The dark ages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The dark ages - Essay Example We will look at some of these inventions to see how they impacted on life and brought light to the dark ages. Ammad Ibn Musi al-Khwarizmi [780-850 AD] was a Persian mathetician, astronomer and geographer. He was born in Chorasmia in present day Iran. Later he studied maths and science at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, Iraq. He is famous for writing the treatise "Kitab al-Jabr Wa l-Mugabala" which translates roughly as "The Book of Reasoning and Balancing† which introduced the first complete system of algebra to the world. Built on the roots of Greek and Hindu systems, the new algebraic order was a unifying system for rational numbers, irrational numbers and geometrical magnitudes. Al-Khwarizmi was also the first to introduce the concept of raising a number to a power. He also introduced the system of decimal positional to the Western world. His work focused on the solving of linear and quadratic equations which was the most comprehensible method of that time. Al-Khwarizmi did extensive work on geography; he compiled the book â€Å"The Image of the Earth† in which he gave more accurate coordinates and information on the Mediterranean sea, Africa and Asia which aided in better understanding these areas by providing their Longitudes and latitudes. He also assisted in determining the circumpherance of the earth. In astronomy he developed tables for the moon, sun and the five known planets of the time. These tables aided in the understanding of celestial movement and became the basis for other astronomers in the Western world. Alhazen was a physicist and mathetician who was Born in 965 AD in Basra which is in present day Iraq. He wrote over 200 books; however, his most famous work was the writing of The Book of Optics. This book dealt with all manner of vision related theories and experiments. For instance, he made a study of the passage of light rays through transparent mediums such as air and water, which led to the discovery of the laws of refractio n. He also dealt with the theories of physical phenomena such as shadows, eclipses and the rainbow. One such phenomenon, twilight, was researched and he established that twilight only begins and ends when the sun is 19 degrees below the horizon. This discovery helped him create other theories about the atmosphere. Alhazen was the first physician to properly describe the parts of the eye and give a scientific explanation on vision. He was the first to use camera obscura. He disproved the previous theory that rays of light are omitted from the eye which allows a person to see an object; rather, he proved that it is the opposite, light refracts off objects allowing the eye to visualise them. In mathematics he developed analytical geometry in which he established a link between algebra and geometry. Alhazen influenced many Western scientists such as Roger Bacon, John Pecham and Johannes Kepler. The asteroid 59239 Alhazen was named in his honour due to his contribution to the knowledge o f physics and mathematics. He died in 1040 AD. Abbas Ibn Firnas [810-887 AD] was an astronomer and poet who lived in the Emirate of Cordoba, in the Spanish region. He is mostly known for an early attempt at aviation. He designed a glider like mechanism which comprised of bird-like wings with feathers; although, it is said that his attempt at flight was somewhat successful, he greatly injured his back when landing. Some of his other inventions include the creation of a water clock, colorless glass,