Lesson 4: The Contribution of Arabs, Chinese and Hindu in

the Development of Science and Technology

4. 1 Arabic Civilization

Location: originated in the Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia in 622 A.D. Arabic is the written and
spoken language of the Arabs. At present there are 22 Arabic-speaking countries: Algeria,
Bahrain, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania,
Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Tunasia, UAE and Yemen. Their
religion Islam means "submission to the will of God". God Allah conveyed to Muhammad, a
tradesman, a series of revelations which were to form the basis of the new faith.

Science and Technology Development:

 Trigonometry, Sine, Tangent, Co-Tangent - Ibn Moosaa's work Hisaab-Al Jab-Wal
Muqaabala (The Calculation of Integration and Equation) presented 800 examples in the
8th century CE. His work was translated from Arabic into Latin and until the 16th century
CE, it was Europe's main textbook on the subject.
 Astronomy --- invented an instrument used to observe star called Astrolabe
 Architecture -- built before the great Mosque of Damascus
 Water Wheel
 Water Irrigation
 Algebra and Geometry - Muhammad bin Moosaa Al-Khawaarizmi is considered to be
one of the founders of Algebra. The word Algorithm' or 'Algorizm' is a corruption of his
name or the name of the town Khwaarizm (Kheva), in what is now Uzbekistan, where he
was born. In addition to introducing the Arabic numerals, he developed several
arithmetical procedures, including operations on fractions.
 Physics and Chemistry - Kamaaluddeen examined the refraction of sunlight in raindrops
and offered an explanation of the genesis of primary and secondary rainbows.
 Haaroon Ar-Rasheed was associated with the story of the invention of the pendulum
and the presentation of a water clock to Emperor Charlemagne.
 Science of Mechanics -- The development of the science of mechanics in Islam is an act
of genius. Moosaa bin Shaakir described one hundred pieces of mechanical equipment in
his book of artifices.
 Camera Obscura- In the field of optics, this was invented by Ibn Haytham in 1038 CE.
 Theory of Relativity- Qaadhi Abu Bakr developed the theory of relativity in the 8th
century CE in terms of time and space by means of mathematical equations and
astrophysics. Imagine, Einstein who was not even born yet at the time, propounded the
same theory of relativity much later in the 20th century.
 Paper Making- This was one of the earliest skills attained by the Muslims. As early as the
8th century CE, high quality paper was being manufactured in Samarqand, Egypt was
known to have its first paper mill in the year 900 CE.
 Advances in Industry --- Muslims were leading in weaving wool, producing silk' pottery,
jewelry, and in leather and perfume industry.
4.2 Chinese Civilization

Location: Ancient China was built along the two main rivers—first the Yellow River (Huang He)
in the north, and later the Yangtze in the south. China is one of the oldest civilizations and the
world's most populous country (Asia), with a population of over 1.35 billion.

Science and Technology Development:

Various forms of sciences such as astronomy, physics, chemistry, meteorology,
seismology, have originated from China.

Chinese contributions to science and technology:

 Paper and Chinese calligraphy began writing about 1500 BC. The earliest writing that we
know of from China was on animal bones, which are called "oracle bones" because they
were used to tell the future.
 Place value number system - decimal or base ten system was first developed by the
Chinese. The earliest invention was the abacus, a calculator that used sliding beads to
help compute math problems quickly.
 The first recorded observations of comets, solar eclipses, were done in China
 Invented kites and lanterns
 The clock was first devised for astronomical purposes. The first ever clock had a puppet
which would hold up a plate that would tell the time. Also giant water clocks which rang
every 15 minutes were invented.
 Magnetic Compass: The compass was a wooden circle with markings on it, and a magnetic
spoon on top, used for religious purposes.
 Gunpowder: Scientists made gunpowder by mixing sulphur, charcoal and potassium
nitrate. The reason gunpowder explodes is that it burns very fast, and when it burns it
releases gases that are bigger in volume than the original powder.
 Fireworks were actually bamboo cases filled with gunpowder with a fuse on the side.
Fireworks were initially used only for shows. Later on they were used to scare off enemies
during the war.
 Kites were first invented in China during Chou dynasty. Kites were first made of bamboo
and silk. Chinese people flew kites for fun and also during war to carry messages to signal
people and also to carry explosives in besieged cities. Chinese put the kites to use as hang
gliders by cutting the cord. The gliders were strong enough to sustain the weight of a
man.
 Seismological detectors - Zhang Heng invented the earthquake detecting tool called
seismoscope. His seismoscope was a giant bronze vessel resembling a kettle almost 6 feet
in diameter. On the outside, the machine had eight dragons facing down marking the
primary directions of the compass. In each dragon's mouth was a bronze ball. Beneath
the dragons sat eight bronze toads with their broad mouths gaping to receive the balls.
 Cross bow is a bow set horizontally on a stock. When the shooter releases a mechanism,
the crossbow fires arrows or bolts forced by the mechanical energy of previously stretched
bowstring.
  Fans were made of bamboo spines that stick out in the shape of a semicircle with silk
wrapped around it. Fans were mostly used by women and soldiers.
 Paper and printing. Their early script contained 80,000 different characters. They went on
to invent books and had book shops in every city by the end of the Tang dynasty. There
were 3 different kinds of paper, the first being silk rags, the cheap kinds were the wooden
strips, and the most expensive was silk cloth.
 Seed Drill: Seed drills were used by farmers to plant seeds into the soil at uniform depth.
Without this tool, farmers otherwise would toss the seeds with hands over the ground
resulting in wastage and uneven growth.
 Iron Plough: This was one of the major developments in ancient Chinese agriculture. It
was first developed in 4th century BC. Later on it was more popular and used commonly
during the Han dynasty.
 Porcelain: This is made of special white clay which has a lot of kaolin in it. The clay is put
on fire at very high temperature. The temperature is kept so high that some of the clay
melts and becomes shiny and translucent like glass (Pottery).
 Silk was made from the cocoons of silkworms. Tie Chinese managed to keep the process
for making silk a secret for hundreds of years. Silk was a soft and light material much
desired by the wealthy throughout the world.
 Wheelbarrows are basically hand driven vehicles with two handles on the rear side for a
person to push ahead. It is mostly used in the Construction Industry Wheelbarrows were
in use in China right from the Ancient times during the Han dynasty. Chuko Liang was the
inventor of wheelbarrow. Liang was a general who used the wheelbarrows to transport
supplies and injured soldiers. The Chinese wheelbarrows had two wheels and required
two men to drive and steer.
 Other inventions included umbrella, iron casting, hot air balloon, matches, stirrups for
riding horses, and acupuncture. A clear coating called lacquer was also made to protect
and enhance certain works of art and furniture. Paper money was first developed and
used in China during the Tang dynasty (7th century)

4.3 Indus-Hindu Civilization

Location: Early civilization in India emerged in river valleys, the valleys of the Indus River
supported a flourishing civilization that extended hundreds of miles from the Himalayas
to the coast of the Arabian Sea.

Science and Technology Development:

Two of the major cities were: Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. At its height, Harappa
had inhabitants and Mohenjo-Daro had perhaps 35,000 to 40,000 inhabitants. Both cities
were planned carefully, most buildings were constructed of mud bricks baked in oven and
were square shaped, forming a grid pattern.

Evidence showed that Indus valley civilization have public wells provided with
regular supply of water for all the inhabitants and sanitation. All houses had their private
toilet which was connected to a covered sewer network constructed on brickwork held
together with a gypsum based mortar that emptied into the surrounding or into a cesspit.
 Also evident was the presence of public and private baths, sewage and sophisticated water
management system.

In 500 AD, Aryabhata presented astronomical and mathematical system that took
the earth to spin on its axis and considered the motions of the planets with respect to the
sun (heliocentric) are elliptical. He also made an accurate approximation of the Earth's
circumference and diameter, and also discovered how the lunar eclipse and solar eclipse
happen for the first time. He also propounded the Heliocentric theory of gravitation,
thus predating Copernicus by almost one thousand years.

Brahmagupta (598-668) was the head of the astronomical observatory at

Ujjain; estimated in the 7th century that the circumference of the earth was 5000 yojanas
or the estimate of 36,000 km which comes quite close to the actual circumference known
today He had said about gravity that "Bodies fall towards the Earth as it is in the nature
Of the earth to attract bodies, just as it is in the nature of water to flow". He also made
calculations of eclipses of the Sun and the Moon.

In 1984, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to go to outer space.

The Hindus use a system of 27 or 28 Nakshatras (lunar constellations) to calculate

a month. Each month can be divided into 30 lunar tithis (days). %ere are usually 360 or
366 days in a year.

The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is actually one of six major observatories built by
the Maharajah. The one in Jaipur not only follows the movements of the sun and the
moon to help determine auspicious dates of events, it also helps map out the position of
the stars in the sky.

Reference:

Aldea, K.I., Caronan, H. P., Candido, M.B. (2018), Science, Technology, and Society
(OBE Ready). Philippines. Books ATbp. Publishing Corp.