Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/624

Rh 596 MOHAMMEDANISM [SCIENCE. With the accession of the Abbasids to power, Moslem culture entered on a path fruitful in scientific progress. The second Caliph of that family, Mansur, was surrounded by Syrian Christians of great learning, and equally well Transla- acquainted with the Greek, Syriac, and Arabic languages, tious and took advantage of their abilities to have a number of fr m tlie foreign books translated into Arabic. Thanks to him, the writings of Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Euclid spread a taste for science among the Moslems. The Caliph Ma mun was one of those who most encouraged translations from the Greek. In this way the Moslems became acquainted with the most important productions of the ancient world. Plato, the works of the Alexandrian school, those of Hip pocrates, Dioscorides, and Galen, were familiar to them. Through the Persians many Indian writings also became accessible to them, such as the fables of Bidpai, 1 and certain treatises on astronomy and algebra. The study of philo sophy in all its branches was at one time in fashion, and, to appreciate the success with which it was cultivated in Islam, we need only recall the great names of Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sfnd (Avicenna), Ibn Bajd (Avempace), and Ibn Roshd (Averroes), whose scientific teaching swayed the Middle Ages, and led to the revival of learning in the West. History In history and geography the Moslems distinguished and geo- themselves. The taste for history had been developed graphy. amon g them by the necessity of collecting all traditions relating to the Prophet, and by that of preserving their own genealogies. The study of geography was a result of their conquests. One of their most ancient historical productions was the biography of Mohammed, composed by Mohammed b. Ishak under the caliphate of Mansur. Wdkidi, another author of the 8th century of our era, compiled a history of the first Moslem conquests. At a later period, Baladhorf wrote on the same subject his Kitdb Fotuh al-Bolddn. z General history also soon became a subject of study, and, in the 9th century after Christ, Ibn Kotaiba compiled his Kitdb al-Madrif, 3 a treatise on universal history. In the 10th century two great historians flourished, Tabari and Mas udf, by the first of whom we have a very extensive chronicle, 4 and by the second a general history, entitled Mortij al-Dhahab (see MAS^DI). After them came a perfect galaxy of well-known historians and biographers, such as Hamza of Isfahan, Ibn al-Tiktaka, Nowairl, Makrizf, Abu 1-Fida, Abu ; l-Faraj, Al-Makfn, Ibn al-Athfr, Soyuti, and Ibn Khaldun, 5 not to speak of many others who compiled local chronicles and histories, such as those of Mecca, Medina, Damascus, and Baghdad. As biographers, Nawawi and Ibn Khallikan 6 are celebrated. The history of physicians and philosophers, by Ibn Abi Osaibiya, deserves to be placed in the first rank, side by side with the history of religions and sects by Shahrastanf. 7 The Moslems were not less active in the study of geo graphy. In the 9th century, Ya kubf wrote his Kitdb al-Bolddn, or Book of Countries, in which he described the principal cities of the Moslem empire. 8 After him, Ibn Khordadhbeh composed his Kitdb al-Masdlik wal- 1 Translated from the Arabic by Knatchbull. 2 Edited by De Goeje (Leyden, 1866). 3 Edited by Wtistenfeld (Gottingen, 1 850). 4 In course of publication at Leyden, edited by De Goeje, with the assistance of J. Earth, Th. Noldeke, P. de Jong, E. Prym, H. Thorbeeke, S. Fraenkel, I. Guidi, D. H. Muller, M. Th. Houtsma, S. Guyard, and V. Rosen. 6 Most of these have been published by Gottwaldt, Ahhvardt, Reiske, Pocock, Erpenius, Tornberg. 6 The former has been edited by Wiistenfeld (Gottingen, 1842-47), the latter translated into English by Mac Guckiu de Slaue (Loud. 1843-71). 7 Published by Cureton (Lond. 1842-46), and translated into German by Haarbriicker (Halle, 1850-51). 8 Edited by A. W. Th. Juynboll and De Goeje (Leyden, 1860-61). Mamdlik, or Book of Roads and Provinces, in which his principal object is to point out the different routes, and to give an account of the revenues derived from every province. 9 His contemporary Kod&ma soon after published his treatise on the work of clerks, in which, after a notice of the various government offices, he gives a description of the provinces of the empire with an account of the post-routes, their stages and distances, and of the revenues of each province. Ahmed b. Abi Ya kub al-Ya kiibi wrote a description of Asia Minor and Ifrikiya. Several of the writings of the historian Mas udi also afford highly valuable information on geography. To Yakut we owe a great geographical dictionary under the title of Jfo jaHi al-olddn. w Lastly, Istakhri, Ibn Haukal, Mokaddasf, Beruni, Bakrf, Zamakhshari, Edrisf, and Abu 1-Fida have left us important treatises, narratives of travels, and geographical dictionaries. 11 Among the literature of voyages and travels we must also mention the curious Chain of Histories associated with the name of the merchant Solaiman and the narratives of Ndsiri Khosru, 12 of Ibn Jobair, 13 and of IBN BATATA (q.v.). The sciences connected with geography, such as astro- Astro nomy and cosmography, were also cultivated by the 110 &quot; 1 ) Moslems. As early as the reign of Mansur, the Sanscrit a11 ^ treatise on astronomy entitled tiiddhanta had been trans- grapln lated into Arabic. Under Ma mun, two observatories were founded, one at Baghddd, the other at Damascus, and two degrees of the terrestrial meridian were measured by order of that Caliph. Al-Khdrizml, librarian to Ma mun, composed his Rasm al-Ard, or configuration of the earth, in which the name of every place was accompanied by its latitude and longitude. Astronomical tables were drawn up by Yahya, Habash, Abu Ma shar (Abumazar), and Al-Battani (Albategni). Treatises on astronomy were composed by Al- Farghdni and Al-Kindf. Al-Batt&nf, of whom we have just spoken, was the author of important works on the obliquity of the ecliptic and on the precession of the equi noxes. We may mention in the last place the curious writings of Dimashkf and Kazwlnl on general cosmography, embracing several physical sciences. 14 The study of mathematics was carried very far. The Mathe- Moslems not only received arithmetic, geometry, trigo- niatics - nometry, and algebra from the Greeks and Hindus, but themselves gave a further development to those sciences. The works of Al-Khdrizmi served as guides to those learned men in Europe who first turned their attention to algebra in the 16th century. The sciences of physics and chemistry, on the other Physic: hand, remained in their infancy. In physical science we t:cielu t; can only mention a few works on Optics. As for Music, its study was limited to the practical, and though we may name the important treatise of Al-Farabf on the theory of Music a treatise itself drawn entirely from Greek sources we must acknowledge that Acoustics, properly so called, are not at all taken into consideration by him. Chemistry, considered as an exact science, continued unknown to the Moslems ; yet they cultivated Alchemy with eagerness, in their search after the transmutation of metals, and Alchemy is the mother of Chemistry. Medicine, in the hands of the Arabs, remained such as they had borrowed it from the Greeks. As their religion forbade dissection, the Moslems were never able to rise above a rude empiri cism. They contented themselves with adding to their 9 Published and translated by Barbier de Meynard. 10 Edited by Wiistenfeld (Leipzig, 1866-70). 11 Published, and some translated, by De Goeje, Sachau, Wiistenfeld, De Grave, Jaubert, Dozy, Amari and Schiaparelli, Reinaud, and De Slane. The last volume of Abii 1-Ficla s Geography is now in the press. 12 Published and translated by Schefer (Paris, 1881). 13 Edited by W. Wright (Leyden, 1852). 14 Published and translated by Mehren, Wiistenfeld, and Eth6.