Status Updates From 1001 Inventions: The Enduri...

“The first Muslim, and perhaps person, to make a real attempt to construct a flying machine and fly was Cordoban 'Abbas ibn Firnas in the ninth century. [...] His greatest fame was for constructing a flying machine, the first of its kind capable of carrying a human into the air. [...] Western sources wrongly gave him a Latin name calling him Armen Firman, instead of 'Abbas ibn Firnas.”

“The Al-Muqaddimah is a gigantic endeavor, a discourse on universal history. Ibn Khaldun explored and implemented the idea that the documentation of history is not just a list of correct facts, but is dependent on who is interpreting them, what region they come from and when, as well as their impartiality. This was a revolutionary approach and his methodology is still used by historians today.”

“Medieval Muslims were also making observations and calculations about their surroundings to make sense of their environment. Al-Biruni discussed the theory of the Earth rotating on its own axis 600 years before Galileo, while also explaining the ebb and flow of tides. Others noted why the sky was blue, causes of rainbows, and size of the Earth's circumference.”

“The Great Mosque of Cordoba, called the Mesquita, was the springboard for much of European architecture. Its vast hall of polychrome, horseshoe, and intersecting arches, ribbed vaults, and domes all made their way north.”

❝Librarians were appointed to take charge and this was an honored position, only for the most learned. Only those "of unusual attainment" were considered as custodians of the libraries, the guardians and protectors of knowledge. The management of the libraries of the Almohad dynasty, the rulers in North Africa in the 12th and 13th centuries, was one of the most privileged state positions.❞

“Materials such as plastic, rayon, artincial rubber, and gasoline, and medicines such as insulin and penicillin, all stem from the chemical industry of the early Muslims, who were chemistry revolutionaries.”

“Because education was held in such high esteem, money was given generously and learning flourished. Ibn Battuta, the 14th-century Muslim traveler, talks about the student, who was supported 100 percent: "anyone who wishes to pursue a course of studies or to devote himself to the religious life receives every aid to the execution of this purpose.”

“Ninth-century polymath AI-Kindi first laid down the foundations of modern-day optics by questioning the Greek theories of vision. He said that how we see, our visual cone, is not formed of discrete rays as Euclid had said, but appeared as a volume, in three dimensions, of continuous radiations.”

"كان الاسطرلاب بمثابة كمبيوتر (حاسوب) فلكي وقياسي في زمانه, يحل المسائل المتعلقة بمواقع الأحرام السماوية."