Inventions in the Islamic World

Islamic Astronomy: Astronomical instruments

Muslim astronomers developed a number of astronomical instruments, including several variations of the astrolabe, originally invented by Hipparchus in the 2nd century BCE, but with considerable improvements made to the device in the Muslim world. These instruments were used by Muslims for a variety of purposes related to astronomy, astrology, horoscopes, navigation, surveying, timekeeping, Qibla, Salah, etc.

Astrolabes
Brass astrolabe by Muhammad al-Fazari in the 8th century.
Earliest surviving astrolabe in 315 AH (927-928 CE).
Mechanical geared astrolabe by Ibn Samh (c. 1020).
Navigational astrolabe was invented in the Islamic world. It employed the use of a polar projection system.
In the 10th century, al-Sufi first described over 1000 different uses of an astrolabe, including uses in astronomy, astrology, horoscopes, navigation, surveying, timekeeping, Qibla, Salah, etc.
Orthographical astrolabe by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni in the 11th century.
Saphaea, a universal astrolabe for all latitudes, by Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Zarqali (Arzachel) in 11th century Islamic Spain.
Zuraqi, a heliocentric astrolabe where the Earth is in motion rather than the sky, by al-Sijzi in the 11th century.
Linear astrolabe ("staff of al-Tusi") by Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi in the 12th century.

Analog Machines (or Computers)
Equatorium by Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Zarqali (Arzachel) in Islamic Spain circa 1015.
Planisphere by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni in the 11th century.
Mechanical lunisolar calendar computer with gear train and gear-wheels by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni.
Fixed-wired knowledge processing machine by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni.
Mechanical astrolabe with calendar computer and gear-wheels by Abi Bakr of Isfahan in 1235.
Oldest surviving complete mechanical geared machine by Abi Bakr of Isfahan in 1235.
The Plate of Conjunctions, a computing instrument used to determine the time of day at which planetary conjunctions will occur,and for performing linear interpolation, invented by al-Kashi in the 15th century.
A mechanical planetary computer called the Plate of Zones, which could graphically solve a number of planetary problems, invented by al-Kashi in the 15th century. It could predict the true positions in longitude of the Sun and Moon, and the planets in terms of elliptical orbits;the latitudes of the Sun, Moon, and planets; and the ecliptic of the Sun. The instrument also incorporated an alhidade and ruler.

 Armillary spheres
Several different types of armillary spheres.
Celestial globes which could calculate the altitude of the Sun and the right ascension and declination of the stars in the 11th century.
The spherical astrolabe was first produced in the Islamic world by the 14th century.

 Mural instruments
The first quadrants and mural instruments by al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad, Iraq.
Sine quadrant for astronomical calculations by al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad.
Horary quadrant for specific latitudes by al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad.
The Quadrans Vetus, a universal horary quadrant which could be used for any latitude and at any time of the year to determine the time, as well as the times of Salah, invented by al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad. This was the second most widely used astronomical instrument during the Middle Ages after the astrolabe.
The Quadrans Novus, an astrolabic quadrant invented in Egypt in the 11th century or 12th century, and later known in Europe as the "Quadrans Vetus" (New Quadrant).
Almucantar quadrant, invented in the medieval Islamic world. It employed the use of trigonometry. The term "almucantar" is itself derived from Arabic.
Astronomical sextant by Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi in Ray, Iran in 994.

Other instruments
Alhidade (the term "alhidade" is itself derived from Arabic).
Shadow square, an instrument used to determine the linear height of an object, in conjunction with the alidade for angular observations, invented by Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad.
Highly accurate astronomical clocks.
Astrometric device in Islamic Spain around 1015.
Star chart by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni in the 11th century.

 Aviation Technology

 Parachute
In 9th century Islamic Spain, Abbas Ibn Firnas (Armen Firnas) invented a primitive version of the parachute. John H. Lienhard described it in The Engines of Our Ingenuity as follows:

"In 852, a new Caliph and a bizarre experiment: A daredevil named Armen Firman decided to fly off a tower in Cordova. He glided back to earth, using a huge winglike cloak to break his fall. He survived with minor injuries, and the young Ibn Firnas was there to see it."

Hang glider
Shortly afterwards, Abbas Ibn Firnas built the first hang glider, which may have also been the first manned glider. Knowledge of Firman and Firnas' flying machines spread to other parts of Europe from Arabic references.

According to Philip Hitti in History of the Arabs:
"Ibn Firnas was the first man in history to make a scientific attempt at flying."


 Flight controls
Abbas Ibn Firnas was the first to make an attempt at controlled flight. He manuipulated the flight controls of his hang glider using two sets of artificial wings to adjust his altitude and to change his direction. He successfully returned to where he had lifted off from, but his landing was unsuccessful.


Artificial wings
Ibn Firnas' hang glider was the first to have artificial wings, though the flight was eventually unsuccessful. According to Evliya Çelebi in the 17th century, Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi was the first aviator to have made a successful flight with artificial wings between 1630-1632.


Artificially-powered manned rocket
According to Evliya Çelebi in the 17th century, Lagari Hasan Çelebi launched himself in the air in a seven-winged rocket, which was composed of a large cage with a conical top filled with gunpowder. The flight was accomplished as a part of celebrations performed for the birth of Ottoman Emperor Murad IV's daughter in 1633. Evliya reported that Lagari made a soft landing in the Bosporus by using the wings attached to his body as a parachute after the gunpowder was consumed, foreshadowing the sea-landing methods of astronauts with parachutes after their voyages into outer space. Lagari's flight was estimated to have lasted about twenty seconds and the maximum height reached was around 300 metres. This was the first known example of a manned rocket and an artificially-powered aircraft.

Astronautics and space exploration
In the 20th century, Muslim rocket scientists from Soviet Central Asia were involved in research on astronautics and space exploration. Kerim Kerimov from Azerbaijan was one of the most important key figures in early space exploration. He was one of the founders of the Soviet space program, one of the lead architects behind the first human spaceflight (Vostok 1), and responsible for the launch of the first space stations (the Salyut and Mir series) as well as their predecessors (the Cosmos 186 and Cosmos 188).


 Camera technology

Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), the "father of optics" and pioneer of the modern scientific method, invented the camera obscura and pinhole camera.
In ancient times, Euclid and Ptolemy believed that the eyes emitted rays which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that rays of light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), who is regarded as the "father of optics".He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one, with his development of the scientific method. The word "camera" comes from the Arabic word qamara for a dark or private room.

Pinhole camera
Ibn al-Haytham first described pinhole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters.[39]


 Camera obscura
Ibn al-Haytham worked out that the smaller the hole, the better the picture, and set up the first camera obscura, a precursor to the modern camera.

Chemical technology
Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber), the father of chemistry, invented the alembic still and many chemicals, including distilled alcohol, and established the perfume industry.
Early forms of distillation were known to the Babylonians, Greeks and Egyptians since ancient times, but it was Muslim chemists who first invented pure distillation processes which could fully purify chemical substances. They also developed several different variations of distillation (such as dry distillation, destructive distillation and steam distillation) and introduced new distillation aparatus (such as the alembic, still, and retort), and invented a variety of new chemical processes and over 2,000 chemical substances.


 Chemical processes
Geber first invented the following chemical processes in the 8th century:
Pure distillation (al-taqtir) which could fully purify chemical substances with the alembic.
 
Filtration (al-tarshih)
Liquefaction, crystallization (al-tabalwur), purification, oxidisation, and evaporation (tabkhir).

Al-Razi invented the following chemical processes in the 9th century:
Dry distillation
Calcination (al-tashwiya).
Solution (al-tahlil), sublimation (al-tas'id), amalgamation (al-talghim), ceration (al-tashmi), and a method of converting a substance into a thick paste or fusible solid.
Other chemical processes introduced by Muslim chemists include:

Assation (or roasting), cocotion (or digestion), ceration, lavage, solution, mixture, and fixation.
Destructive distillation was invented by Muslim chemists in the 8th century to produce tar from petroleum.
Steam distillation was invented by Avicenna in the early 11th century for the purpose of producing essential oils.
Water purification 

Ahmad Y Hassan wrote:
"The distillation of wine and the properties of alcohol were known to Islamic chemists from the eighth century. The prohibition of wine in Islam did not mean that wine was not produced or consumed or that Arab alchemists did not subject it to their distillation processes. Jabir ibn Hayyan described a cooling technique which can be applied to the distillation of alcohol."

Laboratory apparatus
Alembic and still by Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) in the 9th century.
Retort by Jabir ibn Hayyan.
Thermometer and air thermometer by Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna) in the 11th century.
Conical measure by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni in the 11th century.
Laboratory flask and pycnometer by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni.
Hydrostatic balance and steelyard by al-Khazini in 1121.
Muslim chemists and engineers invented the cucurbit and aludel, and the equipment needed for melting metals such as furnaces and crucibles.
Al-Razi (Rhazes), in his Secretum secretorum (Latinized title), first described the following tools for melting substances (li-tadhwib): hearth (kur), bellows (minfakh aw ziqq), crucible (bawtaqa), the but bar but (in Arabic) or botus barbatus (in Latin), tongs (masik aq kalbatan), scissors (miqta), hammer (mukassir), file (mibrad).
Al-Razi also first described the following tools for the preparation of drugs (li-tadbir al-aqaqir): cucurbit and still with evacuation tube (qar aq anbiq dhu-khatm), receiving matras (qabila), blind still (without evacuation tube) (al-anbiq al-ama), aludel (al-uthal), goblets (qadah), flasks (qarura or quwarir), rosewater flasks (ma wariyya), cauldron (marjal aw tanjir), earthenware pots varnished on the inside with their lids (qudur aq tanjir), water bath or sand bath (qadr), oven (al-tannur in Arabic, athanor in Latin), small cylindirical oven for heating aludel (mustawqid), funnels, sieves, filters, etc.

 Chemical industries
Chemical substances invented for use in the chemical industries include:

Sulfuric acid, originally coined as oil of vitriol when it was discovered by Jabir ibn Hayyan.
The mineral acids: nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and hydrochloric acid, by Geber.
Pure distilled alcohol (ethanol) by Jabir ibn Hayyan in the 8th century.
Uric acid and nitric acid by Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) in the 8th century.
Lustreware, by Geber in the 8th century.
Artificial pearl, purified pearl, dyed pearl, dyed gemstones, cheese glue, and plated mail, by Geber.
Kerosene and kerosene lamp by al-Razi in the 9th century.
Petrol by Muslim chemists.
Tar in the 8th century, and Naphtha in the 9th century.
Medicinal alcohol in the 10th century.
Essential oil by Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna) in the 11th century.
Hygienic cosmetics by Muslim chemists.
Dyestuff by Muslim chemists.
Arsenic, alkali, alkali salt, rice vinegar, boraxes, potassium nitrate, sulfur and purified sal ammoniac by Geber.
Sal nitrum and vitriol by al-Razi.
Ethanol, sulfuric acid, ammonia, mercury, camphor, pomades, and syrups.
Lead carbonatic, arsenic, and antimony.
Nitric and sulfuric acids, alkali, the salts of mercury, antimony, and bismuth.
Aqua regia, alum, sal ammoniac, stones, sulfur, salts, and spirits of mercury.
At least 2,000 medicinal substances.
The classification of all seven classical metals: gold, silver, tin, lead, mercury, iron, and copper, by Geber.



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