[passage-header]
Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows:
Science in the Medieval Islamic World [/passage-header]The history of science as it is taught to most Western students [1]
are tragically incomplete. In many schools, teachers promote the myth that little scientific progress occurred between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance in Europe. It is true that medieval European scholars made few discoveries in the [2]
natural sciences. It must be noted that scholars in the Islamic world developed and revolutionized many fields during the Middle Ages. Their discoveries laid the groundwork for future breakthroughs and made Europe's later Scientific Revolution possible.
In mathematics, Muslim thinkers produced many insights. The Persian mathematician [3]
al-Khwarizmi who worked in the 9th century CE developed new methods for solving linear and quadratic equations. His work was so influential that his name gave rise to the word algorithm, a term used in modern mathematics and computer science to refer to a step-by-step method of [4]
calculation, and the term algebra, from the Arabic al-jabr, also comes from al-Khwarizmi's work. He also popularized the Hindu-Arabic numerals that have become the most common way of writing numbers around the world today.
(1) Muslim scientists also made important advances in the theory and practice of medicine. (2) For instance, the Persian doctor al-Razi revolutionized how doctors diagnosed disease. (3) In the 9th century CE, he wrote the first accurate descriptions of smallpox and measles. (4) He also challenged mistaken ancient ideas about the causes of disease. (5) A vaccine for smallpox wasn't developed until several centuries later, however. (6) Perhaps most impressively, al-Razi conducted one of history's earliest clinical trials to study [5]
how effective the practice of blood letting was a cure for the disease.[6]
[7] Throughout the medieval era, the dominant view among astronomers was the geocentric Ptolemaic model. In this view, Earth was the center of the solar system, and the planets, Sun, and stars orbited around it. Astronomers working at the Maragha observatory in Persia, noting inconsistencies between [8]
this models predictions and actual observations, developed new equations in the 13th century CE to resolve the conflict. They only updated the Ptolemaic theory and did not discover that the solar system is actually heliocentric, with the Earth and other planets orbiting the Sun. However, their mathematical innovations inspired Nicolaus Copernicus, several centuries later, to propose a heliocentric model that would revolutionize astronomy. [9]
In all, thinkers in the Islamic world made enormous contributions to the development of science. Had they not preserved ancient knowledge and [10]
elaborated on it with their own findings, scientific and technological development might be centuries behind where it is today. [11]
Even so, the accomplishments of medieval Muslim scientists should be better known around the world; more effort should be made to inform students about these pioneers of science.
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