In the 7th century, with the birth and spread of Islam, Arab-Islamic culture was formed. In the process of Arab expansion, Arabs quickly grew from backward nomadic people to "a nation holding high the torch of the whole medieval civilization." In the Abbasid Dynasty (750- 1258, about 500 years), Arabs, with a broad mind, acted as a link between ancient Greek and Roman culture and modern western culture, and also as a medium for the blending of eastern and western civilizations. They have made great achievements in many fields, such as philosophy, medicine, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, linguistics, literature, history and so on. A large number of outstanding thinkers, scientists and writers have emerged, and they have also left splendid cultural relics on the vast Islamic land.
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From the 9th century to 1 1 century, a translation movement with far-reaching influence in the world cultural history was launched in Arabia. "Arabic translation movement". At the beginning of the 9th century, the caliph of Abbasid dynasty encouraged and organized large-scale translation activities of Greek classical philosophy. Baghdad, the city of wisdom, has a large number of professional translators. It is said that the translation is paid in gold equal to the weight of the translation. Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy, Galen, Hippocrates and many other Greek, Indian and Persian translations of philosophy, science and medicine have been sorted out and annotated. This great project in the history of human translation laid a solid foundation for the development of Arab culture, although the brilliant achievements of human classical civilization were inherited in the Middle Ages. It was by translating these Arabic versions that Europeans could understand the thoughts of their ancestors and then began their Renaissance. It can be said that without the inheritance and preservation of western classical culture by Arabs and Byzantines, there would be no foundation for the Western Renaissance.
About 77 1, an Indian scholar brought a math paper to Baghdad, which contained ten numbers from 0 to 9 and was later translated into Arabic. Arabs discovered the advantages of Indian numerals and popularized them in the empire. Subsequently, the Arabs introduced Indian graphics into Europe through Spain and spread them to all countries in the world. This is the Arabic numeral we use. The spread of Arabic numerals has played an important role in the development of mathematics.
In 7 12 AD, Arabs learned papermaking technology from China when they occupied Samarkand. In 794, Arabs established the first paper mill in Baghdad. When they occupied Sicily and Spain, they introduced papermaking technology to Europe.
The great mathematician Mohammed ibn Moussa (about 780-850) founded complete algebra and invented algebraic symbols. His book Calculation of Integral and Equation includes more than 80 examples, which is the earliest algebra work. This book was translated into Latin in the12nd century and became the main teaching material of European universities, which was used until the16th century. Algebra was introduced into Europe.
In 829 AD, the Observatory was established in Baghdad, where famous astronomers such as Faghani worked. Fagani wrote the book "Fundamentals of Astronomy" and gave a brief introduction to Ptolemy's theory. Jia Faer Abu Machel wrote An Introduction to Astrology, which was later widely distributed in Europe and was one of the earliest books printed in augsburg in 1486.
In the 8th-9th century, China alchemy was introduced into Arabia and developed rapidly. They made many pharmaceutical chemical equipment, such as flasks, water baths, distillers, mortar, etc. They improved many chemical experimental methods, such as filtration, distillation, sublimation and crystallization. And made into many chemicals, such as alcohol, borax, mercuric chloride, caustic potash, camphor and various potions. These creative achievements contributed a lot to the development of pharmacy later. Due to the developed pharmaceutical industry, the first pharmacy was built in Arabia. Many drugs have been introduced into China, such as benzoic acid, radix aucklandiae, Long Xianxiang and frankincense. Many modern drug names also come from Arabia, such as soda, syrup, sugar, camphor and so on. In addition, the Arabs exchanged cultures with Europe and Asia, introducing Greek medicine to China and China medicine such as pulse science to Europe. In a word, the achievements of medical science in the world today are the crystallization of Arab wisdom.
(The above source: Baidu Encyclopedia entry "Arabic culture")