Islam Creator of the Modern Age
3. Muslim Contribution to Science
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the heliocentric theory was more rational, they
accepted it without any hesitation.
Edward McNall Burns writes that the heliocentric
theory developed by Aristarchus (310-230 B.C.),
although destined to fall into oblivion for four
hundred years, has today become an established
fact. This is after many centuries of men’s minds
being dominated by Ptolemy’s geocentric theory.
Of all the subjects developed by the Spanish
Muslims, there was none brought to a higher degree
of perfection than science. In fact, in this field, their
successes were such as to have no parallel in
history. They distinguished themselves in the fields
of astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry,
medicine, etc. As McNall Bums writes:
Despite their reverence for Aristotle, they did
not hesitate to criticize his notion of a universe
of concentric spheres with the earth at the
centre, and they admitted the possibility that
the earth rotates on its axis and revolves
around the sun.
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