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The Magic Jar and Other Devices from 9th Century Persia
A Historical and Experimental Study
In: NunciusAfter the advent of Islam the interest of scientists was drawn towards “ingenious devices.” Ahmad ibn Müsä ibn Shäkir Khuräsäni was one of the greatest Iranian scientists of the 9th century AD. He worked on many mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic devices and presented his inventions in a book entitled Kitäb Al-Hiyal. A combined historical and experimental research project was undertaken by the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST). One part of the project consisted of designing and reproducing the mechanisms for separating liquids described in Al-Hiyal. This paper provides details of the design of four of these devices, which function on the basis of the relative viscosities or densities of the liquids being separated. They were recreated and tested in accordance with the indications provided in ibn Shäkir Khuräsäni’s text. This paper provides the historical background and a technical analysis of these remarkable inventions.
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Thomas Hockey et al., Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (New York: Springer Reference, 2007), pp. 92–24; and David Pingree, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III (London, Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1989), pp. 716–717.
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Tohru Sato, “Quadrature of the surface area of a sphere in the early Middle Ages – Johannes de Tinemue and Banü Müsä,” Historia Scientiarum, 1985, 28:9–61.
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14
Mark E. Rosheim, Robot Evolution: The Development of Anthrobotics (New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1994), pp. 9–10.
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Bryan Bunch, The History of Science and Technology (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books, 2004), p. 107.
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28
Roshdi Rashed, “Archimedean learning in the middle Ages, the Banü Müsä,” Historia Scientiarum, 1996, 6:1–16.
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30
Masood Ehsad, Science and Islam: A History (London: Icon Books Ltd., 2009), pp. 161–163.
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The Magic Jar and Other Devices from 9th Century Persia
A Historical and Experimental Study
In: NunciusAfter the advent of Islam the interest of scientists was drawn towards “ingenious devices.” Ahmad ibn Müsä ibn Shäkir Khuräsäni was one of the greatest Iranian scientists of the 9th century AD. He worked on many mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic devices and presented his inventions in a book entitled Kitäb Al-Hiyal. A combined historical and experimental research project was undertaken by the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST). One part of the project consisted of designing and reproducing the mechanisms for separating liquids described in Al-Hiyal. This paper provides details of the design of four of these devices, which function on the basis of the relative viscosities or densities of the liquids being separated. They were recreated and tested in accordance with the indications provided in ibn Shäkir Khuräsäni’s text. This paper provides the historical background and a technical analysis of these remarkable inventions.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 194 | 26 | 0 |
| Full Text Views | 212 | 1 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 22 | 3 | 0 |