December 7, 2011 – Ingenious Innovations: Islamic Science Rediscovered

Did you know:

•     The first modern hospital was built in Baghdad over a thousand years ago?
•     Persian scholars developed the foundations for modern algebra and algorithms?
•     We get the word “camera” from the Arab word “qamara”?
•     Inoculation was written about in 8th century India, long before it gained popularity in Europe?
•     In the 10th century, a Persian surgeon invented many of the surgical tools we still use today?
•     An engineer from Mesopotamia developed the camshaft along with other commonly used machines?
•     By the year 644, Persians were using windmills to manage their water supply?
•     A man in Cordoba took flight over a millennium before the Wright brothers were born?
•     A 10th century Persian surgeon used catgut for internal stitches?
•     A 13th century Arab doctor described the circulatory system 300 years before William Harvey?

Learn these and more exciting facts at the Tech Museum’s Islamic Science Rediscovered exhibit, running until mid-February. From the 8th to the 18th century, Muslim scientists drew upon ideas from various cultures, from Greece to Egypt and India, which produced a a plethora of ideas that helped spawn the roots of modern science and technology. Rediscover the roots of Silicon Valley’s innovation – algorithms, Arabic numerals, astronomy, aviation, engineering, and medical and biological.