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Abū Rayhān Muhammad ibn Ahmad Bīrunī
TitleAbu-Rayhan Biruni
Personal life
EraIslamic Golden Age
Main interest(s)Anthropology, astrology, astronomy, chemistry, geodesy, geology, history, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, pharmacology, physics, science
Notable work(s)Ta'rikh al-Hind, The Mas'udi Canon, Understanding Astrology, and many other books
Senior posting
Influenced by
Influenced
"Al-Biruni" redirects here. For the lunar crater, see Al-Biruni (crater).

Abū Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī (September 15 973 in Kath, Khwarezm – December 13 1048 in Ghazni) was a Persian[1][2][3] Muslim polymath[4] of the 11th century. Biruni was well-known in the Muslim world, but unlike some of his other Muslim contemporaries (such as Abulcasis, Alhacen, and Avicenna), Biruni's name was little known in the Western world.

He was a scientist and physicist, an anthropologist, an astronomer and astrologer, a chemist, an encyclopedist and historian, a geographer, a geodesist and geologist, a mathematician, a pharmacist and physician, a philosopher and Ash'ari theologian, a scholar and teacher, and a traveller, and he contributed greatly to all of these fields. He was also the first Muslim scholar to study India and the Brahminical tradition,[5] and has been described as the father of Indology,[6] the father of geodesy, and "the first anthropologist".[7] Along with Geber and Ibn al-Haytham, al-Biruni was one of the earliest leading exponents of the experimental scientific method.[8] He is responsible for introducing the experimental method into mechanics,[9] and was the first to conduct elaborate experiments related to astronomical phenomena.[10]

George Sarton, the father of the history of science, described Biruni as:

"One of the very greatest scientists of Islam, and, all considered, one of the greatest of all times."[11]

A. I. Sabra desribed Biruni as:

"One of the great scientific minds in all history."[12]

The Al-Biruni crater, on the Moon, is named after Biruni. Tashkent Technical University (formerly Tashkentskiy Politexnicheskiy Institut) was also named after Abu Rayhan al-Biruni.

Biography

He was born in Khwarazm (formerly north-eastern part of the Persian Samanid dynasty) presently in Khiva, Uzbekistan. He studied mathematics and astronomy under Abu Nasr Mansur.

He was a colleague of the fellow Persian Muslim philosopher and physician Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), the historian, philosopher and ethicist Ibn Miskawayh, in a university and science center established by prince Abu al-Abbas Ma'mun Khawarazmshah. He also travelled to South Asia with Mahmud of Ghazni (whose son and successor Masud was, however, his major patron), and accompanied him on his campaigns in India (in 1030), learning Indian languages, and studying the religion and philosophy of its people. There, he also wrote his Ta'rikh al-Hind ("Chronicles of India"). Biruni wrote his books in Arabic and his native language Persian, though he knew no less than four other languages: Greek, Sanskrit, Syriac, and possibly Berber.[1]

He was buried in Ghazni in Afganistan.[citation needed]

Works

An illustration from Beruni's Persian book. It shows different phases of the moon.

Biruni's works number 146 in total. These include 35 books on astronomy, 4 on astrolabes, 23 on astrology, 5 on chronology, 2 on time measurement, 9 on geography, 10 on geodesy and mapping theory, 15 on mathematics (8 on arithmetic, 5 on geometry, 2 on trigonometry), 2 on mechanics, 2 on medicine and pharmacology, 1 on meteorology, 2 on mineralogy and gems, 4 on history, 2 on India, 3 on religion and philosophy, 16 literary works, 2 books on magic, and 9 unclassified books. Among these works, only 22 have survived, and only 13 of these works have been published.[13] 6 of his surviving works are on astronomy.[14] His extant works include:

  • Critical study of what India says, whether accepted by reason or refused (Arabic تحقيق ما للهند من مقولة معقولة في العقل أم مرذولة) - a compendium of India's religion and philosophy
  • The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries (Arabic الآثار الباقية عن القرون الخالية) - a comparative study of calendars of different cultures and civilizations, interlaced with mathematical, astronomical, and historical information.
  • The Mas'udi Canon (Persian قانون مسعودي) - an extensive encyclopedia on astronomy, geography, and engineering, named after Mas'ud, son of Mahmud of Ghazni, to whom he dedicated
  • Understanding Astrology (Arabic التفهيم لصناعة التنجيم) - a question and answer style book about mathematics and astronomy, in Arabic and Persian
  • Pharmacy - about drugs and medicines
  • Gems (Arabic الجماهر في معرفة الجواهر) about geology, minerals, and gems, dedicated to Mawdud son of Mas'ud
  • Astrolabe
  • A historical summary book
  • History of Mahmud of Ghazni and his father
  • History of Khawarazm

Anthropology

Biruni has been described as "the first anthropologist".[7] He wrote detailed comparative studies on the anthropology of peoples, religions and cultures in the Middle East, Mediterranean and South Asia. Biruni's anthropology of religion was only possible for a scholar deeply immersed in the lore of other nations.[15] Biruni has also been praised by several scholars for his Islamic anthropology.[16]

Al-Biruni developed a sophisticated methodology for his anthropological studies. For example, he wrote the following in the opening passages of his Indica:

"No one will deny that in questions of historic authenticity hearsay does not equal eyewitness; for in the latter the eye of the observer apprehends the substance of that which is observed, both in the time when and in the place where it exists, whilst hearsay has its peculiar drawbacks."[17]

He was also aware that there are limitations to eye-witness accounts:

"The object of eye-witness can only be actual momentary existence, whilst hearsay comprehends alike the present, the past and the future"[17]

Astronomy

File:Laleh park jonub.jpg
A statue of Biruni adorns the southwest entrance of Laleh Park in Tehran, Iran.

Will Durant wrote the following on al-Biruni's contributions to astronomy:

"He wrote treatises on the astrolabe, the planisphere, the armillary sphere; and formulated astronomical tables for Sultan Masud. He took it for granted that the earth is round, noted “the attraction of all things towards the center of the earth,” and remarked that astronomic data can be explained as well by supposing that the earth turns daily on its axis and annually around the sun, as by the reverse hypothesis."[18]

Instruments

Al-Biruni invented a number of astronomical instruments. He wrote the first treatises on the planisphere and the orthographical astrolabe, as well as a treatise on the armillary sphere, and he was able to mathematically determine the direction of the Qibla from any place in the world.[19][20] He also wrote the earliest treatise on the sextant.[21]

He also invented an early hodometer,[22] and the first mechanical lunisolar calendar computer which employed a gear train and eight gear-wheels.[23] These were early examples of fixed-wired knowledge processing machines.[24]

1973 USSR stamp commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī

Observations

Biruni was the first to conduct elaborate experiments related to astronomical phenomena. He supposed the Milky Way galaxy to be a collection of numerous nebulous stars. In Khorasan, he observed and described the solar eclipse on April 8, 1019, and the lunar eclipse on September 17, 1019, in detail, and gave the exact latitudes of the stars during the lunar eclipse.[10]

In 1031, Biruni completed his extensive astronomical encyclopaedia Kitab al-Qanun al-Mas'udi (Latinized as Canon Mas’udicus),[25] in which he recorded his astronomical findings and formulated astronomical tables. The book introduces the mathematical technique of analysing the acceleration of the planets, and first states that the motions of the solar apogee and the precession are not identical. Biruni also discovered that the distance between the Earth and the Sun is larger than Ptolemy's estimate, on the basis that Ptolemy disregarded the annual solar eclipses.[19][26]

Al-Biruni also introduced a new method of observation called the "three points observation". A later Muslim polymath astronomer, Taqi al-Din, described the three points as "two of them being in opposition in the ecliptic and the third in any desired place." Prior to al-Biruni, astronomers used the relatively inaccurate method of Hipparchus who used the intervals of seasons for calculating solar parameters. Al-Biruni's new "three points observation" was an important contribution to practical astronomy, and was still used six centuries later by Taqi al-Din, Tycho Brahe and Nicolaus Copernicus to calculate the eccentricity of the Sun's orbit and the annual motion of the apogee.[27]

Theories

In 1030, Biruni discussed the Indian heliocentric theories of Aryabhata, Brahmagupta and Varahamihira in his Indica. Biruni noted that the question of heliocentricity was a philosophical rather than a mathematical problem.[28]

Abu Said al-Sijzi, a contemporary of Biruni, suggested the possible heliocentric movement of the Earth around the Sun, which Biruni did not reject.[29] Biruni agreed with the Earth's rotation about its own axis, and while he was initially neutral regarding the heliocentric and geocentric models,[30] he considered heliocentrism to be a philosophical problem.[28] He remarked that if the Earth rotates on its axis and moves around the Sun, it would remain consistent with his astronomical parameters:[19][20]

"Rotation of the earth would in no way invalidate astronomical calculations, for all the astronomical data are as explicable in terms of the one theory as of the other. The problem is thus difficult of solution."

Chemistry

Along with al-Kindi and Avicenna, Biruni was one of the first chemists to reject the theory of the transmuation of metals supported by some alchemists.[30]

Earth sciences

Biruni made a number of contributions to the Earth sciences. In particular, he is regarded as the father of geodesy,[7][31] and has made significant contributions to cartography, geography, and geology.

Cartography

By the age of 22, he had written several short works, including a study of map projections, Cartography, which included a method for projecting a hemisphere on a plane.

Geodesy and Geography

At the age of 17, Biruni calculated the latitude of Kath, Khwarazm, using the maximum altitude of the Sun. Al-Biruni also solved a complex geodesic equation in order to accurately compute the Earth's circumference, which were close to modern values of the Earth's circumference.[19][32] His estimate of 6,339.9 km for the Earth radius was only 16.8 km less than the modern value of 6,356.7 km. In contrast to his predecessors who measured the Earth's circumference by sighting the Sun simultaneously from two different locations, al-Biruni developed a new method of using trigonometric calculations based on the angle between a plain and mountain top which yielded more accurate measurements of the Earth's circumference and made it possible for it to be measured by a single person from a single location.[33]

John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson write in the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive:

"Important contributions to geodesy and geography were also made by Biruni. He introduced techniques to measure the earth and distances on it using triangulation. He found the radius of the earth to be 6339.6 km, a value not obtained in the West until the 16th century. His Masudic canon contains a table giving the coordinates of six hundred places, almost all of which he had direct knowledge."[8]

In mathematical geography, Biruni, around 1025, was the first to describe a polar equi-azimuthal equidistant projection of the celestial sphere.[34]

Geology

Among his writings on geology, Biruni wrote the following on the geology of India:

"But if you see the soil of India with your own eyes and meditate on its nature, if you consider the rounded stones found in earth however deeply you dig, stones that are huge near the mountains and where the rivers have a violent current: stones that are of smaller size at a greater distance from the mountains and where the streams flow more slowly: stones that appear pulverised in the shape of sand where the streams begin to stagnate near their mouths and near the sea - if you consider all this you can scarcely help thinking that India was once a sea, which by degrees has been filled up by the alluvium of the streams."[35]

History

Chronology

By the age of 27, in the year 1000, he had written a book called Chronology which referred to other works he had completed (now lost) that included one book about the astrolabe, one about the decimal system, four about astrology, and two about history.

He discussed more on his idea of history in another work, The Chronology of the Ancient Nations.[6]

Indology

Until the 10th century, history most often meant political and military history, but this was not so with Persian historian Biruni (973-1048). In his Kitab fi Tahqiq ma l'il-Hind (Researches on India), he did not record political and military history in any detail, but wrote more on India's cultural, scientific, social and religious history.[6] Biruni is now regarded as the father of Indology.[6]

Mathematics

He made significant contributions to mathematics, especially in the fields of theoretical and practical arithmetic, summation of series, combinatorial analysis, the rule of three, irrational numbers, ratio theory, algebraic definitions, method of solving algebraic equations, geometry, and the development of Archimedes' theorems.

Medicine

Biruni's Kitab-al-Saidana was an extensive medical encyclopedia which synthesized Islamic medicine with Indian medicine. His medical investigations included one of the earliest descriptions on Siamese twins.[10]

Physics

Astrophysics

In astrophysics and the celestial mechanics field of physics, Biruni described the Earth's gravitation as:[19]

"The attraction of all things towards the centre of the earth."

He also discovered that gravity exists within the heavenly bodies and celestial spheres, and he criticized Aristotle's views of them not having any levity or gravity and of circular motion being an innate property of the heavenly bodies.[36]

Mechanics

Biruni was the first to apply experimental scientific methods to mechanics, especially the fields of statics and dynamics, particularly for determining specific weights, such as those based on the theory of balances and weighing.[9]

In the dynamics and kinematics fields of mechanics, Biruni was the first to realize that acceleration is connected with non-uniform motion, which is part of Newton's second law of motion.[8]

In statics, Biruni measured the specific gravities of eighteen gemstones, and discovered that there is a correlation between the specific gravity of an object and the volume of water it displaces.[37] He also introduced the method of checking tests during experiments, measured the weights of various liquids, and recorded the differences in weight between fresh water and salt water, and between hot water and cold water.[38]

During his experiments, he invented the conical measure,[39] in order to find the ratio between the weight of a substance in air and the weight of water displaced, and to accurately measure the specific weights of the gemstones and their corresponding metals, which are very close to modern measurements.[38]

Natural philosophy

Biruni and Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), who are regarded as two of the greatest polymaths in Persian history, were both colleagues and knew each other since the turn of the millennium. Biruni later engaged in a written debate with Avicenna, with Biruni criticizing Aristotelian natural philosophy and the Peripatetic school, while Avicenna and his student Ahmad ibn 'Ali al-Ma'sumi respond to Biruni's criticisms in writing. Biruni began by asking Avicenna eighteen questions, ten of which were criticisms of Aristotle's On the Heavens, with his first question criticizing Aristotle's reasons for denying the existence of levity or gravity in the celestial spheres and the Aristotelian notion of circular motion being an innate property of the heavenly bodies.[36]

Biruni's second question criticizes Aristotle's over-reliance on more ancient views concerning the heavens, while the third criticizes the Aristotelian view that space has only six directions. The fourth question deals with the continuity and discontinuity of physical bodies, while the fifth criticizes the Peripatetic school's denial of the possibility of there existing another world completely different from the world known to them.[40] In his sixth question, Biruni rejects Aristotle's view on the celestial spheres having circular orbits rather than elliptic orbits. In his seventh question, he rejects Aristotle's notion that the motion of the heavens begins from the right side and from the east, while his eighth question concerns Aristotle's view on the fire element being spherical. The ninth question concerns the movement of heat, and the tenth question concerns the transformation of elements.[41] The eleventh question concerns the burning of bodies by radiation reflecting off a flask filled with water, and the twelfth concerns the natural tendency of the classical elements in their upward and downward movements. The thirteenth question deals with vision, while the fourteenth concerns habitation on different parts of Earth. His fifteenth question asks how two opposite squares in a square divided into four can be tangential, while the sixteenth question concerns vacuum. His seventeenth question asks "if things expand upon heating and contract upon cooling, why does a flask filled with water break when water freezes in it?" His eighteenth and final question concerns the observable phenomenon of ice floating on water.[42]

After Avicenna responded to the questions, Biruni was unsatisfied with some of the answers and wrote back commenting on them, after which Avicenna's student Ahmad ibn 'Ali al-Ma'sumi wrote back on behalf of Avicenna.[36]

Optics

In optics, Biruni was one of the first, along with Ibn al-Haytham, to discover that the speed of light was finite. Biruni was also the first to discover that the speed of light is much faster than the speed of sound.[8][43]

Psychology

Along with al-Kindi and Ibn al-Haytham, al-Biruni was a pioneer of experimental psychology, as he was the first to empirically describe the concept of reaction time:[44]

"Not only is every sensation attended by a corresponding change localized in the sense-organ, which demands a certain time, but also, between the stimulation of the organ and consciousness of the perception an interval of time must elapse, corresponding to the transmission of stimulus for some distance along the nerves."

Theology

Islamic theology

Biruni was a supporter of the orthodox Ash'ari school of Islamic theology.[45] He assigned to the Qur'an a separate and autonomous realm of its own and held that:[46]

"[the Qur'an] does not interfere in the business of science nor does it infringe on the realm of science."

Al-Biruni understood natural law as the law of the jungle. He argued that the antagonism between human beings can only be overcome through a divine law, which he believed to have been sent through the prophets of Islam.[47]

Comparative religion

He wrote works on both Islamic theology and Indian theology, and wrote on the topic of comparative religion, comparing both religions. His comparisons included the following comparison between the Qur'an and the Indian religious scriptures in the "On the Configuration of the Heavens and the Earth According to [Indian] astrologers" chapter of the Indica:[48]

"[The views of Indian astrologers] have developed in a way which is different from those of our [Muslim] fellows; this is because unlike the scriptures revealed before it, the Qur'an does not articulate on this subject [of astronomy], or any other [field of] necessary [knowledge] any assertion that would require erratic interpretations in order to harmonize it with that which is known by necessity."

"[In contrast, the religious and transmitted books of the Indians do indeed speak] of the configuration of the universe in a way which contradicts the truth which is known to their own astrologers."

Al-Biruni also had an interest in studying Hermeticism and criticizing its religious views. He showed an interest in comparative religion, comparing Islam with pre-Islamic religions, and was willing to accept certain elements of pre-Islamic wisdom which would conform with his understanding of the Islamic spirit.[49]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Rahman Habib, A Chronology of Islamic History, 570-1000 CE, Mansell Publishing, p. 167:

    "A Persian by birth, Biruni produced his writings in Arabic, though he knew, besides Persian, no less than four other languages."
  2. ^ Biruni (2007). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  3. ^ David C. Lindberg, Science in the Middle Ages, University of Chicago Press, p. 18:

    "A Persian by birth, a rationalist in disposition, this contemporary of Avicenna and Alhazen not only studied history, philosophy, and geography in depth, but wrote one of the most comprehensive of Muslim astronomical treatises, the Qanun Al-Masu'di."
  4. ^ Mr Koïchiro Matsuura. United Nations: Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.

    "Biruni, a scholar in many disciplines - from linguistics to mineralogy - and perhaps medieval Uzbekistan's most universal genius."
  5. ^ Dyczkowski, M.S.G. (1988). The Canon of the Saivagama and the Kubjika Tantras of the Western Kaula Tradition. State University of New York Press.
  6. ^ a b c d Zafarul-Islam Khan, At The Threshold Of A New Millennium – II, The Milli Gazette. Cite error: The named reference "Khan" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b c Akbar S. Ahmed (1984). "Al-Beruni: The First Anthropologist", RAIN 60, p. 9-10.
  8. ^ a b c d O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Al-Biruni", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  9. ^ a b Mariam Rozhanskaya and I. S. Levinova (1996), "Statics", in Roshdi Rashed, ed., Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, Vol. 2, p. 614-642 [642], Routledge, London and New York:

    "Numerous fine experimental methods were developed for determining the specific weight, which were based, in particular, on the theory of balances and weighing. The classical works of al-Biruni and al-Khazini can by right be considered as the beginning of the application of experimental methods in medieval science."
  10. ^ a b c Dr. A. Zahoor (1997), Abu Raihan Muhammad al-Biruni, Hasanuddin University.
  11. ^ George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, Vol. 1, p. 707.
  12. ^ A. I. Sabra, Ibn al-Haytham, Harvard Magazine, September-October 2003.
  13. ^ E. S. Kennedy (1970). "Al-Biruni", Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Vol. II, p. 152.
  14. ^ An overview of Muslim Astronomers, Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation.
  15. ^ J. T. Walbridge (1998). "Explaining Away the Greek Gods in Islam", Journal of the History of Ideas 59 (3), p. 389-403.
  16. ^ Richard Tapper (1995). "Islamic Anthropology" and the "Anthropology of Islam", Anthropological Quarterly 68 (3), Anthropological Analysis and Islamic Texts, p. 185-193.
  17. ^ a b Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subrahmanyam (2007), Indo-Persian Travels in the Age of Discoveries, 1400–1800, "Chapter I - Introduction: the travel-account from Beijing to the Bosphorus", Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-78041-4.
  18. ^ Will Durant (1950). The Story of Civilization IV: The Age of Faith, p. 239-45.
  19. ^ a b c d e Khwarizm, Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation.
  20. ^ a b G. Wiet, V. Elisseeff, P. Wolff, J. Naudu (1975). History of Mankind, Vol 3: The Great medieval Civilisations, p. 649. George Allen & Unwin Ltd, UNESCO.
  21. ^ Jean Claude Pecker (2001), Understanding the Heavens: Thirty Centuries of Astronomical Ideas from Ancient Thinking to Modern Cosmology, p. 311, Springer, ISBN 3540631984.
  22. ^ D. De S. Price (1984). "A History of Calculating Machines", IEEE Micro 4 (1), p. 22-52.
  23. ^ Donald Routledge Hill (1985). "Al-Biruni's mechanical calendar", Annals of Science 42, p. 139-163.
  24. ^ Tuncer Oren (2001). "Advances in Computer and Information Sciences: From Abacus to Holonic Agents", Turk J Elec Engin 9 (1), p. 63-70 [64].
  25. ^ Richard Covington (May-June 2007). "Rediscovering Arabic science", Saudi Aramco World, p. 2-16.
  26. ^ George Saliba (1980), "Al-Biruni", in Joseph Strayer, Dictionary of the Middle Ages, Vol. 2, p. 249. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
  27. ^ Sevim Tekeli, "Taqi al-Din", in Helaine Selin (1997), Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, Kluwer Academic Publishers, ISBN 0792340663.
  28. ^ a b Saliba, George (1999). Whose Science is Arabic Science in Renaissance Europe? Columbia University.
  29. ^ A. Baker and L. Chapter (2002), "Part 4: The Sciences". In M. M. Sharif, "A History of Muslim Philosophy", Philosophia Islamica.
  30. ^ a b Michael E. Marmura (1965). "An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines. Conceptions of Nature and Methods Used for Its Study by the Ikhwan Al-Safa'an, Biruni, and Ibn Sina by Seyyed Hossein Nasr", Speculum 40 (4), p. 744-746.
  31. ^ H. Mowlana (2001). "Information in the Arab World", Cooperation South Journal 1.
  32. ^ James S. Aber (2003). Alberuni calculated the Earth's circumference at a small town of Pind Dadan Khan, District Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan.Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, Emporia State University.
  33. ^ Lenn Evan Goodman (1992), Avicenna, p. 31, Routledge, ISBN 041501929X.
  34. ^ David A. King (1996), "Astronomy and Islamic society: Qibla, gnomics and timekeeping", in Roshdi Rashed, ed., Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, Vol. 1, p. 128-184 [153]. Routledge, London and New York.
  35. ^ A. Salam (1984), "Islam and Science". In C. H. Lai (1987), Ideals and Realities: Selected Essays of Abdus Salam, 2nd ed., World Scientific, Singapore, p. 179-213.
  36. ^ a b c Rafik Berjak and Muzaffar Iqbal, "Ibn Sina--Al-Biruni correspondence", Islam & Science, June 2003.
  37. ^ Will Durant (1950). The Age of Faith, p. 244. Simon and Shuster, New York. (cf. Khwarizm, Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation.)
  38. ^ a b M. Rozhanskaya and I. S. Levinova, "Statics", in R. Rashed (1996), The Encyclopaedia of the History of Arabic Science, p. p. 614-642 [639], Routledge, London. (cf. Khwarizm, Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation.)
  39. ^ Marshall Clagett (1961). The Science of Mechanics in the Middle Ages, p. 64. University of Wisconsin Press.
  40. ^ Rafik Berjak and Muzaffar Iqbal, "Ibn Sina--Al-Biruni correspondence", Islam & Science, December 2003.
  41. ^ Rafik Berjak and Muzaffar Iqbal, "Ibn Sina--Al-Biruni correspondence", Islam & Science, Summer 2004.
  42. ^ Rafik Berjak and Muzaffar Iqbal, "Ibn Sina--Al-Biruni correspondence", Islam & Science, Winter 2004.
  43. ^ George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, "The Time of Al-Biruni".
  44. ^ Muhammad Iqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, "The Spirit of Muslim Culture" (cf. [1] and [2])
  45. ^ Ziauddin Sardar, Science in Islamic philosophy
  46. ^ "Qur'an and Science", Encyclopedia of the Qur'an.
  47. ^ Corbin, Henry. History of Islamic Philosophy, Translated by Liadain Sherrard, Philip Sherrard. London; Kegan Paul International in association with Islamic Publications for The Institute of Ismaili Studies. pp. p. 39. ISBN 0710304161. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Text "1993 (original French 1964)" ignored (help)
  48. ^ Prof. Ahmad Dallal (2004), "Science and the Qur'an", in Jane McAuliffe, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, vol. 4, p. 540-558.
  49. ^ Seyyed Hossein Nasr (1993), An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines, p. 166. State University of New York Press, ISBN 0791415163.

Further reading

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