Inventions in the Islamic world Totally Explained

Everything about Inventions In The Islamic World totally explained

A significant number of inventions occurred in the Islamic world, a geopolitical region that has at various times extended from al-Andalus and Africa in the west to the Indian subcontinent and Malay Archipelago in the east.

Astronomical instruments

Muslim astronomers developed a number of astronomical instruments, including several variations of the astrolabe, originally invented by Hipparchus in the 2nd century BCE, but with considerable improvements made to the device in the Muslim world. These instruments were used by Muslims for a variety of purposes related to astronomy, astrology, horoscopes, navigation, surveying, timekeeping, Qibla, Salah, etc.

Analog computers

Equatorium by Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Arzachel) in Islamic Spain circa 1015.

Mechanical lunisolar calendar computer with gear train and gear-wheels by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.

Fixed-wired knowledge processing machine by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.

Mechanical astrolabe with calendar computer and gear-wheels by Abi Bakr of Isfahan in 1235.

Oldest surviving complete mechanical geared machine by Abi Bakr of Isfahan in 1235.

The Plate of Conjunctions, a computing instrument used to determine the time of day at which planetary conjunctions will occur, and for performing linear interpolation, and the planets in terms of elliptical orbits; the latitudes of the Sun, Moon, and planets; and the ecliptic of the Sun. The instrument also incorporated an alhidade and ruler.

Globes

Several different types of globes and armillary spheres were invented by Muslim astronomers and engineers:

Celestial globes which could calculate the altitude of the Sun and the right ascension and declination of the stars in the 11th century.

The spherical astrolabe was first produced in the Islamic world by the 14th century.

The seamless celestial globe is considered one of the most remarkable feats in metallurgy. It was invented in Kashmir by Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman in 998 AH (1589-90 CE), and twenty other such globes were later produced in Lahore and Kashmir during the Mughal Empire. Before they were rediscovered in the 1980s, it was believed by modern metallurgists to be technically impossible to produce metal globes without any, even with modern technology. The techniques used by these Mughal metallurgists in order to produce these seamless metal globes thus continue to remain a mystery.

Mural instruments

The first quadrants and mural instruments by al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad, Iraq.

Sine quadrant for astronomical calculations by al-Khwarizmi in 9th century Baghdad.

The Quadrans Novus, an astrolabic quadrant invented in Egypt in the 11th century or 12th century, and later known in Europe as the "Quadrans Novus" (New Quadrant).

Almucantar quadrant, invented in the medieval Islamic world. It employed the use of trigonometry. The term "almucantar" is itself derived from Arabic.

Astronomical sextant by Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi in Ray, Iran in 994.

Other instruments

Alhidade (the term "alhidade" is itself derived from Arabic).

Shadow square, an instrument used to determine the linear height of an object, in conjunction with the alidade for angular observations, invented by Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 9th century Baghdad.

The "observation tube" (without lens) was invented by al-Battani (Albatenius) (853-929) and first described by al-Biruni (973-1048). These observation tubes were later adopted in Europe, where they influenced the development of the telescope.

Highly accurate astronomical clocks.

Astrometric device in Islamic Spain around 1015.

Aviation technology

Artificially-powered manned rocket

According to Evliya Çelebi in the 17th century, Lagari Hasan Çelebi launched himself in the air in a seven-winged rocket, which was composed of a large cage with a conical top filled with gunpowder. The flight was accomplished as a part of celebrations performed for the birth of Ottoman Emperor Murad IV's daughter in 1633. Evliya reported that Lagari made a soft landing in the Bosporus by using the wings attached to his body as a parachute after the gunpowder was consumed, foreshadowing the sea-landing methods of astronauts with parachutes after their voyages into outer space. Lagari's flight was estimated to have lasted about twenty seconds and the maximum height reached was around 300 metres. This was the first known example of a manned rocket and an artificially-powered aircraft.
In 2007, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor from Malaysia travelled to ISS with his Expedition 16 crew aboard Soyuz TMA-11 as part of the Angkasawan program during Ramadan. He was both an astronaut and an orthopedic surgeon, and is most notable for being the first to perform biomedical research in space, mainly related to the characteristics and growth of liver cancer and leukemia cells and the crystallisation of various proteins and microbes in space.

Camera technology

In ancient times, Euclid and Ptolemy believed that the eyes emitted rays which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that rays of light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), who is regarded as the "father of optics". He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one, with his development of the scientific method.

Pinhole camera

Ibn al-Haytham first described pinhole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters.

Chemical processes

Geber first invented the following chemical processes in the 8th century:

Pure distillation (al-taqtir) which could fully purify chemical substances with the alembic. Other chemical processes introduced by Muslim chemists include:

Assation (or roasting), cocotion (or digestion), ceration, lavage, solution, mixture, and fixation.

Steam distillation was invented by Avicenna in the early 11th century for the purpose of producing essential oils.}}

Laboratory apparatus

Alembic and still by Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) in the 9th century.

Retort by Jabir ibn Hayyan.

Thermometer and air thermometer by Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) in the 11th century.

Conical measure by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī in the 11th century.

Laboratory flask and pycnometer by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.

Al-Razi (Rhazes), in his Secretum secretorum (Latinized title), first described the following tools for melting substances (li-tadhwib): hearth (kur), bellows (minfakh aw ziqq), crucible (bawtaqa), the but bar but (in Arabic) or botus barbatus (in Latin), tongs (masik aq kalbatan), scissors (miqta), hammer (mukassir), file (mibrad).

Al-Razi also first described the following tools for the preparation of drugs (li-tadbir al-aqaqir): cucurbit and still with evacuation tube (qar aq anbiq dhu-khatm), receiving matras (qabila), blind still (without evacuation tube) (al-anbiq al-ama), aludel (al-uthal), goblets (qadah), flasks (qarura or quwarir), rosewater flasks (ma wariyya), cauldron (marjal aw tanjir), earthenware pots varnished on the inside with their lids (qudur aq tanjir), water bath or sand bath (qadr), oven (al-tannur in Arabic, athanor in Latin), small cylindirical oven for heating aludel (mustawqid), funnels, sieves, filters, etc.

The mineral acids: nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and hydrochloric acid, by Geber.

Uric acid and nitric acid by Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) in the 8th century.

Artificial pearl, purified pearl, dyed pearl, dyed gemstones, cheese glue, and plated mail, by Geber.

Kerosene and kerosene lamp by al-Razi in the 9th century.

Petrol by Muslim chemists.

Tar in the 8th century, and Naphtha in the 9th century.

Essential oil by Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) in the 11th century.

Hygienic cosmetics by Muslim chemists.

Sal nitrum and vitriol by al-Razi.

Aqua regia, alum, sal ammoniac. Will Durant wrote in The Story of Civilization IV: The Age of Faith:
Robert Briffault wrote in The Making of Humanity:

Drinking industry

Coffee by Khalid in Kaffa, Ethiopia.

Purified distilled alcohol by Jabir ibn Hayyan in the 8th century.

Recipes for drink syrups that can be kept outside the refrigerator for weeks or months.

Stained glass, by Muslim architects in Southwest Asia.

Silica glass and Quartz glass, and the production of glass from stone and sand, by Abbas Ibn Firnas in the 9th century.

Clear, colourless, high-purity glass, by Muslims in the 9th century.

Hygiene industries

True soap, made of vegetable oils (such as olive oil) with sodium hydroxide and aromatics (such as thyme oil), invented by al-Razi (Rhazes).

Al-Kindi carried out extensive research and experiments in combining various plants and other sources to produce a variety of scent products.

Al-Kindi elaborated a vast number of recipes for a wide range of perfumes, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

The preparation of a perfume called ghaliya, which contained musk, amber and other ingredients, and the use of various drugs and apparatus, by al-Kindi.

Extraction of fragrances through steam distillation by Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) in the 11th century.

Introduction of new raw ingredients in perfumery.

Perfumery produced from different spices, herbals, and other fragrance materials.

Introduction of jasmine from South and Southeast Asia, and citrus fruits from East Asia in modern perfumery.

Cheap mass production of incenses.

Musk and floral perfumes in the 11th-12th century Arabian Peninsula.

Civil engineering

Bridge dam

The bridge dam was used to power a water wheel working a water-raising mechanism. The first was built in Dezful, Iran, which could raise 50 cubits of water for the water supply to all houses in the town. Similar bridge dams later appeared in other parts of the Islamic world.

Diversion dam

The first diversion dam was built by medieval Muslim engineers over the River Uzaym in Jabal Hamrin, Iraq. Many of these were later built in other parts of the Islamic world.
In the 20th century, the Bangladeshi engineer Fazlur Khan, regarded as the "Einstein of structural engineering" and "the greatest architectural engineer of the second half of the 20th century" produced designs of structural systems that remain fundamental to all high-rise skyscrapers, which he employed in his constructions for the John Hancock Center and Sears Tower.
The Sears Tower remained the world's tallest building up until 2007, when the Burj Dubai, currently under construction in Dubai, surpassed its height as the world's tallest building. The world's tallest twin towers, the Petronas Twin Towers, was also built in Malaysia in 1998.

Street lighting and litter collection facilities

The first street lamps were built in the Arab Empire, especially in Cordoba, which also had the first facilities and waste containers for litter collection.

Clock technology

Astronomical clocks

Muslim astronomers and engineers constructed a variety of highly accurate astronomical clocks for use in their observatories.

Mechanical lunisolar calendar computer with gear train and gear-wheels by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.

Candle clocks

Al-Jazari described the most sophisticated candle clocks known to date. These clocks were designed using a large candle of uniform weight and cross section, whose rate of burning was known, which was placed in a metal sheath with a fitted cap. The bottom of the candle rested on a shallow dish that had a ring on its side connected through pulleys to a counterweight. As the candle burned away, the weight pushed it upward at a constant speed, while an automaton was operated from the dish at the bottom of the candle.

Dials

Universal sundials for all latitudes used for timekeeping and for the determination of the times of Salah in 9th century Baghdad.

The Navicula de Venetiis, a universal horary dial used for accurate timekeeping by the Sun and Stars, and could be observed from any latitude, invented in 9th century Baghdad. This was later considered the most sophisticated timekeeping instrument of the Renaissance.

Elephant clock with automaton, regulator and closed loop

The elephant clock described by al-Jazari in 1206 is notable for several innovations. It was the first clock in which an automaton reacted after certain intervals of time (in this case, a humanoid robot striking the cymbal and a mechanical bird chirping), the first mechanism to employ a flow regulator, and the earliest example of a closed-loop system in a mechanism.
The float regulator employed in the clock later had an important influence during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, when it was employed in the boiler of a steam engine and in domestic water systems. The knowledge of weight-driven mechanical clocks produced by Muslim engineers in Spain was transmitted to other parts of Europe through Latin translations of Arabic and Spanish texts on Muslim mechanical technology. Al-Jazari's famous water-powered scribe clock was reconstructed successfully at the Science Museum (London) in 1976.
Other monumental water clocks constructed by medieval Muslim engineers also employed complex gear trains, arrays of automata, and weight-drives, while the escapement mechanism was present in their mercury clocks and in the hydraulic controls they used to make heavy floats descend at a slow and steady rate.

Striking clock

According to a 1202 manuscript written by Ridhwan al-Sa’ati, Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad b. Naser b. Saghir b. Khalid al-Kaysarani constructed the first striking clock in 1154 as part of a clock tower, similar to the Big Ben, near the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria.

Watch

According to Will Durant, Abbas Ibn Firnas invented a watch-like device in the 9th century which kept accurate time.

Factory milling installation

The first factory milling installations were built by Muslim engineers throughout every city and urban community in the Islamic world. For example, the factory milling complex in 10th century Baghdad could produce 10 tonnes of flour every day. The first large milling installations in Europe were built in 12th century Islamic Spain.

Geared and wind-powered gristmills with trip hammers

The first geared gristmills were invented by Muslim engineers in the Islamic world, and were used for grinding corn and other seeds to produce meals, and many other industrial uses such as fulling cloth, husking rice, papermaking, pulping sugarcane, and crushing metalic ores before extraction. Gristmills in the Islamic world were often made from both watermills and windmills. In order to adapt water wheels for gristmilling purposes, cams were used for raising and releasing trip hammers to fall on a material.
Other innovations that were unique to the Islamic world include the situation of water mills in the underground irrigation tunnels of a qanat an on the main canals of valley-floor irrigation systems.

Milling dam

The milling dam was used to provide additional power for milling, which Muslim engineers called the Pul-i-Bulaiti. The first was built at Shustar on the River Karun, Iran, and many of these were later built in other parts of the Islamic world.

Spiral scoop-wheel

The spiral scoop-wheel is a device which raises large quantities of water to ground level with a high degree of efficiency. This was invented in 12th century Baghdad and is still commonly used in modern Egypt.

Sugar refinery

The first sugar refineries were built by Muslim engineers. Similar tide mills later appear in medieval France. The first windmill may have been constructed as early as the time of the second Rashidun caliph Umar (634-644 AD), though some argue that this account may have been a 10th century amendment. Made of six to twelve sails covered in reed matting or cloth material, these windmills were used to grind corn and draw up water, and used in the gristmilling and sugarcane industries. Al-Jazari invented a variety of machines for raising water in 1206,

Complex segmental and epicyclic gears

Segmental gears ("a piece for receiving or communicating reciprocating motion from or to a cogwheel, consisting of a sector of a circular gear, or ring, having cogs on the periphery, or face.") and epicyclic gears were both first invented by the 11th century Arab engineer Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi from Islamic Spain. He employed both these types of gears in the gear trains of his mechanical clocks. Simple gears have been known before him, but this was the the first known case of complex gears used to transmit high torque.}}

Crankshaft and connecting rod

Al-Jazari's invention of the crankshaft (and the crank mechanism) is considered the most important single mechanical invention after the wheel, as it transforms continuous rotary motion into a linear reciprocating motion,
The connecting rod was also invented by al-Jazari, and was used in a crank and connecting rod system in a rotating machine he developed in 1206, in two of his water raising machines.

Crank-driven screw and screwpump

In ancient times, the screw and screwpump were driven by a treadwheel, but from the 12th and 13th centuries, Muslim engineers operated them using the crankshaft invented by al-Jazari.

Double-action reciprocating suction piston pump

In 1206, al-Jazari demonstrates the first conversion of rotary to reciprocating motion, the first suction pipes and suction piston pump, the first use of double-action, and one of the earliest valve operations, when he invented a twin-cylinder double-action reciprocating suction piston pump, which seems to have had a direct significance in the development of modern engineering. This pump is driven by a water wheel, which drives, through a system of gears, an oscillating slot-rod to which the rods of two pistons are attached. The pistons work in horizontally opposed cylinders, each provided with valve-operated suction and delivery pipes. The delivery pipes are joined above the centre of the machine to form a single outlet into the irrigation system. This pump is remarkable for three reasons:

The earliest known use of a true suction pipe in a pump

The first application of the double-acting principle

The first conversion of rotary to reciprocating motion

Flywheel-driven chain pump and noria

A flywheel is used to smooth out the delivery of power from a driving device to a driven machine. The mechanical flywheel was first invented by Ibn Bassal (fl. 1038-1075) of Islamic Spain, who pioneered the use of the flywheel in the chain pump (saqiya) and noria.

Fountain pen

The earliest historical record of a a reservoir fountain pen dates back to the 10th century. In 953, Ma'ād al-Mu'izz, the caliph of Egypt, demanded a pen which wouldn't stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir and delivered it to the nib via gravity and capillary action.

Mechanical singing birds

Caliph al-Mamun had a silver and golden tree in his palace in Baghdad in 827, which had the features of an automatic machine. There were metal birds that sang automatically on the swinging branches of this tree built by Muslim engineers at the time.
The Abbasid Caliph al-Muktadir also had a golden tree in his palace in Baghdad in 915, with birds on it flapping their wings and singing.

Metronome

Lynn Townsend White, Jr. wrote that Abbas Ibn Firnas was the inventor of an early metronome. Movable brass type printing also appeared in Islamic Spain by the 14th century.

Programmable humanoid robot

Ibn Ismail Ibn al-Razzaz Al-Jazari (1136-1206) created the first recorded designs of a programmable humanoid robot in 1206. Al-Jazari's robot was originally a boat with four automatic musicians that floated on a lake to entertain guests at royal drinking parties. His mechanism had a programmable drum machine with pegs (cams) that bump into little levers that operate the percussion. The drummer could be made to play different rhythms and different drum patterns if the pegs were moved around.

Six-cylinder 'Monobloc' pump

In 1559, Taqi al-Din invented a six-cylinder 'Monobloc' pump. It was a hydropowered water-raising machine incorporating valves, suction and delivery pipes, piston rods with lead weights, trip levers with pin joints, and cams on the axle of a water-driven scoop-wheel.

Steam turbine

In 1551, the Egyptian engineer Taqi al-Din described the first practical steam turbine as a prime mover for rotating a spit. In his book, Al-Turuq al-saniyya fi al-alat al-ruhaniyya (The Sublime Methods of Spiritual Machines), completed in 1551 AD (959 AH), Taqi al-Din wrote:
Hero of Alexandria's Aeolipile, described and built in the 1st century BC (that is, about 1600 years before Taqi al-Din).

Ventillator

Ventilators were invented in Egypt and were widely used in many houses throughout Cairo during the Middle Ages. These ventillators were later described in detail by Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi in 1200, who reported that almost every house in Cairo has a ventillator, and that they cost anywhere from 1 to 500 dinars depending on their sizes and shapes. Most ventillators in the city were oriented towards the Qibla, as was the city in general.

Other mechanical devices

In the 9th century, the Banū Mūsā brothers invented a number of automata (automatic machines) and mechanical devices, and they described a hundred such devices in their Book of Ingenious Devices. Some of these inventions include:

Valve

Float valve

Programmable machine

Combination locks

Hand washing device

Accurate calibration of orifices

Lamination of timber to reduce warping

Static balancing of wheels

Use of paper models to establish a design

Casting of metals in closed mould boxes with green sand

Trick drinking vessels

Phlebotomy measures

Linkage

Hydraulic devices

Water wheels with cams on their axle used to operate automata

Water pumps

Water level

Constructions of pots and pans for wine making

Construction of ewers and bowls for use as cups

Swimming pools and fountains

Devices able to elevate water from shallow wells or flowing rivers

Several musical instruments

Other machines working by water

Other sundry mechanisms A number of other surviving manuscripts on mechanics and automatic machine construction are available in manuscript libraries in Istanbul, though many have not yet been read.

Medical technology

Medical institutions

The Islamic hospital-universities were the first free public hospitals, the first medical schools, and the first universities to issue diplomas. The first of these institutions was opened in Baghdad during the time of Harun al-Rashid. They then appeared in Egypt from 872 and then in Islamic Spain, Persia and the Maghreb thereafter. Physicians and surgeons at Islamic hospital-universities gave lectures to medical students and a diploma would be issued to any student who completed his/her education and was qualified to be a doctor of Medicine. The psychiatric hospitals were also built in the medieval Islamic world.

Tracheotomy by Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) in the 12th century.

Over 200 surgical instruments were listed by Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) in the Al-Tasrif (1000), many of which were never used before by any previous surgeons. Hamidan, for example, listed at least twenty six innovative surgical instruments that Abulcasis introduced.

Bone saw by Abulcasis.

Ligature, by Abulcasis in the Al-Tasrif, for the blood control of arteries in lieu of cauterization.

Use of cotton (itself derived from the Arabic word qutn) as a dressing for controlling hemorrhage.

Forceps by Abulcasis in the Al-Tasrif (1000), for extracting a dead fetus.

Plaster and adhesive bandage, by Abulcasis.

Surgical needle by Abulcasis in his Al-Tasrif.

Military technology

� Further information: Alchemy (Islam) - Gunpowder compositions

After the spread of early gunpowder from China to the Muslim world, Muslim chemists and engineers developed compositions for explosive gunpowder (naft in Arabic) and their own weapons for use in gunpowder warfare.

Purified potassium nitrate

Muslim chemists were the first to purify potassium nitrate (saltpetre; natrun or barud in Arabic) to the weapons-grade purity for use in gunpowder, as potassium nitrate needs to be purified to be used effectively. This purification process was first described by Ibn Bakhtawayh in his al-Muqaddimat in 1029. The first complete purification process for potassium nitrate is described in 1270 by the Arab chemist and engineer Hasan al-Rammah of Syria in his book al-Furusiyya wa al-Manasib al-Harbiyya (The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices, a.k.a. the Treatise on Horsemanship and Stratagems of War). He first described the use of potassium carbonate (in the form of wood ashes) to remove calcium and magnesium salts from the potassium nitrate. Bert S. Hall, however, disputes the efficacy of al-Rammah's formula for the purification of potassium nitrate.

Explosive gunpowder

The ideal composition for explosive gunpowder used in modern times is 75% potassium nitrate (saltpetre), 10% sulfur, and 15% carbon. Several almost identical compositions were first described by the Arab engineer Hasan al-Rammah as a recipe for the rockets (tayyar) he described in The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices in 1270. Several examples include a tayyar "rocket" (75% saltpetre, 8% sulfur, 15% carbon) and the tayyar buruq "lightning rocket" (74% saltpetre, 10% sulfur, 15% carbon). He also states recipes for fireworks and firecrackers made from these explosive gunpowder compositions. He states in his book that many of these recipes were known to his father and grandfather, hence dating back to at least the late 12th century. Compositions for an explosive gunpowder effect were not known in China or Europe until the 14th century.

Fireproof clothing and dissolved talc

Egyptian soldiers at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 were the first to wear fireproof clothing and the first to smear dissolved talc on their hands, as forms of fire protection from gunpowder.

Supergun

The first supergun was the Great Turkish Bombard, used by the troops of Mehmed II to capture Constantinople in 1453. It had a 762 mm bore, and fired 680 kg (1500 lb) stones.

Multi-barrel machine gun

Fathullah Shirazi (c. 1582), a Persian-Indian polymath and mechanical engineer who worked for Akbar the Great in the Mughal Empire, invented the earliest multi-barrel machine gun. As opposed to the repeating crossbows earlier used in China, Shirazi's multi-barrel machine gun had multiple gun barrels that fired hand cannons loaded with gunpowder.

Iron rocket artillery

The first iron rocket artillery were developed by Tipu Sultan, a Muslim ruler of the South Indian Kingdom of Mysore. He successfully used these iron rockets against the larger forces of the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. The Mysore rockets of this period were much more advanced than what the British had seen, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant; this enabled higher thrust and longer range for the missile (up to 2 km range). After Tipu's eventual defeat in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and the capture of the Mysore iron rockets, they were influential in British rocket development and were soon put into use in the Napoleonic Wars.

Other weapons

Jean Mathes wrote that Muslim rulers had stockpiles of grenades, rifles, crude cannons, incendiary devices, sulfur bombs and pistols decades before such devices were used in Europe.

Navigational technology

� Further information: Muslim Agricultural Revolution - Age of discovery

Baculus

The baculus, used for nautical astronomy, originates from Islamic Spain and was later used by Portuguese navigators for long-distance travel.

Caravel

The origins of the caravel ship, used for long distance travel by the Spanish and Portuguese since the 15th century, date back to the qarib used by explorers from Islamic Spain in the 13th century.

Cartographic instruments

Cartographic grids in 10th century Baghdad.

Cartographic Qibla instruments, which were brass instruments with Mecca-centred world maps and cartographic grids engraved on them in the 17th century. by Muhammad Husayn in the 17th century.

Compass rose

The Arabs invented the 32-point compass rose during the Middle Ages.

Kamal

Muslim navigators invented a rudimentary sextant known as a kamal, used for celestial navigation and for measuring the altitudes and latitudes of the stars.

Lateen

Muslim sailors were responsible for introducing the lateen sails to the Mediterranean Sea.

Three-masted merchant vessel

Muslim sailors were responsible for introducing the large three-masted merchant vessels to the Mediterranean Sea.

Other inventions

Fielding H. Garrison wrote in the History of Medicine:

Frequency analysis, cryptanalysis, three-course meal, the Persian carpet, the modern cheque.

An early system of air mail utilizing homing pigeons (by Fatimid Caliph Aziz), advances in the field of optics, musical theory, and certain irrigation techniques.

Graph paper and orthogonal grids

The first known use of graph paper dates back to the medieval Islamic world, where weavers often carefully drew and encoded their patterns onto graph paper prior to weaving. Islamic quadrants used for various astronomical and timekeeping purposes from the 10th century also introduced markings and orthogonal or regular grids that are still identical to modern graph paper.

Institutions

A number of important scientific and economic institutions previously unknown in the ancient world have their origins in the medieval Islamic world, with the most notable examples being: (see Bimaristan)

The public library and lending library

The academic degree-granting university (see Islamic astronomy)

The trust institution and charitable trust (see Waqf)

The agency and aval (Hawala).Further Information

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