Editing History of physics (section)

===Islamic world===
{{main|Physics in the medieval Islamic world|Science in the medieval Islamic world}}
{{see also|List of scientists in medieval Islamic world}}
[[File:Ibn al-Haytham crop.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Ibn al-Haytham]] ({{Circa|965–1040}}).]]

In the 7th to 15th centuries, scientific progress occurred in the Muslim world. Many classic works in [[India]]n, [[Assyria]]n, [[Sassanian|Sassanian (Persian)]] and [[Greece|Greek]], including the works of Aristotle, were translated into [[Arabic]].<ref name=RobinsonCambridge>{{cite book |editor=Robinson, Francis |editor-link=Francis Robinson |title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |pages=228–229}}</ref> Important contributions were made by [[Ibn al-Haytham]] (965–1040), an [[Arab]]<ref>Esposito (2000)، The Oxford History of Islam، Oxford University Press,، p. 192. “Ibn al-Haytham (d. 1039), known in the West as Alhazan, was an Arab mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. His optical compendium, Kitab al-Manazir, is the greatest medieval work on optics”.</ref> or [[Persians|Persian]]<ref>{{Harvard citation|Child|Shuter|Taylor|1992|p=70}}, {{Harvard citation|Dessel|Nehrich|Voran|1973|p=164}}, Understanding History by John Child, Paul Shuter, David Taylor, p. 70. "Alhazen, a Persian scientist, showed that the eye saw light from other objects. This started optics, the science of light. The Arabs also studied astronomy, the study of the stars."</ref> scientist, considered to be a founder of modern [[optics]]. Ptolemy and Aristotle theorised that light either shone from the eye to illuminate objects or that "forms" emanated from objects themselves, whereas al-Haytham (known by the Latin name "Alhazen") suggested that light travels to the eye in rays from different points on an object. The works of Ibn al-Haytham and [[al-Biruni]] (973–1050), a Persian scientist, eventually passed on to Western Europe where they were studied by scholars such as [[Roger Bacon]] and [[Vitello]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Glick|Livesey|Wallis|2005|pp=89–90}}</ref>

Ibn al-Haytham used controlled experiments in his work on optics, although to what extent it differed from Ptolemy is debated.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Mark |title=From Sight to Light: The Passage from Ancient to Modern Optics |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=2015 |pages=225 |bibcode=2014fslp.book.....S |quote=The same holds for Alhacen’s methodology. It may look modern because of its strong empirical bias and reliance on controlled experiments, but Ptolemy’s approach was no less empirical, and it, too, was based on controlled experiments. In addition, Alhacen’s two most modern-looking experiments are based on physically unobtainable precision in equipment design and observation, so we are left to doubt that he actually carried them out as described— except, of course, in his mind. And these experiments were not new in conception. They were clearly based on equivalent ones in Ptolemy’s Optics, although Alhacen had to reformulate them in significant and creative ways to accommodate the testing of light rays rather than visual rays.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Darrigol |first=Olivier |title=A History of Optics from Greek Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century |publisher= Oxford University Press |year=2012 |pages=20}}</ref> Arabic mechanics like Bīrūnī and [[Al-Khazini]] developed sophisticated "science of weight", carrying out measurements of specific weights and volumes.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lindberg |first1=David |title=The Cambridge History of Science, Volume 2, Medieval Science |last2=Shank |first2=Michael |year=2013 |pages=984–1108}}</ref>

[[Avicenna|Ibn Sīnā]] (980–1037), known as "Avicenna", was a polymath from [[Bukhara]] (in present-day [[Uzbekistan]]) responsible for important contributions to physics, optics, philosophy and [[medicine]]. He published his theory of [[Motion (physics)|motion]] in ''[[Book of Healing]]'' (1020), where he argued that an impetus is imparted to a projectile by the thrower. He viewed it as persistent, requiring external forces such as [[air resistance]] to dissipate it.<ref name=Espinoza>{{cite journal | last1 = Espinoza | first1 = Fernando  | date = 2005 | title = An analysis of the historical development of ideas about motion and its implications for teaching | journal = Physics Education | volume = 40 | issue = 2| page = 141 | doi=10.1088/0031-9120/40/2/002|bibcode = 2005PhyEd..40..139E | s2cid = 250809354 }}</ref><ref name="Nasr">{{Cite book |author=Nasr |first1=Seyyed Hossein |author-link1=Seyyed Hossein Nasr |title=The Islamic intellectual tradition in Persia |last2=Razavi |first2=Mehdi Amin |date=1996 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-7007-0314-2 |page=72}}</ref><ref name="Sayili">{{cite journal |author=Sayili |first=Aydin |author-link=Aydin Sayili |date=1987 |title=Ibn Sīnā and Buridan on the Motion of the Projectile |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |volume=500 |issue=1 |pages=477–482 |bibcode=1987NYASA.500..477S |doi=10.1111/j.1749-6632.1987.tb37219.x |s2cid=84784804}}</ref> Ibn Sina made a distinction between 'force' and 'inclination' (called "mayl"), and argued that an object gained mayl when the object is in opposition to its natural motion. He concluded that continuation of motion is attributed to the inclination that is transferred to the object, and that object will be in motion until the mayl is spent. This conception of motion is consistent with [[Newton's first law of motion]], [[inertia]], which states that an object in motion will stay in motion unless it is acted on by an external force.<ref name=Espinoza /> This idea which dissented from the Aristotelian view was later described as "[[Theory of impetus|impetus]]" by [[John Buridan]], who was likely influenced by Ibn Sina's ''Book of Healing''.<ref name="ibn sina and buridan">Sayili, Aydin. "Ibn Sina and Buridan on the Motion the Projectile". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 500(1). pp. 477–482.</ref>

[[File:Image-Al-Kitāb al-muḫtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-ğabr wa-l-muqābala.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|A page from [[Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī|al-Khwārizmī]]'s ''[[The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing|Algebra]]''.]]

[[Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi]] ({{Circa|1080|1165}}) adopted and modified Ibn Sina's theory on [[projectile motion]]. In his ''Kitab al-Mu'tabar'', Abu'l-Barakat stated that the mover imparts a violent inclination (''mayl qasri'') on the moved and that this diminishes as the moving object distances itself from the mover.<ref name="Gutman">{{Cite book|title=Pseudo-Avicenna, Liber Celi Et Mundi: A Critical Edition|first=Oliver|last=Gutman|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|year=2003|isbn=90-04-13228-7|page=193}}</ref> He also proposed an explanation of the [[acceleration]] of falling bodies by the accumulation of successive increments of [[Power (physics)|power]] with successive increments of [[velocity]].<ref>[[Alistair Cameron Crombie|Crombie, Alistair Cameron]], ''Augustine to Galileo 2'', p. 67.</ref> According to [[Shlomo Pines]], al-Baghdaadi's theory of motion was "the oldest negation of Aristotle's fundamental dynamic law [namely, that a constant force produces a uniform motion], [and is thus an] anticipation in a vague fashion of the fundamental law of [[classical mechanics]] [namely, that a force applied continuously produces acceleration]."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=1970 |title=Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī, Hibat Allah |encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Scientific Biography]] |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |last=Pines |first=Shlomo |volume=1 |pages=26–28 |isbn=0-684-10114-9}} ([[cf.]] Abel B. Franco (October 2003). "Avempace, Projectile Motion, and Impetus Theory", ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' '''64''' (4), pp. 521–546 [528].)</ref> Jean Buridan and [[Albert of Saxony (philosopher)|Albert of Saxony]] later referred to Abu'l-Barakat in explaining that the acceleration of a falling body is a result of its increasing impetus.<ref name="Gutman" />

[[Ibn Bajjah]] ({{Circa|1085}}–1138), known as "Avempace" in Europe, proposed that for every force there is always a [[Reaction (physics)|reaction]] force. Ibn Bajjah was a critic of Ptolemy and he worked on creating a new theory of velocity to replace the one theorized by Aristotle. Two future philosophers supported the theories Avempace created, known as Avempacean dynamics. These philosophers were [[Thomas Aquinas]], a Catholic priest, and [[Duns Scotus|John Duns Scotus]].<ref name=":1" /> [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]] went on to adopt Avempace's formula "that the velocity of a given object is the difference of the motive power of that object and the resistance of the medium of motion".<ref name=":1">{{Citation|last=Gracia|first=Jorge J. E.|chapter=Philosophy in the Middle Ages: An Introduction|date=2007-11-26|pages=1–11|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|isbn=9780470996669|doi=10.1002/9780470996669.ch1|title=A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages}}</ref>

[[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]] (1201–1274), a Persian astronomer and mathematician who died in Baghdad, introduced the [[Tusi couple]]. [[Nicolaus Copernicus|Copernicus]] later drew heavily on the work of al-Din al-Tusi and his students, but without acknowledgment.<ref name="cosmosmagazine.com">{{cite web |url=https://cosmosmagazine.com/society/top-10-ancient-arabic-scientists |title=Top 10 ancient Arabic scientists |publisher=Cosmos magazine |date=2011-01-06 |access-date=2013-04-20}}</ref>