Islamic Science and Techology

In the 7^th century a religion called Islam began. It was created by someone called the prophet Muhammad in Mecca. Muhammad believed that God sent him to teach people Islam. The book that teaches the beliefs of Islam is called the Qur’an (‘Koran’). People who believe in Islam are called Muslims.  In Arabic Islam means “submission to God.” Early Islam spread throughout the Middle East and moved rapidly to the west across North Africa to southern Spain, to the east through Persia, and to the north to Istanbul.

Islamic scholars made great discoveries and scientific developments.  Muslims started sharing their ideas with places like China, India, and southern Europe.  They also started to learn knowledge from those places.  Both trade and conquest led to greater technology and learning.  Muslims started universities for studying, which helped spread knowledge.  It was the duty of every Muslim to seek knowledge.  Navigational aids for travelers, geographic maps, medical knowledge, ways of measuring and calculating, and tools for agriculture were all encouraged and welcomed.  Books and paper were very important for sharing knowledge.  Arabic language was formed and became the international language of scholarship.  Muslim scholars translated very important works from Greek, Latin, and other languages.  This helped preserve ancient scientific works.  Then the Muslims taught each other.

I saw several different Muslim inventions at the Museum of Islamic Science and Technology in Istanbul. The water clock, for example, was made using water, paper, and a floating rod.  Water would come down from a tube at even amounts of time.  The water would flow into a chamber that had a floating rod.  Behind the floating rod there was something like a ruler that had numbers up to 24 hours.  Every hour the water would flow in and make the rod rise up the clock. 

Another thing that Muslims invented was the water screw.  The water screw was used to bring water from low rivers to higher land. Water would go down a stream and turn a water wheel.  When the water wheel turns, it turns a pole.  The turning pole turns a gear which then turns the water screw.  The water goes into the screw and slowly goes up a tunnel to higher land.   

Water screw invented by Archimedes in Greece

Islamic version of the water screw attached to a water wheel

A third invention that Muslims created was a cannon that shot three giant arrows at one time.  There were cranks in the back of the machine.  A string was wrapped around a pole that was connected to the cranks.  On the front of the machine is something shaped like a bow and arrow, except that it has three bows and three arrows on it. The arrows have notches so that the string will stay in place.  The string that is connected to the crank splits into three strings.  Each string hooks onto an arrow.  When the people turn the crank, the strings on the cranks pull back which pulls back the arrows.  When people let go of the crank the string unwinds and releases the arrows, which shoot out. This invention was used for attacking castles.

A siege bow that shoots only one arrow (similar to the three arrow bow)

In the Early Middle Ages, Europeans lost a lot of the knowledge of ancient Greece and Rome. Muslims rediscovered this knowledge and shared it with Europeans during the Renaissance. The Muslims used those ideas to invent new machines. These inventions helped keep Greek and Roman knowledge alive. 

Drawings of the water screw and siege bow drawn by Leonardo Da Vinci