Friday, May 26, 2017

Top Ten Arab scholars:

Here, I will make a list of top ten Arab scholars; some who have been aforementioned on this blog. Later on, we will have top ten Moorish or Persian scholars. But for now....TEH TYOP TEN:

1. Ibn Khaldun- Sociology, economics, history, demography.

2.Al-Batani- (perhaps the most notable astronomer of the middle ages. Well, besides the Indian astronomer Aryabhatta.)

Like Aryubhatta, I think he did trigonometry as well as astronomy. Possibly of Sabian extraction; but noted as an Arab scholar according to Wikipedia.

3. Alhazen- A father of optics. Noted in physics as well. One of the more notable contributors (if not the most notable medieval contributor) to the improvement of the scientific method.

4. Al-Kindi- Cryptography. Modern cryptography started with the Arabs according to David Khan in his noted work "The Codebreakers"

5. Al-Nafis- Analyzed pulminary circulation centuries before William Harvey.

From Damascus and Cairo.

6. Al-Jazari- The father of robotics

7. Al-Jahiz- Biology. Put forth a hypothesis for evolution

8. Ahmad ibn Mājid-navigation and cartography, oceanography. A noted Omani navigator in the 1400s nicknamed "The Lion of the Sea"

9. Al-Masudi- The "Herodotus" of the Arabs. Geography and history.
Combined geography and history in his noted work

"Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems"

10 Al-Asma'i-zoology, botany, biology, animal husbandry and anatomy.



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HONORARY MENTIONS:


Abū Kāmil Shujāʿ ibn Aslam- Wrote the book on Algebra. Probably the most notable Muslim scholar in the field besides Al-Kwarizmi.



Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi- Egyptology and medicine



Al-Damiri- Zoology- Detailed about 931 animals, their dietary and medical use.


Al-Muqaddasi- Geography

Umar- Noted Caliph

Ibn Abi Usaibia- Noted medical historian


Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud- Arab mathemetician


Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani- Arab grammarian, astronomer, geographer, poet and historian

Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi- Wrote the first dictionary of the Arab language. Lexicographer and philologist.

Ibn Butlan- Arab Nestorian Christian from Baghdad. Wrote a manual on hygiene that caught on it late medieval western Europe.

Ibn Wahshiyya- Polymath in the fields of Alchemy, farm toxicology, agriculture, Egyptology, and history. Was from Iraq.

Mentioned the Harrow (agricultural tool) in his works; which he claimed he learned from the Babylonians during the 10th century.

Ibn al-Shatir- Arab astronomer who drastically reformed the Ptolemaic models according to wikipedia by introducing extra epicycles.

Abu'l-Hasan al-Uqlidisi- Wrote the earliest surviving work on the positional use of Indo-Arabic numerals. Also noted for using decimal fractions and carrying out calculations without deletion.





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Thābit ibn Qurra-a founder of statics (mechanics). But he was more of a Sabian.

Banū Mūsā scholars- Automation

(might have been of Persian extraction; but generally associated with Baghdad).

Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber)- Chemistry. Although, he might have been Persian.

Usamah ibn Munqidh- Poet, courtier, and diplomat, unclear extraction. Lived and wrote during the crusades; often about them.


Al-Mawardi-judge, diplomat, and author of influential works on governance and ethics- Might have been a Kurd though

Ibn Al-Athir- Arab or Kurdish historian


Hunayn ibn Ishaq- Noted translater of classical knowledge (especially of Galen)- Actually an Assyrian Christian


Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn Maṭar- Mathemetician and translator who translated Euclid's "Elements" in to Arabic.



OTHER: Here is a list of Arab scholars according to wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_and_scholars

list of Muslim scholars generally:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_scientists

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