Research ArticleOpen AccessGoogle Scholar indexed
The Place of Study of Nature in Jabir Ibn Hayyan’s Classification of Science
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- 1 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- 2 Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Advances in Historical Studies·Volume 09 (2020)·Pages 85–91·Published 25 August 2020·DOI10.4236/ahs.2020.93007
Copy link · social · email
Abstract
One of the Muslim pioneers of the golden age of Islamic civilization is Jabir ibn Hayyan, polymath and alchemist of the eighth century CE. In this study, we briefly explain Jabir’s biography and the significance of his scientific character in the history of science. Then, we investigate Jabir’s attitude about the classification of science and the position of the study of nature in his thought. J abir divides science into two main categories: the science of earth and the science of religion. He considers natural science as a type of rational science which is a subcategory of the science of religion. We discuss that the conceptual framework of Jabir in the classification of science has some similarities with other Muslim scholars.
KeywordsJabir Ibn HayyanClassification of ScienceStudy of NatureIslamic Civilization
- Akyol, A. (2018). Jabir Ibn Hayyan’s Classification of Science And Its Place in Islamic Epistemology. Turkish Journal of Religious Studies, 18, 11-22.
- Al-Majriti (2008). Qayat al-Hakim fi Ersad al-Malakiyah va al-talasem al-ruhiya va al-Tanjim. Beirut: Dar Al Mahaja.
- Berthelot, M. (1983). La Chimie au Moyen Age III. Paris: Imprimerie nationale.
- Dungersi, M. R. (1999). A Brief Biography of Imam Jafar bin Muhammad (a.s.). Dar es Salaam: Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania.
- Haq, S. N. (1994). Names, Natures and Things: The Alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan and his Kitab al-Ahjar. Dordrecht and Boston: Kluwer Academic. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1898-9
- Holmyard, J. E. (1931). Makers of Chemistry. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Ibn Al-Nadim (1994). Al-Fihrist (I. Ramazan, Ed.). Beyrut: Daru’l-Mearif.
- Ibn Sina (1953). Encyclopedia of Alayi (M. Moein, Ed.). Hamedan: Bu Ali Sina University Press.
- Jabir ibn Hayyan (2009). Kitab al-Hudud (P. Kraus, Ed.). Cairo: Maktabat al-Khanji.
- Kraus, P. (1942). Jabir ibn Hayyan: Contribution à l’histoire des idees scientifiques dans l’Islam. Vol. II: Jabir et la science grecque. Cairo: Maktabat al-Khanji.
- Lory, P. (2003). Alchimie et mystique en terre d’Islam. Paris: Verdier.
- Montazeritabar, M. (2019). Epistemological Foundations of Natural Sciences in Islam. Open Journal of Philosophy, 9, 63-71. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojpp.2019.92006
- Naguib Mahmoud, Z. (1962). Jabir Ibn Hayyan. Cairo: Maktabat ‘al-Misr.
- Ragai, J. (1992). The Philosopher’s Stone: Alchemy and Chemistry. Journal of Comparative Poetics, 12, 58-77. https://doi.org/10.2307/521636
- Sarton, G. (1927). Introduction to the History of Science: From Homer to Omar Khayyam. (Vol. 1). Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins Company.