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Engineering
 Muslim
civilization developed at a time in human history when
numerous large territorial empires had been established in
various parts of Afroeurasia. Long-distance trade, the
spread of religions, and extensive recording of knowledge in
writing had preserved a legacy of human ideas.
Major
civilizations had advanced disciplines such as astronomy and
mathematics, and philosophical as well as ethical systems of
thought had begun to explore theories of knowledge. Human
inventiveness had solved many challenges such as how to
irrigate dry land and store water, work with metals, work
with fibers and other natural fabrics, and to preserve food.
The expansion of territory under Muslim rule, and the
expansion of trade and economic growth in general, brought
many peoples and places into contact. Historians say that
from the 8th to the 15th centuries,
human networks of exchange expanded and intensified.
 In
order to increase trade and expand the economy, production
of many goods and natural resources had to be increased.
Construction of cities, roads, ports, dams, and bridges
required planning and engineering. Muslim engineers were
able to draw on the ideas already built up by earlier
societies’ efforts. They combined these ideas with new
mathematical knowledge and tools to create machines,
instruments and construction techniques that advanced human
skill and knowledge. From China, Central Asia and India in
the east, to Al-Andalus and North Africa in the far west,
the ideas and knowledge of technology was able to circulate.
Libraries were built to house books on these subjects,
artisans were commissioned to travel where their skills were
needed, and news of the latest ideas spread.
 The
brothers Banu Musa bin Shakir (ca. 850 CE) were inventors
and engineers from the eastern Muslim lands. They translated
and wrote over 20 books on engineering. They described about
a hundred useful mechanical devices in
Kitab al-Hiyal (The
Book of Ingenious Devices). Their work seems to
reflect knowledge of the Alexandrian Hellenistic tradition
of mechanics, since they translated important works of Hero,
and Philo of the 3rd century, into Arabic. Some
of the Banu Musa bin Shakir’s devices are similar to those
earlier technologies, but others go far beyond them.
In
engineering, there are certain mechanical components, or
parts of machines, that have many uses. Examples of these
components are: a device that controls the flow of liquids
by opening and closing in a cycle, crankshafts and gears
that transfer energy or regulate the speed and movement of
the machine, a ratchet that stops the movement of gears in a
certain direction, and parts that multiply the force of the
machine. Some of these important milestones in engineering
that are found in
Kitab
al-Hiyal are shown for the first time in the
history of technology. Some of them would not be seen in
engineering works until 500-1000 years later in modern
industry.
 Al-Muradi
of Andalusia was an 11th century CE scientist who wrote
The Book of Secrets about
the Result of Thoughts, which contains the
earliest description in Arabic of water clocks and other
mechanical devices called automata. The book contains 31
models run by water wheels that regulate the intensity of
flowing water. Nineteen of the devices are clocks. They use
a component called a clepsydras, and the figures (often
human or animal) ran by means of elaborate gear systems,
lubricated by mercury. These innovations were not seen again
in any society until the 13th century CE, when
they were used in European clocks. At the court of Alfonso
of Castile in about 1277 CE, a Spanish book,
Libros del Saber,
contained translations and summaries from Arabic
sources. Al-Zarqali must have had access to this knowledge
when he built two large water clocks in Toledo in the 11th
century CE. Other components used in water clocks were
siphons (small tubes that flow by gravity), and float valve
devices, similar to the valve in household toilets and sump
pumps that turn the device off or on with the water level.
The 13th
century work of al-Jazari, which was published with drawings
that engineers can use today to re-create these machines,
helped solve mechanical problems by creating components that
were later used in steam and gasoline engines. Escapements,
another important mechanism developed by al-Jazari and used
in Spain, are important for timing the movements of
machines. They were used in automata (self-moving machines)
that featured as curiosities in the palaces of Medieval
Muslim rulers, but which were important for the development
of serious mechanical devices; they showed off the society’s
technical abilities.
 Another
form of engineering is seen in public works and buildings.
Constructing a heavy stone or wooden structure that does
work and lasts a long time requires engineering knowledge of
the first order. The accumulated knowledge of architecture
involves knowing how to distribute the weight of building
parts like roofs, walls, and towers so that they do not
collapse. Arches that open a building must carry its weight
downward, and towers must have carefully calculated
foundations and wind resistance to keep them from sinking
into the earth, leaning, or falling over. Dams that hold
back rivers’ floodwaters are built straight or curved
according to exact mathematical proportions, and they need
gates that control the flow of water.
In
Spain, Roman construction of aqueducts was maintained under
Muslim rule, and complex irrigation, drinking water, and
flood control systems were built on Spain’s many rivers. The
oldest dam constructed by Muslims is at Córdoba, a long,
zig-zag shaped wall about 8 feet above the high-water mark
and eight feet thick. To figure out where to place the dams,
surveying with instruments like astrolabes and calculations
using advanced mathematics like geometry and trigonometry
were necessary.
 The
dams were engineered from stone and cement by mixing sand
and water with ashes and baked lime to make it harder than
stone against cracking. One writer states that “these dams
needed hardly any repair in a thousand years.” The design
had to be suited both to the vertical drop of the river, the
energy of its flow, and the softness or hardness of the
riverbed. Each was differently engineered. In addition, the
dams were placed so that water power could be used to run
waterwheels linked to machines for grinding grain, pounding
pulp and paper, raising water, and other heavy labor.
Further Reading:
Ahmad
Y. al-Hassan and Donald R. Hill.
Islamic Technology: An
Illustrated History. Cambridge, 1986. pp. 37-69;
73-87; 263-266.
Thomas
F. Glick.
Islamic and
Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages.
Princeton, N.J., 1979. pp. 230-235.
Donald
R. Hill.
A History of
Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times.
London, 1984.
Muslim
Heritage, retrieved at
http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics
Images:
Giralda
Tower (minaret), Seville, Spain, 12th century,
retrieved at
http://www.fll.vt.edu/Culture-Civ/Spanish/visuals/artarch/arabart/giralda_tower.jpg
Water
control system in Spain, from “What the Arabs did for
Andalucia,” (2006) retrieved at
http://www.andalucia-life.com/andalucia_life_magazine/articles/arabs.htm
Diagram
of an automatic fountain from book by Al-Jazari, 13th
century CE in the Süleymaniye Library, Istanbul, from
Seyyed
Hossein Nasr Islamic
Science: An Illustrated Study,
World of Islam Festival Publishing Ltd. (1976) retrieved at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Al-jazari_water_device.jpg
Al-Jazari’s
double-action pump from Donald Hill,
The Book of Ingenious
Mechanical Devices of Al-Jazari, Routledge (1974)
retrieved at
www.muslimheritage.com/imagelibrary/aljazpump.gif
Bridge
over the Guadalquivir River, Córdoba, Spain retrieved at
blog.seniorennet.be/ts_fotos/archief.php?ID=115
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