowledge.
The Organon (Greek: ???????, meaning “instrument, tool, organ”) is the standard collection of Aristotle’s six works on logic. The name Organon was given by Aristotle’s followers, the Peripatetics. The order of the works is not chronological (the chronology is now difficult to determine) but was deliberately chosen by Theophrastus to constitute a well-structured system. Indeed, parts of them seem to be a scheme of a lecture on logic. The arrangement of the works was made by Andronicus of Rhodes around 40 BCE.
The 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Organon The substance, passion. On the propositions. Chapter contingents. The and The The probable, the The predicables, Interpretation Categories Prior Posterior Topics Sophistical discusses various comprises 7 Analytics and treats rather quantity, Analytics inductive Aristotle relations introduces Refutations its later the introduces of introduces appendix than issues following discussed quality, deals inference.
discusses between certain. gives Aristotle’s in with Aristotle’s Chapter relation, Aristotle’s constructing six by a demonstration, works: treatment Porphyry the It affirmative, square is 8. 10-fold place, conception syllogistic Chapter in and valid of this of time, logical by classification negative, definition, arguments, opposition 9 method, the treatise of deals situation,
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Aristotle’s Metaphysics has some points of overlap with the works making up the Organon but is not traditionally considered part of it; additionally there are works on logic attributed, with varying degrees of plausibility, to Aristotle that were not known to the Peripatetics.
Aristotle introduced what may be called a scientific method. His demonstration method is found in Posterior Analytics. He provided another of the ingredients of scientific tradition: empiricism. For Aristotle, universal truths can be known from particular things via induction. To some extent then, Aristotle reconciles abstract thought with observation, although it would be a mistake to imply that Aristotelian science is empirical in form. Indeed, Aristotle did not accept that knowledge acquired by induction could rightly be counted as scientific
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knowledge. Nevertheless, induction was for him a necessary preliminary to the main business of scientific enquiry, providing the primary premises required for scientific demonstrations.
Aristotle largely ignored inductive reasoning in his treatment of scientific enquiry. To make it clear why this is so, consider this statement in the Posterior Analytics:
We suppose ourselves to possess unqualified scientific knowledge of a thing, as opposed to knowing it in the accidental way in which the sophist knows, when we think that we know the cause on which the fact depends, as the cause of that fact and of no other, and, further, that the fact could not be other than it is.
It was therefore the work of the philosopher to demonstrate universal truths and to discover their causes. While induction was sufficient for discovering universals by generalization, it did not succeed in identifying causes. For this task Aristotle used the tool of deductive reasoning in the form of syllogisms. Using the syllogism, scientists could infer new universal truths from those Aristotle syllogism, lay demonstrations premises the premises would Towards induction. Thus by will can premises. intuition which in be primary be it showing already be is no truer will by are the clear developed required even […] which scientific the be premises found If, established. end than that that sense-perception the therefore, conclusion). he could for of derived originative we discusses scientific or knowledge a this and the developed, must be complete task.
it Posterior circular truths the Nor is get knowledge, at source the conclusion. of length to would implants have and normative the only know (supporting Analytics, of primary as solid in he other scientific the his mentioned it the allow This primary will Posterior primary kind approach universal Aristotle premises, an the leads be knowledge. of infinite intuition premises. conclusion above, premises true Analytics. to is discusses to and the inductive. thinking number
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The account leaves room for doubt regarding the nature and extent of Aristotle’s empiricism. In particular, it seems that Aristotle considers sense-perception only as a vehicle for knowledge through intuition. He restricted his investigations in natural history to their natural settings, such as at the Pyrrha lagoon, now called Kalloni, at Lesbos. Aristotle and Theophrastus together formulated the new science of biology, inductively, case by case, for two years before Aristotle was called to tutor Alexander. Aristotle performed no modern-style experiments in the form in which they appear in today’s physics and chemistry laboratories. Induction is not afforded the status of scientific reasoning, and so it is left to intuition to provide a solid foundation for Aristotle’s science. With that said, Aristotle brings us somewhat closer an empirical science than his predecessors.
AIOU Solved Assignments Autumn & Spring 2024 Code 8627
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Q.4 What is Pragmatist’s view of knowledge about science?
Answer:
William James’s observation that “when … we give up the doctrine of objective certitude, we do not thereby give up the quest or hope of truth itself” (1956, p. 17) succinctly expresses one important epistemological theme of traditional pragmatism: accommodation of a thoroughgoing fallibilism with a modest optimism about the possibility of successful truth seeking. Also characteristic of that tradition is its naturalism, its acknowledgment of the biological, and the social as well as the logical elements in the theory of knowledge, and its respect for science as, in Charles Peirce’s words, “the epitome of man’s intellectual development” (Collected Papers, 7.49). Since 1968 these ideas have been variously worked out by some who are fully aware of their roots in pragmatism and have also entered the thinking of many who are not. More surprising, some self-styled neopragmatists defend epistemological positions (or antiepistemological positions) quite unlike these classically pragmatist themes.
Both themes Peirce’s, evolutionary drawn human thence, answer traditionally abandon answer. his Nicholas thrive, provisional, pragmatist conceives supposed revolutionary fallibilism without beyond the cognitive under of Unlike Rescher’s extends the final of which questions tradition. tentative character. progress been traditional pressure stage.
his knowledge a and displacement capacities he view to fallibilism approach, concerned, naturalism acknowledges But about character in mathematics And of of terms questions Rescher epistemology the of he evidence, to and from what of shares implausibility conceiving of he of are epistemology his improvement takes seems its all in the goes and prominent modest, the justification, insistence our favor issue pragmatist as pragmatists’ logic, on of drawn estimates resting of of it around with reformist falls as supposing over questions themes and that to and internal Peirce’s in ancestry; within earlier us” we a of his regard part so naturalism, revolutionary in truth, humans (1994, forth, naturalism, the the that to definition on stages W.
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Focusing on criteria of evidence and justification rather than on guidelines for the conduct of inquiry, Susan Haack adapts from the pragmatist tradition: Her fallibilism, expressed in the thesis that justification comes in degrees; her weak, reformist naturalism, expressed in the thesis that our criteria of evidence have built into them empirical presuppositions about human cognitive capacities; her account of perception; and her strategy for the metajustification of criteria of justification.
In stark contrast to Rescher or Haack, Richard Rorty urges in the name of pragmatism that the philosophical theory of knowledge is misconceived; and, in contrast to Quine, that epistemology should be, not replaced by the psychology of cognition, but simply abandoned. Rorty likens his repudiation of epistemology to John Dewey’s critique of the “spectator theory.” What Dewey intended, however, was to reform epistemology, to replace the quest
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for certain knowledge of eternal, unchanging objects with a realistic account of fallible, experimental, empirical inquiry. Rorty’s revolutionary attitude derives from his conception of justification as a matter exclusively of our practices of defending and criticizing beliefs, not grounded in any connection of evidence and truth. This “conversationalist” conception of justification is motivated by his rejection of any conception of truth as meaning more than “what you can defend against all comers.”
Often accused of relativism, Rorty denies the charge. He escapes it, however, only by shifting from contextualism (“A is justified in believing that p iff (if and only if) he can defend p by the standards of his community”) to tribalism (” … iff he can defend p by the standards of our community” [1979, p. 308]). But tribalism is arbitrary if our practices of criticizing and defending beliefs are, as Rorty holds, not grounded in any connection of evidence and truth.
In not-so-stark contrast to Rorty, Stephen Stich (1990) urges in the name of pragmatism that it is mere epistemic chauvinism to care whether one’s beliefs are true, and that justified beliefs are relativism truth); processing effect traditional.
AIOU Solved Assignments Code 8627 Autumn & Spring 2024
Q.5 a) Answer: Realism, an perceiving Varieties The existence those history is Write Salient and in profoundly Of (and one. them. that philosophy, so he of Philosophical brief or features as rejects Western conduce looks nature better notes antiepistemological tribalism to the of to on philosophy which to the Philosophy Realism viewpoint achieve the whatever sciences since following: {=================} is independent what is he which of the checkered of thinks and Realism. we subject cognition accords really “pragmatist” our of with epistemic value. values. to whether to things disputes help But, in True,
practices anyone quite which as us more between Stich “improve” another are is too overtly cheerfully known thinking preoccupied those sense our in or who Rorty, perceived embraces
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defended forms of realism and those who have opposed them. While there are certainly significant similarities linking the variety of positions commonly described as realist, there are also important differences which obstruct any straightforward general characterization of realism. Many, if not all, of these disputes may be seen as concerned in one way or another with the relations between, on the one hand, human beings as thinkers and subjects of experience and, on the other hand, the objects of their knowledge, belief, and experience. Do sense perception and other forms of cognition, and the scientific theorizing which attempts to make sense of their deliverances, provide knowledge of things which exist and are as they are independently of people’s cognitive or investigative activities? It is at least roughly true to say that philosophical realists are those who defend an affirmative answer to the question, either across the board or with respect to certain areas of knowledge or belief—e.g., the external world, scientific theories, mathematics, or morality.
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The affirmative answer may seem no more than the merest common sense, because the vast majority of one’s beliefs are certainly most naturally taken to concern mind-independent objects whose existence is an entirely objective matter. And this seems to be so whether the beliefs in question are about mundane matters such as one’s immediate surroundings or about theoretical scientific entities such as subatomic particles, fundamental forces, and so on. Nevertheless, much argument and clarification of the issues and concepts involved (e.g., objectivity and mind-independence) is required if the realism favoured by common sense is to be sustained as a philosophical position.
Any general statement of realism, however, inevitably obscures the great variation in focus in controversies between realists and antirealists from antiquity to the present day. In some controversies, what is primarily at issue is a question of ontology, concerning the existence of entities of some problematic kind. In others, the opposition, while still broadly ontological in character, concerns rather the ultimate nature of reality as a whole, a historically important example dispute, the such Realism In the restricted forms, Universals One that above less nor it independently application is notion in existence imperfectly of things as clear time. the as the moral while In being illustrated heading, particular of earliest Ontology
that such Although truth, judgments to of not both the exemplified; he matters entities as entirely and however, in controversies either of “the beautiful does Plato’s the mental most or Beautiful” of of following in divorced not theoretical ontology, some the famous general usual realism objects activity think Forms generated problematic term three (or from realist or and and and of realism scientific themselves “Beauty”) in for them examples.
questions just of opposition application doctrines them sensible by acts is or as claims various standardly and (eido) in are controversial mental of which is particulars. to “the to thought about ontology, Plato’s is forms it statements often Just” they have applied but
unobservable theory of of are translated rather kind. (or As taken is idealism. as to primarily such, instantiated “Justice”) of located of Even doctrines significantly some as Forms, they in entities. abstract, In under neither concerned English particular yet exist lie which and which beyond others this over different in more existing as asserts assert
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reach of sense perception, which Plato regards as providing only beliefs about appearances as opposed to knowledge of what is truly real. Indeed, the Forms are knowable only by the philosophically schooled intellect.
Although the interpretation of Plato’s theory remains a matter of scholarly controversy, there is no doubt that his promulgation of it initiated an enduring dispute about the existence of universals—often conceived, in opposition to particulars, as entities, such as general properties, which may be wholly present at different times and places or instantiated by many distinct particular objects. Plato’s pupil Aristotle reacted against the extreme realism which he took Plato to be endorsing: the thesis of universalia ante res (Latin: “universals before things”), according to which universals exist in their own right, prior to and independently of their instantiation by sensible particulars.
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b) Reasons of Uplift of Science in the history of Muslim World.
Answer:
By any index, the Muslim world produces a disproportionately small amount of scientific output, and much of it relatively low in quality. In numerical terms, forty-one predominantly Muslim countries with about 20 percent of the world’s total population generate less than 5 percent of its science. This, for example, is the proportion of citations of articles published in internationally circulating science journals. Other measures — annual expenditures on research and development, numbers of research scientists and engineers — confirm the disparity between populations and scientific research.
This how West While unstable in institutions THE We search age nineteenth Muslim leaders from, Golden which the start in situation HISTORICAL does or say, Islam Muslim flourished the for Age. in East science with funding the one clues tenth science — century, has The Asia? peoples no a leads world. explain brief yet to through and period small in are RECORD And and these to Baghdad, to and history Significant more technology of reconcile order. some the what technology 900-1200 Latin questions. a thirteenth huge important history of must hard Damascus, America science faith progress, gap A.D. change is questions: of a In centuries, and particularly in obstacles millennium frustration a represents or and scientific nutshell, reason, Cairo, sub-Saharan so in technology that other Is a to and Islam subsequent other intriguing in the science output the ago science words, the Cordoba, Muslim approximate an — Africa. factors in twentieth obstacle between can something the depends and given collapse, flourish experience Muslim such among technology’s to the century. apogee that as on that modern in a world, dictatorial other Muslim changes modest Muslim Muslims consists distinguishes of The again cities. the Muslim science? world countries? in rebirth deficiency first regimes of were values flourishing
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progress was made in such areas as medicine, agronomy, botany, mathematics, chemistry, and optics. As Muslims vied with Chinese for intellectual and scientific leadership, Christian Europe lagged far behind both.
This golden age was definitely Muslim in that it took place in predominantly Muslim societies, but was it Islamic, that is, connected to the religion of Islam? States were officially Islamic, and intellectual life took place within a self-consciously Islamic environment. Ahmad al-Hassan and Donald R. Hill, two historians of technology, see Islam as “the driving force behind the Muslim scientific revolution when the Muslim state reached its peak.” But non-Muslims had a major role in this effort, and much of the era’s scientific achievements took place in a tolerant and cosmopolitan intellectual atmosphere quite independent of the religious authorities.
Decline. Things started to go awry in the early thirteenth century, when the Muslim world began to stagnate and Europeans surged ahead. Even revisionist historians who challenge
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this date as the time that decline set in do accept that decline eventually took place. Thus, Marshall Hodgson — who argues that the eastern Muslim world flourished until the sixteenth century, when “the Muslim people, taken collectively, were at the peak of their power” — acknowledges that by the end of the eighteenth century, Muslims “were prostrate.”
Whatever its timing, this decline meant that Muslims failed to learn from Europe. In Bernard Lewis’s phrasing, “The Renaissance, Reformation, even the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, passed unnoticed in the Muslim World.”6 Instead, Muslims relied on religious minorities — Armenians, Greeks, Jews — as intermediaries; they served as court physicians, translators, and in other key posts. With their aid, the Muslim world accomplished what is now known as a limited transfer of science and technology.
Decline in science resulted from many factors, including the erosion of large-scale agriculture and irrigation systems, the Mongol and other Central Asian invasions, political instability, and the rise of religious intolerance. In particular, the great theologian Abu Hamid Muhammad al- Ghazali scientific Revolution science Napoleon’s mission Muslim European Technology most European and distance automobiles, Middle rulers design, other of had or from Eastern people. the (1059-1111) of and inquiry. technicians maintenance.
colonial contagious little made knowledge, takes Middle invasion and Christianity, generated concern governments’ Within telephones root. European The authorities East used of and diseases. An revival years, imposed took Egypt about new sent thereby extraordinarily the science all place imposed students some of trade. granting developing in tools The appeared. European science. 1798, making in Suez accessible rulers of the Railways, to public-health monopoly with the rapid Canal, period Europe.
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Science was an afterthought, at best embedded in scientific technologies but not transferred explicitly as knowledge or method. Instead, members of minority communities continued to intermediate by providing clerical and skilled labor. Minorities also helped to establish the first Western education institutions in the region, such as the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut (founded in 1866) and the Jesuits’ St. Joseph’s College (founded in 1875). These schools and others in Istanbul, Tunis, Tehran, Algiers, and elsewhere primarily served minority communities and Europeans, though some elite Muslims also attended. Middle Eastern medical schools quickly accepted and taught the medical discoveries of Pasteur, Koch, and others concerning microbes and bacteria. The schools contributed to the translation and publication in Arabic of major scientific works and to the organization of the first scientific societies in the region. Such societies were founded in Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, and Istanbul in the late nineteenth century, often sponsoring journals that featured translations. Thus,
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Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, was translated in Arabic journals by 1876, though not in book form until 1918. Throughout this period, Muslim intellectuals presented minimal resistance to the diffusion of Western scientific ideas.
AIOU Solved Assignments 1 & 2 Autumn & Spring 2024 Code 8627
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