List of Arab scientists and scholars

File:Arab science.jpg

A 9th century picture of Arab scientists working in Baghdad, Iraq.

This page contains a list of notable Arab scientists and a short discription of their work.

Notice:

• The arabic articles Al (the) and ibn or bin (son of) are not used in the indexing
• Both the arabic and latin names are given.
• By "Arab", it should not be understood as a strictly ethnically term, but rather a cultural term.

A

• Abubacer

See Ibn Tufail.

• Alhazen

See Ibn al-Haitham.

• Avempace

See Ibn Bajjah.

• Averroes

See Ibn Rushd.

• Avenzoar

See Ibn Zuhr.

B

• Al-Baghdadi (980, Baghdad, Iraq - 1037, ? )

wrote about different systems of arithmetic in a work of great importance in the history of mathematics.

• Ibn Bajjah ( ?, Saragossa, Spain - 1138, Fez, Morocco)

He had a vast knowledge of Medicine, Mathematics and Astronomy. His main contribution to Islamic Philosophy is his idea on Soul Phenomenology, but unfortunately not completed. He was also the teacher of Ibn Rushd.

• Ibn Battutah (February 24, 1304, Tangier, Morocco - 1368 or 1377, Morocco)

A famous explorer, he began exploring areas in present day southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia in 1325 when he was 21 years old. He ventured over land and sea for 22 years, traveling to 44 modern countries, and covering 75,000 miles. Battuta recorded his travels in the Rihla, and was an early and extensive contributor to the field of geography.

G

• Geber

See Jabir ibn Hayyan.

H

• Ibn al-Haitham (965, Basra, Iraq - 1040, Cairo, Egypt)

One of the most eminent physicists, whose contributions to optics and the scientific methods are outstanding.

J

• Jabir ibn Hayyan (ca.721, Tus, Iran – ca. 815, Kufa, Iraq)

Considered father of chemistry. He emphasized systematic experimentation, and did much to free alchemy from superstition and turn it into a science.

K

• Al-Kindi (c.801 CE, Kufa, Iraq – 873, Bahgdad, Iraq)

A gifted Mathematician, astronomer, physician and a geographer as well as a talented musician. He wrote the first treatise in cryptography.

• Al-Karkhi (c.953, Karkhi,Iraq or karaj,Iran - 1029, Baghdad, Iraq)

A mathematician and engineer. His work centered around algebra and polynomials.

• Ibn Khaldun (May 27, 1332, Tunis - March 19, 1406, Cairo, Egypt)

One of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics. He is best known for his Muqaddimah "Prolegomena".

• Al-Khwarizmi (ca. 780, Qutrubbull,Iraq or Khiva,Uzbekistan - ca. 850, Bahgdad,Iraq)

He was a mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. He is considered the founder of Algebra. The word "Algorithm" is derived from his name.

M

• Banu Musa brothers ( ca. 800, Baghdad, Iraq - 873, Baghdad, Iraq)

They supervised the translation of Greek scientific works into Arabic and helped to found the Arabic school of mathematics.

N

• Ibn Nafis (1213, Damaskus,Syria - 1288, Cairo, Egypt)

Was a physician who is mostly famous for being the first to describe the pulmonary circulation of the blood.

R

• Ibn Rushd (1126 Cordoba, Spain– December 10, 1198, Marrakesh, Morocco)

A master of philosophy and Islamic law, mathematics, and medicine. His school of philosophy is known as Averroism.

T

• Thabit ibn Qurra (836, Harran, Turkey - Baghdad,Iraq)

Was an important Islamic mathematician who worked on number theory, astronomy and statics.

• Ibn Tufail (c.1105, Guadix,Spain – 1185, Morocco)

He served as a secretary for the ruler of Granada, and later as vizier and physician for Abu Yaqub Yusuf, ruler of Islamic Spain (Al-Andalus) under the Almohad dynasty. He was the author of Hayy ibn Yaqthan (Arabic: حي بن يقظان ) a philosophical romance and allegorical tale of a man who lives alone on an island and who, without contact with other human beings, discovers the truth by reasonable thinking, and then his shock upon contact with human society's dogmatism and other ills.

U

• Al-Uqlidisi (920, Damascus, Syria - 980, Damascus, Syria)

Wrote two works on arithmetic. He amy have anticipated the invention of decimals.

Z

Ibn Zuhr (1091, Seville, Spain - 1161, Seville, Spain)

Was one of the most prominent physicians, clinicians and parasitologist of the Middle Ages. He was the first to test different medicines on animals before using them with humans. Also, he was the first to describe in detail scabies, the itch mite, and is thus regarded as the first parasitologist.