Historical Survey of Scientific Methods among the Arabs - Report Example

Scientific Methods among the Arabs Name Institution The Arab world covers a big geographic region that covers many different nations including parts of Africa and Asia. The modern world owes the Arabic culture most of its advancements in all disciplines of human scholarly activity, including medicine. Most of such borrowings are connected to the Arabic-Islamic science’s Golden Age that occurred between the 8th and 13th centuries. The Arab world’s celebrated historical background allows us to ascertain the debt owed to its Science Golden Age and to assess the research role played by Arab nations in relation to biomedical sciences. Arab Science’s Golden Age The Arab-Islamic world’s biomedical sciences went through a remarkable change between the 8th and 13th centuries C.E. The changes are characterised with a blossoming of knowledge, as well as intellect, which later on spread throughout Europe and deeply influenced not just medical practice, but also education. The scientific brilliance of the Arabs sprung in the 7th century C.E. from the Arabian Peninsula, when Prophet Mohammed’s preaching brought together the Arab tribes thereby inaugurating a Muslim religion (Adamu 2012, p. 11). The Islamic state emerged as a result of this preaching in 622 C.E., as the Prophet relocated from Mecca to Medina. After his death, a century later, a large part of the world from southern Europe through to North Africa and Central Asia to India fell under the Arabic-Muslim Empire. In 711 C.E., a hub of flourishing the civilization (al-Andalus) was created, Arab Muslims invaded the southern parts of Spain. After the invasion, a centre of booming civilization, that was referred to as al-Andalus was established (Adamu 2012, p. 13). This led to the formation of another hub, from the Abbasids to Baghdad, that ruled sections of the Islamic world in the historical era750 up to 1258 C.E. The era represented the “Golden Age”. The majority of the Islamic-Arabic Golden Age’s achievements were rooted in previous inventiveness undertaken by prehistoric Egyptians, Romans, Hebrews, Greeks and Persians (Pormann & Smith 2007, p. 41). As a result, translators were given invitations to go to Baghdad, where researchers and scientists had an opportunity to not only study the past, but also forge the future. The outcome of their work turned out to be impressive and an improvement of all scientific segments. In their endeavour to outshine Baghdad, the leaders of Islamic Spain recruited intellectuals who played a significant role in the advancement of science, art, medicine, philosophy and technology. The Golden Age There were a number of reasons that led to the “The Golden Age” (Saliba 1994, p. 45). Apparently, as Muslims followed the teachings of the Prophet, they not only studied for knowledge, but also searched for the knowledge as well. According to the Quran, an intellectual’s ink is more important and is only comparable to a martyr’s blood. At the same time, the Prophet advocated for medical research, with an urge that every disease had a cure provided for by Allah. Communication became easier as the Muslim Empire merged wider geographical parts, making it easier for intellectuals to travel widely and share ideas. Additionally, the Arabic language tuned into a unifying element with translations from Chinese, Greek and Latin into Arabic becoming many thereby reducing language barriers for intellectuals (Saliba 1994, p. 68). During that time, the Arabs found out from the Chinese how papers were produced, which resulted in the availability of books in a wide range. This development led to libraries being set up in Baghdad, Cairo and Aleppo, as well as in other centres within Spain, Iran and central Asia. Bookshops began opening up in different cities. Lastly, in 1004 C.E. the House of Wisdom, an academic institution operating as a university, was opened in Baghdad (Shahine 1976, p. 56). Education, Hospital and Science Within the Arab-Muslim world a structure of medical education was set up (Adamu 2012, p. 44). Apparently, the Arabic medical studies comprised of preliminary training in basic sciences such as physiology, alchemy, anatomy and Pharmacognosy. Subsequent to this initial training, clinical training within hospitals followed whereby students carried out physical examinations, were part of ward rounds and attended clinical lectures. After completing there training, upcoming physicians were expected to be successful in oral and practical examinations in order to be certified. Medicine was a science or profession, as well as a philosophical stance rooted in culture and religion, obedience to codes of ethics, that exemplified the physician’s behaviour together with his duty to patients, associates, and the community at large. During this era, secular hospitals, for example Bimaristans, developed. They were well-structured institutions, administered under certain regulations and guided by physicians (Shahine 1976, p. 77). There were no interferences with the patient’s treatment I relation to sexual, economic, religious or social discrimination. These hospitals had adequate equipments consisting of outpatient and inpatient with comprehensive medical records being stored. Additionally, there was the creation of small mobile hospital units, which served distant regions and battlefields (Adamu 2012, p. 65). In 706 C.E., the first recognized hospital was developed in Damascus and in 982 C.E. a bigger and more significant one set up in Baghdad. Medical sciences also experienced tremendous growth with surprising developments being experienced in not only chemistry, astronomy and mathematics, but also other fields of science, as well. Furthermore, the Golden Age was exemplified by artistic, technological and architectural achievements. Other various Arabic inventions comprised of irrigation techniques that included water wheels, underground channels and windmills whereas even presently, Arab architectural wonders and distinctive objects of art are still admirable in most nations, with the majority of the best examples found in southern Spain (Saliba 1994, p. 90). Even though there were achievements in the Arabic world, most of the achievements were affected through corrosion and weakening of their culture. By the 9th century C.E., a number of provinces began dropping from the control of Abbasid, and in the subsequent four centuries, there was a dispersion of the Empire’s political power amongst new-found independent states (Shahine 1976, p. 69). By 12th century C.E. the Abbasid Empire had begun collapsing with Turks playing a significant role in its downfall. Although, after 861 C.E., the Turkish soldiers had re-strengthened the Empire, they later on begun undermining the central authority and as the Abbasid Caliphate was falling apart, an establishment of Seljuk Caliphate in was set up in 1057 C.E. At this time, the power and unity of the Empire had been misplaced owing to religious divergences, charges of heresy, as well as assassinations. In addition to the internal hassles, the European Crusades, which took place in 1097 to 1291 C.E. destabilized the Muslim Empire further. Eventually, in 1236, Spanish Christians took control of Cordoba, with Baghdad falling into the hands of Mongols in 1258 (Pormann & Smith 2007, p. 93). Arab Science Today In order to highlight the contributions Arab nations made to science today, a bibliometric assessment of the existing biomedical research productivity within Arab nations was carried out on in this research. It also included revisting the appropriate literature through analysing the last decade’s data, and scrutinizing the subject using different approaches of evaluating research output, as well as the inclusion of other Arab nations (Shaban & Abu-Zidan 2003, p. 294). Though there are various constraints associated with bibliometric analyses, such as the addition of only a part of journals while indexing databases, this study’s outcome has provided useful data concerning the biomedical research productivity of Arab nations in the last decade (Tadmouri & Bissar-Tadmouri 2004, p. 7). There was an evaluation of research productivity from 23 Arab nations using three distinctive ways. The first was with the help of the PubMed search engine. This study ascertained several biomedical articles whereby the address of the first author was present in one of the Arab nations between 1994 and 2003 (Zetterstorm 2002, p. 1021). Additionally, the study calculated and compared the total number of articles emanating from all Arab nations with global productivity. This approach comprised the application of the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database. Apparently, this database has the capability of providing science trends, as well as statistical information, originating from other ISI databases. During this review, there was the inclusion of 4941 journals within the ESI database, which were grouped into 22 extensive scientific disciplines for the 10-year period i.e. between 1995 and 2004. This search was focused on 9 biomedical scientific disciplines namely biology and biochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology, clinical medicine, psychiatry/psychology, immunology, neuroscience and behavior, microbiology, multidisciplinary and molecular biology and genetics. The organization of data found in the ESI is done in different ways, comprising of national grading for research productivity in the scientific fields mentioned above. As a result, there was a collection and evaluation of data relating to the sum of publications, citations and the citations per paper for the observed 10-year period for each of the twenty three Arab nations. Some Arab nations lacked data within the ESI grading since they did not surpass the required cumulative citation count limit as fixed by ESI (Bliziotis et al. 2005). There was also an evaluation of articles published within the topmost fifty clinical medicine periodicals as classified in the ESI database, which is arranged based on the number of citations in each paper. This was followed by the identification of articles in these journals through using the “advanced search” tool of ISI Web of Science, whereby at least a single author held an address within an Arab nation. An analysis was done exclusively on data from original articles, not including publication types like news items, letters and editorials. In adjusting confounders, which tend to influence research productivity, there was a calculation of the average population, as well as the gross domestic product for every nation, from data acquired from the online World Bank databases throughout the study period (The World Bank 2004). Table 1 shows the raw and modified pointers for the biomedical research productivity within the Arab world in the last 10 years. The final two columns show data modified for population size, as well as GDP. Although Saudi Arabian researchers published the highest number of articles, Kuwait and Jordan turned out to be the most practical at the time the adjustments for populace and GDP were done. The cumulative indicators of scientific production from the Arab nations reveal that, despite the masses of these nations symbolizing 4.6% of the worldwide masses and had 1.4% of the worldwide GDP throughout the study, they gave 0.5% of the biomedical research as indicated in the PubMed database, as well as 0.1% of the editorials published in the topmost 50 clinical medical journals. Apparently, only 30 editorials from those published in the topmost 50 clinical medical journals between 1994 and 2004 originated solely from Arab nations, while, in another 254 editorials, there was also a contribution from authors coming from non-Arab nations with 146 editorials being written by USA authors and 112 authors coming from Western Europe (Soteriades & Falagas 2005, p. 193). The majority of Arab nations found in the African continent supplied minimal research, in total or adjusted figures compared to most of the non-African Arab nations. Though researchers from Morocco and Egypt published a comparatively huge number of papers, while at the same time receiving a satisfactory number of citations in comparison to research coming from other Arab nations, they were ranked lower following the adjustment of data for research productivity for masses and GDP. Table 2 presents data on the number of editorials indicated in PubMed whereby the address of the first author was found in an Arab nation between 1994 and 2003. As indicated, there was a constant rise in the number of editorials stemming from Arab nations. In 1994, these editorials stood at 0.4% of all editorials indexed in PubMed, while this figure rose to 0.6% in 2003. On the future According to a report released by the World Bank, it is clear that biomedical research is essential owing to its direct implication for the well being and health of individuals, as well as the enormous economic benefits it affords (The World Bank 2004). As a result, the scientific communities along with the private and public funding corporation of Arab nations share the task of not only multiplying the financial support for biomedical research, but also advancing every Arab nation’s research infrastructure. Additionally, improved alliance between Arab nations and the people surrounding them will provide a considerable advantage to those concerned. Moreover, it is the responsibility of wealthy countries and regions, for instance Europe and the USA to lend a helping hand to the Arab nations in their endeavour to intensify research productivity. This is achievable through the incorporation of well-qualified Arab scientists in global research networks and through facilitating their stay within their home nations, thereby improving the regional research productivity. Although Arabs have an extensive history of involvement in science, particularly in the Arabic-Islamic Golden Age, political, social, as well as economic obstacles have hindered scientists in this region from optimizing their capability in research productivity within most scientific disciplines. Appendix Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today Table 1. Raw indicators for science related research in the Arab countries (Falagas et. al. 2006, n.p). Population (in millions—average 1994–2003) GDP (in billion USDs—average 1994–2003) PubMed Papers (1994–2003) ESI—Papers (1995–2004) ESI Citations (1995–2004) ESI Fields ISI—Papers in the top 50 clinical medicine journals (1994–2004) Articlesa per million population (average population 1994–2003) Articlesa per billion USD (average GDP 1994–2003) Algeria 29.7 42.8 281 370 4,186 4 18 9.5 6.6 Bahrain 0.6 6.6 200 ND ND ND 0 333.3 30.3 Comoros 0.5 0.2 3 ND ND ND 0 6.0 15.0 Djibouti 0.6 0.3 14 ND ND ND 0 23.3 46.7 Egypt 62.2 65.6 5,352 5,532 26,593 8 66 86.0 81.6 Eritrea 4.0 0.7 17 ND ND ND 2 4.3 24.3 Iraq 22.5 ND 259 ND ND ND 2 11.5 ND Jordan 4.7 7.5 1,293 1,167 3,334 3 9 275.1 172.4 Kuwait 2.1 26.6 1,554 2,068 8,596 8 21 740.0 58.4 Lebanon 4.2 12.1 1,322 1,364 6,947 6 35 314.8 109.3 Libya 5.1 ND 172 ND ND ND 0 33.7 ND Mauritania 2.5 1.2 35 ND ND ND 1 14.0 29.2 Morocco 28.0 38.9 2,008 2,281 7,179 6 29 71.7 51.6 Oman 2.3 12.2 620 ND ND ND 14 269.6 50.8 Qatar 0.6 ND 168 ND ND ND 1 280.0 ND Saudi Arabia 20.0 139.5 5,588 7,461 31,229 8 69 279.4 40.1 Somalia 8.4 ND 21 ND ND ND 0 2.5 ND Sudan 30.5 8.0 384 421 2,967 3 7 12.6 48.0 Syria 14.3 12.6 140 14 928 2 4 9.8 11.1 Tunisia 9.4 21.9 1,753 1,994 8,606 6 17 186.5 80.0 Unit. Arab Emirates 3.0 41.0 1,102 1,368 5,922 6 0 367.3 26.9 West Bank and Gaza 2.8 3.3 102 ND ND ND 0 36.4 30.9 Yemen 16.9 3.9 97 ND ND ND 1 5.7 24.9 Total 274.9 444.9 22,485 24,040 106,487 284b % of Global 4.6% 1.4% 0.5% 0.1% Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today Table 2. Number of articles indexed in PubMed for each Arab country during the years 1994–2003 (Falagas et. al. 2006, n.p). 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Total Algeria 29 25 13 17 19 26 30 44 32 46 281 Bahrain 13 13 11 16 15 19 26 28 25 34 200 Comoros 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 3 Djibouti 1 0 2 4 2 0 1 1 1 2 14 Egypt 346 375 398 391 451 543 591 723 707 827 5352 Eritrea 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 3 3 5 17 Iraq 21 16 12 16 8 22 43 32 43 46 259 Jordan 64 65 86 88 107 135 161 174 221 192 1293 Kuwait 69 102 105 114 143 188 170 190 231 242 1554 Lebanon 61 47 61 88 124 146 160 215 184 236 1322 Libya 19 22 18 10 16 18 22 18 14 15 172 Mauritania 4 5 2 4 5 4 4 4 3 0 35 Morocco 85 126 140 136 166 203 226 289 333 304 2008 Oman 28 34 33 36 44 59 78 110 85 113 620 Qatar 17 12 15 12 16 11 9 26 21 29 168 Saudi Arabia 444 517 526 510 510 480 627 582 698 694 5588 Somalia 7 5 3 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 21 Sudan 39 38 34 30 38 31 29 42 49 54 384 Syria 3 10 2 7 7 20 21 24 18 28 140 Tunisia 141 105 94 124 94 131 167 264 264 369 1753 United Arab Emirates 70 90 96 111 122 102 114 142 115 140 1102 West Bank and Gaza 1 3 5 5 8 10 12 20 15 23 102 Yemen 4 4 4 6 5 10 14 17 15 18 97 Total (Arab countries) 1467 1614 1660 1727 1902 2160 2509 2949 3078 3419 22,485 World total 382,711 390,587 401,431 398,550 416,746 433,254 473,109 481,014 499,995 528,276 440,5673 References: Adamu, Umar Faruk. Medicine in the Qur'an and Sunnah: An Intellectual Reappraisal of the Legacy and Future of Islamic Medicine and Its Representation in the Language of Science and Modernity. 2012. Bliziotis IA, K Paraschakis, PI Vergidis, AI Karavasiou, and ME Falagas. 2005. "Worldwide Trends in Quantity and Quality of Published Articles in the Field of Infectious Diseases". BMC Infectious Diseases. 5. Pormann, Peter E., and Emilie Savage-Smith. Medieval Islamic Medicine. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2007. Saliba, George. A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam. New York: New York University Press, 1994. Shaban SF, and FM Abu-Zidan. 2003. "A Quantitative Analysis of Medical Publications from Arab Countries". Saudi Medical Journal. 24, no. 3: 294-6. Shahine, Y. A. The Arab Contribution to Medicine. London: Longman for the University of Essex, 1976. Soteriades, E. S., Falagas, M. E. 2005. An analysis of the geography of biomedical research in the European Union. BMJ 331,192-194 Tadmouri GO, and N Bissar-Tadmouri. 2004. "A Major Pitfall in the Search Strategy on PubMed". Saudi Medical Journal. 25, no. 1: 7-10. World Bank. World Development Indicators 2002. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002. Zetterström. 2002. "Bibliometric Data: a Disaster for Many Non-American Biomedical Journals". Acta Paediatrica. 91, no. 10: 1020-1024. Falagas ME, Zarkadoulia EA, Samonis G. Arab science in the golden age(750-1258 C.E.) and today. FASEB J. 2006 Aug;20(10):1581-6. PubMed PMID:16873881. Read More

According to the Quran, an intellectual’s ink is more important and is only comparable to a martyr’s blood. At the same time, the Prophet advocated for medical research, with an urge that every disease had a cure provided for by Allah. Communication became easier as the Muslim Empire merged wider geographical parts, making it easier for intellectuals to travel widely and share ideas. Additionally, the Arabic language tuned into a unifying element with translations from Chinese, Greek and Latin into Arabic becoming many thereby reducing language barriers for intellectuals (Saliba 1994, p. 68). During that time, the Arabs found out from the Chinese how papers were produced, which resulted in the availability of books in a wide range.

This development led to libraries being set up in Baghdad, Cairo and Aleppo, as well as in other centres within Spain, Iran and central Asia. Bookshops began opening up in different cities. Lastly, in 1004 C.E. the House of Wisdom, an academic institution operating as a university, was opened in Baghdad (Shahine 1976, p. 56). Education, Hospital and Science Within the Arab-Muslim world a structure of medical education was set up (Adamu 2012, p. 44). Apparently, the Arabic medical studies comprised of preliminary training in basic sciences such as physiology, alchemy, anatomy and Pharmacognosy.

Subsequent to this initial training, clinical training within hospitals followed whereby students carried out physical examinations, were part of ward rounds and attended clinical lectures. After completing there training, upcoming physicians were expected to be successful in oral and practical examinations in order to be certified. Medicine was a science or profession, as well as a philosophical stance rooted in culture and religion, obedience to codes of ethics, that exemplified the physician’s behaviour together with his duty to patients, associates, and the community at large.

During this era, secular hospitals, for example Bimaristans, developed. They were well-structured institutions, administered under certain regulations and guided by physicians (Shahine 1976, p. 77). There were no interferences with the patient’s treatment I relation to sexual, economic, religious or social discrimination. These hospitals had adequate equipments consisting of outpatient and inpatient with comprehensive medical records being stored. Additionally, there was the creation of small mobile hospital units, which served distant regions and battlefields (Adamu 2012, p. 65). In 706 C.E., the first recognized hospital was developed in Damascus and in 982 C.E. a bigger and more significant one set up in Baghdad.

Medical sciences also experienced tremendous growth with surprising developments being experienced in not only chemistry, astronomy and mathematics, but also other fields of science, as well. Furthermore, the Golden Age was exemplified by artistic, technological and architectural achievements. Other various Arabic inventions comprised of irrigation techniques that included water wheels, underground channels and windmills whereas even presently, Arab architectural wonders and distinctive objects of art are still admirable in most nations, with the majority of the best examples found in southern Spain (Saliba 1994, p. 90). Even though there were achievements in the Arabic world, most of the achievements were affected through corrosion and weakening of their culture.

By the 9th century C.E., a number of provinces began dropping from the control of Abbasid, and in the subsequent four centuries, there was a dispersion of the Empire’s political power amongst new-found independent states (Shahine 1976, p. 69). By 12th century C.E. the Abbasid Empire had begun collapsing with Turks playing a significant role in its downfall. Although, after 861 C.E., the Turkish soldiers had re-strengthened the Empire, they later on begun undermining the central authority and as the Abbasid Caliphate was falling apart, an establishment of Seljuk Caliphate in was set up in 1057 C.E.

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