TOP TEN MOORISH AND ANDALUSIAN SCHOLARS!!
1. Ibn Battuta- travel, geography, exploration
Visited over 40 countries, including China, India (such as Calcutta),
Middle East, grenada and Africa. Visited about 200 major cities (or at
least places.....).
(from Morrocco I think)
2. Abulcasis- (surgery)
3. Al-Baitar- Improved pharmacology
4. Al-Muradi- clockmaking
5. Ibn Rushd (Averroes)- noted philosopher and commentator on Aristotle
6. Ibn Hazm- second most prolific scholar after Al-Tabari (in the IGA)
Wrote on history, ethics, Islamic jurisprudence and comparative religion
7. Ibn Tufail- was an Andalusian Muslim polymath a writer, novelist, Islamic philosopher, Islamic theologian, physician, astronomer, vizier, and court official.
Wrote a philosophical novel. Thus, arguably, a precedent for Voltaire's "Candide".
8.
Ibn al-'Awwam-often said to be Arab; yet associated with Seville.
Agriculture and livestock. According to wikipedia:
"He wrote a lengthy handbook on agriculture entitled in Arabic Kitāb al-Filāḥa (English: Book on Agriculture),
which is the most comprehensive treatment of the subject in medieval
Arabic, and one of the most important medieval works on the subject in
any language."
9.
Ibn Bassal (1085 C.E.) -Botany. According to wikipedia he
"was a
Moor botanist in
Toledo and
Seville,
Spain who wrote about
cultivation. Basal wrote the treatise
The Classification of Soils which divided soil fertility into ten classifications. He worked in the court of
Al-Mutamid for whom he created a royal garden.
[1][2][3]"
10.
Al-Jayyani- Trigonometry.
According to Wikipedia:
Al-Jayyānī wrote important commentaries on
Euclid's
Elements and he wrote the first known treatise on
spherical trigonometry as a discipline independent from astronomy.
HONORARY MENTIONS:
Muhammad_al-Idrisi- geography and cartography. Made a map known as "The Book of Roger" for the Rogers of Norman Sicily.
I read somewhere that he may have made like 1150+ maps
Ziryab-
Another andalucian polymath in the fields of astronomy, geography,
meterology, botanics, cosmetic, culinary art and fashion. Also a
musician.
Made a new type of deodorant for body odor. Said to have made an early toothpaste, and to have emphasized hygiene.
Heavily associated with Andalusia; but got started in Mesopotamia and Africa. Unclear extraction.
Ibn
al-Khatib- Arab from the Emirate of Grenada (and/or Morocco); poet, philosopher, politician, writer,
historian and physician. Often said to have conceived of the idea of a
contagion centuries before Pasteur.
Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi- Andalusian poet, geographer, and historian
Ibn Zuhr- Physician. He performed a tracheotomy on a goat.
Avempace- Another Moor botanist, astronomer and physicist.
Ibn Firnas- polymath and glassworker who detailed a method to produce colorless glass. Was known to produce corrective lenses.
Al-Zarqali- Astronomy, instrument maker (by instruments I mean
telescopes, clocks, that sorta thing. I think he was also referenced by
Copernicus in his heliocentric thesis along with Al-Batani)
Jabir
ibn Aflah- An astronomer and mathemitician from Seville. Critiqued and
corrected Ptolemaic astronomy. Also invented an early analog computer
known as the
Torquetum.
Maimonedes- medieval Jewish astronomer and philosopher.
Maslama al-Majriti- Economics and astronomy
Ibn Jubayr- Geographer, traveler, and poet during the crusades; and wrote about them.
At-Turtushi- 12th century Andalusian political theorist.
Ibn Juzayy- history, poetry, and law. Helped Ibn Battuta write about his travels.
Leo Africanus- Became an authority on North African geography around the 16th century.
