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Mediastinitis

Updated: 11/10/2020
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Definition

Mediastinitis is swelling and irritation (inflammation) of the area between the lungs (mediastinum). This area contains the heart, large blood vessels, windpipe (trachea), esophagus, thymus gland, lymph nodes, and connective tissues.

Alternative Names

Chest infection

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Mediastinitis may occur suddenly (acute) or may develop slowly and get worse over time (chronic). Most cases occur in patients who have had open chest surgery. Less than 5 percent of patients develop mediastinitis after having chest surgery.

Patients may have a tear in their esophagus that causes mediastinitis. Causes of the tear include:

Other causes of mediastinitis include:

Risk factors include:

  • Problems in the upper gastrointestinal tract
  • Recent chest surgery or endoscopy
  • Weak immune system
SymptomsSigns and tests

Signs of mediastinitis in patients who have had recent surgery include:

  • Chest wall tenderness
  • Wound drainage
  • Unstable chest wall

Tests include:

Your health care provider may insert a needle into the area of inflammation and remove a sample to send for gram stain and culture to find the source of any infection.

Treatment

You may receive antibiotics if you have an infection.

You may need surgery to remove the area of inflammation if the blood vessels, windpipe, or esophagus is blocked.

Expectations (prognosis)

How well a person does depends on the cause of the mediastinitis.

Mediastinitis after open chest surgery is very serious. There is a significant risk of dying from the condition.

Complications

Complications include the following:

  • Spread of the infection to the:
    • Bloodstream
    • Blood vessels
    • Bones
    • Heart
    • Lungs
  • Scarring

Scarring can be severe, especially when it is caused by chronic mediastinitis. Scarring can interfere with heart or lung function.

Calling your health care provider

Contact your health care provider if you have had open chest surgery and develop:

  • Chest pain
  • Chills
  • Drainage from the wound
  • Fever
  • Shortness of breath

If you have tuberculosis, histoplasmosis, or sarcoidosis and develop any of these symptoms, contact your health care provider right away.

Prevention

The only way to prevent mediastinosis related to chest surgery is to keep surgical wounds clean and dry after surgery.

Treating tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, or other conditions associated with mediastinitis may prevent this complication.

References

Park DR, Vallieres E. Pneumomediastinum and mediastinitis. In: Mason RJ, Murray J, Broaddus VC, Nadel J, eds. Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2005: chap 72.

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12y ago
Definition

Mediastinitis is swelling and irritation (inflammation) of the area between the lungs (mediastinum). This area contains the heart, large blood vessels, windpipe (trachea), esophagus, thymus gland, lymph nodes, and connective tissues.

Alternative Names

Chest infection

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Mediastinitis is usually results from an infection. It may occur suddenly (acute) or may develop slowly and get worse over time (chronic). It most often occurs in patients who recently had an upper endoscopy or chest surgery.

Patients may have a tear in their esophagus that causes mediastinitis. Causes of the tear include:

Other causes of mediastinitis include:

Risk factors include:

  • Disease of the esophagus
  • Problems in the upper gastrointestinal tract
  • Recent chest surgery or endoscopy
  • Weakened immune system
SymptomsSigns and tests

Some of the signs of mediastinitis in patients who have had recent surgery include:

  • Chest wall tenderness
  • Wound drainage
  • Unstable chest wall

Tests include:

Your health care provider may insert a needle into the area of inflammation and remove a sample to send for gram stain and culture to determine the type of infection.

Treatment

You may receive antibiotics if you have an infection.

You may need surgery to remove the area of inflammation if the blood vessels, windpipe, or esophagus is blocked.

Expectations (prognosis)

How well a person does depends on the cause of the mediastinitis.

Mediastinitis after chest surgery is very serious. There is a significant risk of dying from the condition.

Complications

Complications include the following:

  • Spread of the infection to the:
    • Bloodstream
    • Blood vessels
    • Bones
    • Heart
    • Lungs
  • Scarring

Scarring can be severe, especially when it is caused by chronic mediastinitis. Scarring can interfere with heart or lung function.

Calling your health care provider

Contact your health care provider if you have had open chest surgery and develop:

  • Chest pain
  • Chills
  • Drainage from the wound
  • Fever
  • Shortness of breath

If you have tuberculosis, histoplasmosis, or sarcoidosis and develop any of these symptoms, contact your health care provider right away.

Prevention

The only way to prevent this condition related to chest surgery is to keep surgical wounds clean and dry after surgery.

Treating tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, or other conditions associated with mediastinitis may prevent this complication.

References

Park DR, Vallieres E. Pneumomediastinum and mediastinitis. In: Mason RJ, Broaddus VC, Martin TR, et al.. Murray & Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2010: chap 77.

Celli BR. Diseases of the diaphragm, chest wall, pleura, and mediastinum. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 100.

Reviewed By

Review Date: 09/15/2010

David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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What are the risks of an endoscopy?

The insertion and removal of the endoscope may stimulate a gag reflex, and can cause some discomfort. The procedure may also irritate the tissues of the nose and throat, causing a nosebleed or coughing.


What contributions did Muslims make in the fields of medicines?

Muslims believe that one of their roles in this life is to do good for mankind and to explore their planet. That is why they were encouraging science and research. Of these contributions in medicine are:Development of psychotherapy and other therapeutic methods.Research work on smallpox and measles.Production of medical treatment and medical drugs.Extensive research on properties of scores of drugs.Distinguished mediastinitis from pleurisy.Recognized the contagious nature of disease and ability of disease to spread to water and soil.Discover the existence of blood capillaries.Use and discussion of animal Psychology and physiology.Constructed magnificent, well organized, and well equipped hospitals that, at that time, were unrivaled in the world and whose doors were open for all the public.Provided the first detailed study of the human eye.Discovered the use of chemistry for medical purposes.Establishment of the first apothecary shop.Production of the first pharmacopeadia.The first to discover and identify three chief acids : nitric, sulfuric, and hydrochloric.Discovered the arts of distillation, crystallization, and oxidation.Classified substances into mineral, vegetable, and animal origin.


What contributions did the Muslim make field in medicine?

Muslims believe that one of their roles in this life is to do good for mankind and to explore their planet. That is why they were encouraging science and research. Of these contributions in medicine are:Development of psychotherapy and other therapeutic methods.Research work on smallpox and measles.Production of medical treatment and medical drugs.Extensive research on properties of scores of drugs.Distinguished mediastinitis from pleurisy.Recognized the contagious nature of disease and ability of disease to spread to water and soil.Discover the existence of blood capillaries.Use and discussion of animal Psychology and physiology.Constructed magnificent, well organized, and well equipped hospitals that, at that time, were unrivaled in the world and whose doors were open for all the public.Provided the first detailed study of the human eye.Discovered the use of chemistry for medical purposes.Establishment of the first apothecary shop.Production of the first pharmacopeadia.The first to discover and identify three chief acids : nitric, sulfuric, and hydrochloric.Discovered the arts of distillation, crystallization, and oxidation.Classified substances into mineral, vegetable, and animal origin.


How did the Muslims contributed to the field of medician?

Muslims believe that one of their roles in this life is to do good for mankind and to explore their planet. That is why they were encouraging science and research. Of these contributions in medicine are:Development of psychotherapy and other therapeutic methods.Research work on smallpox and measles.Production of medical treatment and medical drugs.Extensive research on properties of scores of drugs.Distinguished mediastinitis from pleurisy.Recognized the contagious nature of disease and ability of disease to spread to water and soil.Discover the existence of blood capillaries.Use and discussion of animal Psychology and physiology.Constructed magnificent, well organized, and well equipped hospitals that, at that time, were unrivaled in the world and whose doors were open for all the public.Provided the first detailed study of the human eye.Discovered the use of chemistry for medical purposes.Establishment of the first apothecary shop.Production of the first pharmacopeadia.The first to discover and identify three chief acids : nitric, sulfuric, and hydrochloric.Discovered the arts of distillation, crystallization, and oxidation.Classified substances into mineral, vegetable, and animal origin.


Pneumomediastinum?

DefinitionPneumomediastinum is air in the space between the lungs, in the middle of the chest (the mediastinum).Alternative NamesMediastinal emphysemaCauses, incidence, and risk factorsPneumomediastinum is uncommon. It occurs when air leaks from any part of the lung or airways into the mediastinum. Most often, one of the small air sacs (alveoli) ruptures and leaks air.The condition can be caused by a traumatic injury or by disease. Increased pressure within the lungs or airways can rupture the air sacs or airways, allowing air to escape into surrounding structures. Such pressure can be caused by excessive coughing, sneezing, vomiting, or repeated bearing down to increase abdominal pressure (such as pushing during childbirth or a bowel movement).It may also happen following:Accidental tearing of the trachea (windpipe)Rapid ascents in altitude, SCUBA divingUse of a breathing machineUsing inhaled recreational drugs such as crack cocainePneumomediastinum also can occur in association with pneumothorax or other diseases.SymptomsThere may be no symptoms. The condition usually causes chest pain below the breastbone, which may spread to the neck or arms. The pain may be worse when you take a breath or swallow.Signs and testsDuring a physical examination, the doctor may feel small bubbles of air under the skin of the chest, arms, or neck. A chest x-ray or CAT scan of the chest may be done to confirm the presence of air in the mediastinum and help diagnose a hole in the trachea or esophagus.TreatmentOften, no treatment is needed because the body will gradually absorb the air itself. Breathing high concentrations of oxygen may speed up this process.The doctor may put in a chest tube if the condition is accompanied by a collapsed lung (pneumothorax). Surgery is needed to repair a hole in the trachea or esophagus.Expectations (prognosis)The outlook depends on the disease or events that caused the pneumomediastinum.ComplicationsThe air may build up and enter the space around the lungs (pleural space), causing the lung to collapse.More rarely, air may enter the area between the heart and the thin sac that surrounds the heart. This is called a pneumopericardium.In other rare cases, so much air builds up in the middle of the chest that it pushes on veins in the area. This can interfere with the heart's ability to pump, and leads to low blood pressure.All these complications require urgent attention.Calling your health care providerGo to the emergency room or call the local emergency number (such as 911) if you have severe chest pain or difficulty breathing.ReferencesPark DR, Vallieres E. Pneumomediastinum and mediastinitis. In: Mason RJ, Murray JF, Broaddus VC, Nadel JA, eds. Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2005: chap 72.


Can ruptured abscesses be dangerous?

Untreated tooth abscess is very dangerous. If abscessed tooth left untreated, the tooth infection can spread and you can lose your tooth or have other health problems. Left untreated, tooth abscess may compromise the immune system and in some cases may become life-threatening. A tooth abscess complicationincludes tooth loss, jaw bone damage, neighboring tooth damage or loss, sinus problems, brain abscess, heart damage, hospitalization, coma, and even death. Some more tooth abscess complications that have been very much explained already: Facial Disfigurement as it eats away the facial bones; teeth falling out as the tooth abscess destroys the jaw holding the tooth; the picture is pretty gruesome. Here is the list of abscessed tooth complications: * Loss of the tooth * Spread of infection to soft tissue (facial cellulitis, Ludwig's angina) * Spread of infection to the jaw bone (osteomyelitis of the mandible or maxilla) * Sinusitis, it is any infection or inflammation of the sinus cavities behind the nose and eyes. It is very common with an estimated 37 million cases annually in the USA. Symptoms vary according to which sinus cavity is infected. * Spread of infection to other areas of the body resulting in cerebral abscess, endocarditis, pneumonia, or other disorders A rare abscessed tooth complications - Ludwig's angina and mediastinitis. While a life-threatening deep neck infection is an uncommon complication of tooth abscess, dentists should be able to recognize the signs and symptoms. The patient should be examined for swelling below the inferior border of the mandible, fever, excessive trismus, floor of mouth or tongue elevations, and deviation of the pharyngeal walls. In addition, the signs of an impending airway disaster, including muffled voice, inability to tolerate secretions and protruding tongue, should be carefully evaluated. Quick referral to an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and early definitive care will minimize the morbidity and mortality of these serious infections. The Worst Abscessed Tooth Danger - Death Tooth abscess can cause the death of the tooth and it can literally be the death of you. If a tooth abscess if left untreated it can grow and spread through the soft tissue of the face and cause dramatic outward facial swelling called cellulitis. If a person waits until the gum is so swollen that they have difficulty breathing or opening their mouth, the situation is very dangerous. It is not the "poison" of infection that makes the tooth abscess deadly, but its growth that can choke off our ability to breathe. That is the type of tooth abscess that can kill if left untreated.


Paraquat poisoning?

DefinitionParaquat (dipyridylium) is a highly toxic weed killer once promoted by the United States for use in Mexico to destroy marijuana plants. Research found that this herbicide was dangerous to workers who applied it to the plants.This article discusses the health problems that can occur from swallowing or breathing in Paraquat.Alternative NamesParaquat lungCauses, incidence, and risk factorsIn the United States, Paraquat is classified as "restricted commercial use," and people must obtain a license to use the product.Breathing in Paraquat may cause lung damage and can lead to a disease called Paraquat lung. Paraquat causes damage to the body when it touches the lining of the mouth, stomach, or intestines. You can get sick if Paraquat touches a cut on your skin. Paraquat may also damage the kidneys, liver, and esophagus.If Paraquat is swallowed, death can rapidly occur. Death may occur from a hole in the esophagus, or from acute inflammation of the mediastinum, the area that surrounds the major blood vessels and airways in the middle of the chest.Chronic exposure to Paraquat may cause pulmonary fibrosis, a stiffening of the lung tissue.SymptomsBurns in throatComaDifficulty breathingNosebleedSeizuresShockShortness of breathSore throatStomach painVomitingSigns and testsYou will be asked if you have been exposed to Paraquat.Blood and urine tests will be done to determine how much Paraquat is in your system. Other tests that may be done include:Arterial blood gases (measures of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and acid-base balance)BUN and creatinine (kidney function tests)Chem-20Chest x-rayLung function testsUrinalysisUrine toxicology screenTreatmentThere is no specific treatment for Paraquat poisoning. The goal is to relieve symptoms and treat complications (supportive care).Remove all contaminated clothing.If the chemical touched your skin, wash the area with soap and water for 15 minutes,without scrubbing hard, so as not to cause abrasions which will allow greater absorption of the toxin.If there has been contamination of the eyes, flush them with water for 15 minutes.If you have swallowed Paraquat, you should receive activated charcoal as quickly as possible. Sicker patients may need a procedure called hemoperfusion, which filters the blood through charcoal to try to remove Paraquat from the lungs.Expectations (prognosis)The outcome depends on the severity of exposure. Some people may develop mild breathing-related symptoms and have a full recovery, while others may have permanent changes in the lungs. If a person swallowed the poison, death is likely without immediate medical care.ComplicationsAcute respiratory distress syndromeHoles in the esophagusInflammation of the area between the lungs (mediastinitis)Kidney failureScarring of the lungs (pulmonary fibrosis)Calling your health care providerIf you believe you have been exposed to Paraquat, you should seek medical care immediately.The National Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) can be called from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline number will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.This is a free and confidential service. All local poison control centers in the United States use this national number. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.Take the container with you to the hospital, if possible.See: Poison control center - emergency numberPreventionAvoid exposure to Paraquat.ReferencesRobbe WC III, Meggs WJ. Insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides. In: Tintinalli JE, Kelen GD, Stapczynski JS, Ma OJ, Cline DM, eds. Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide. 6th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2004:chap 182.


Inhalation anthrax?

DefinitionInhalation (or respiratory) anthrax is an infectious disease brought on by breathing in the spores of the bacteria Bacillus anthracis.Alternative NamesAnthrax - inhalationCauses, incidence, and risk factorsAnthrax commonly affects hoofed animals such as sheep and goats, but humans can get sick from anthrax, too. The main risk factor for getting anthrax is some type of contact with contaminated animal hides, hair, bone products, and wool. Inhalation anthrax was most commonly contracted when workers breathed in airborne anthrax spores, which were released during industrial processes such as tanning hides and processing wool.Breathing in spores means a person has been exposed to the disease, but it doesn't mean they'll get symptoms. The bacteria spores must "germinate," or sprout ( the same way a seed might before a plant grows) before the actual disease occurs. The process usually takes 3 to 14 days, with 43 days being the longest known incubation period.Once the spores germinate, they release several toxic substances, which cause internal bleeding, swelling, and tissue death.The main form of inhalation anthrax is a bloody infection of the lymph nodes in the chest, a condition called hemorrhagic mediastinitis. Affected people often also have bloody fuid in their chest cavity called pleural effusions. Up to half of affected individuals may also have hemorrhagic meningitis (infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord).SymptomsThere are usually two stages of inhalation anthrax:Stage one can last from hours to a few days. Symptoms may resemble a cold or the flu, and can include fever, chills, sweating, fatigue, malaise, headache, cough, shortness of breath, and chest pain.Stage two often develops suddenly. Symptoms include fever, severe shortness of breath, and shock.This list of symptoms is based on a relatively small number of people who have had inhalation anthrax. Additional symptoms may occur.Signs and testsTests may include:Blood culturesChest x-ray or CT scan of the chestSputum culturesInitial chest x-rays are likely to show abnormalities such as fluid surrounding the lungs or an abnormally wide space between the lungs.Fluid or blood samples may be sent to a special laboratory for more testing, including PCR, immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry.A spinal tap to analyze the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for infection also may be performed.TreatmentSeveral antibiotics are effective against anthrax, including penicillin, doxycycline, and ciprofloxacin. Inhalation anthrax is usually treated with intravenous (IV) ciprofloxacin plus another antibiotic.The length of treatment is currently about 60 days for individuals exposed to anthrax, since it may take spores that long to germinate.Expectations (prognosis)The prognosis of inhalation anthrax once it reaches the second stage is poor, even with antibiotic therapy. Up to 90% of cases in the second stage are fatal.ComplicationsARDS (adult respiratory distress syndrome)DeathHemorrhagic meningitisShockCalling your health care providerNotify your health care provider if you have been exposed to anthrax, whether or not you develop symptoms.PreventionAn anthrax vaccine is available to select U.S. military personnel, but not the general public.For individuals who have been truly exposed to anthrax (but have no signs and symptoms of the disease), preventive antibiotics may be offered.Anthrax is not known to spread from person to person. People living with individuals with anthrax do not need antibiotics unless they have also been exposed to the same source of anthrax.ReferencesInglesby TV, O'Toole T, Henderson DA, et al. Anthrax as a Biological Weapon, 2002. JAMA.160;2002;287:2236-2252.Lucey DR. Anthrax. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier. 2007: chap 317.Reissman DB, Whitney EA, Taylor TH Jr, et al. One-Year Health Assessment of Adult Survivors of Bacillus anthracis Infection.JAMA. 2004;291:1994-1998.


Gastrointestinal perforation?

DefinitionAn esophageal perforation is a hole in the esophagus, the tube through which food passes from the mouth to the stomach.Alternative NamesPerforation of the esophagusCauses, incidence, and risk factorsA perforation is a hole through which the contents of the esophagus can pass into the mediastinum, the surrounding area in the chest. This often results in infection of the mediastinum (mediastinitis).The most common cause of an esophageal perforation is injury during a medical procedure such as esophagoscopy. However, because flexible instruments are now used this rarely occurs.The esophagus may also become perforated as the result of:A tumorGastric refluxwith ulcerationSwallowing a foreign object or caustic chemicalsViolent vomitingLess common causes include injuries to the esophagus area (blunt trauma) and injury to the esophagus during an operation on another organ near the esophagus.SymptomsThe main symptom is pain at first.Patients with a perforation in the middle portion or lowermost portion of the esophagus may have difficulty swallowing, chest pain, and difficulty breathing.Signs and testsSigns include:Fast breathingFeverLow blood pressureRapid heart ratePatients with a perforation in the top part of the esophagus may have neck pain or stiffness and air bubbles underneath the skin.A chest x-raymay reveal air in the soft tissues of the chest, fluid that has leaked from the esophagus into the space around the lungs, or a lung collapse.A chest CT scanmay show an abscessin the chest or esophageal cancer. X-rays taken after you drink a non-harmful dye can help pinpoint the location of the perforation.TreatmentAlmost all patients need early surgery. Every effort should be made to have surgery within 24 hours of when the perforation occurred.The initial treatment may include:Administering fluids through a vein (IV)Administering IV antibiotics to prevent or treat infectionDraining fluid that has collected around the lungs with a chest tubeBronchoscopy to remove fluid that has collected in the area behind the breastbone and between the lungs (mediastinum)If little or no fluid has leaked, a stent may be placed in the esophagus. This may help you avoid surgery.Sometimes a perforation in the uppermost (neck region) part of the esophagus may heal by itself if you do not eat or drink for a period of time. In this case, you must get nutrition from another source, such as a stomach feeding tube.Surgery is usually needed to repair a perforation in the middle or bottom portions of the esophagus. Depending on the size and location of the perforation, the leak may be treated by simple repair or by removing the esophagus.Expectations (prognosis)The condition can progress to shock -- even death -- if untreated.For patients with an early diagnosis (less than 24 hours), the outlook is good. The survival rate is 90% when surgery is performed within 24 hours. However, this rate drops to about 50% when treatment is delayed.ComplicationsPossible complications include:Permanent damage to the esophagus (narrowing or stricture)Abscess formation in and around the esophagusInfection in and around the lungs.Calling your health care providerDemand immediate medical attention if you are already in the hospital.Go to the emergency room or call 911 if you have recently had surgery or a tube placed in the esophagus and you have pain, difficulty swallowing or breathing, or another reason to suspect that you may have esophageal perforation. Time is of the essence in treating this condition.PreventionBecause of their nature, these injuries are difficult to prevent.ReferencesKiey J, Amendola M, Bouhaider D, Sandhu BS, Zhao X, Maher J. A management algorithm for esophageal perforation.American J Surg. 2007;194:103-106.


Histoplasmosis?

DefinitionHistoplasmosis is an infection due to the Histoplasma capsulatum fungus.Alternative NamesOhio River Valley feverCauses, incidence, and risk factorsHistoplasmosis is a fungal infection. It occurs throughout the world. In the United States, it is most common in the southeastern, mid-Atlantic, and central states.The infection enters the body through the lungs. Histoplasma fungus grows as a mold in the soil, and infection results from breathing in airborne particles. Soil contaminated with bird or bat droppings may have a higher concentration of histoplasma.There may be a short period of active infection, or it can become chronic and spread throughout the body.Histoplasmosis may have no symptoms. Most people who do develop symptoms will have a flu-like syndrome and lung (pulmonary) complaints related to pneumonia or other lung involvement. Those with chronic lung disease (such as emphysema and bronchiectasis) are at higher risk of a more severe infection.About 10% of people with histoplasmosis will develop inflammation (irritation and swelling) in response to the initial infection. This can affect the skin, bones or joints, or the lining of the heart (pericardium). These symptoms are not due to fungal infection of those body parts, but to the inflammation.In a small number of patients, histoplasmosis may become widespread (disseminated), and involve the blood, meninges (outer covering of the brain), adrenal glands, and other organs. Very young or very old people, or those who have a weakened immune system (due to AIDS, cancer, or transplant, for example) are at higher risk for disseminated histoplasmosis.SymptomsSymptoms depend on the type of infection:Acute asymptomatic pulmonary (lung) histoplasmosis -- no symptomsAcute symptomatic pulmonary histoplasmosis: FeverChillsCoughChest pain when breathing inChronic pulmonary histoplasmosis: Chest painCoughExcessive sweatingFever - may resemble symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis and include coughing up blood (hemoptysis)Shortness of breathDisseminated histoplasmosis: FeversHeadacheNeck stiffnessMouth soresSkin lesionsOther histoplasma symptoms: Joint painRashesSkin nodules(red lumps called erythema nodosum)Signs and testsHow histoplasmosis is diagnosed depends on the body parts involved. Tests may look at the sputum, lung tissue, blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), or bone marrow for signs of the fungus. An antigen test may be done on blood, urine, or CSF.In addition, x-rays may show abnormalities in the lungs or lymph nodes of the chest. These are signs of histoplasmosis.TreatmentThe main treatment for histoplasmosis is antifungal drugs. In the case of pulmonary histoplasmosis, this may include oral (taken by mouth) medicines such as itraconazole or ketoconazole.Sometimes, especially in immunosuppressed people, long-term treatment with anti-fungal drugs are used after treatment with amphotericin.Expectations (prognosis)What happens depends on the extent of the infection and the overall health of the individual. The death rate is fairly high for people with untreated widespread (disseminated) histoplasmosis, but is reduced significantly with treatment.ComplicationsFibrosing mediastinitis -- scarring in the chest that may entrap the following body parts: Great vessels (the major blood vessels carrying blood to and from the heart)Esophagus (food pipe)HeartLymph nodesInflammatory syndromes involving: Heart lining (pericarditis)Joints (arthritis)Rashes (erythema nodosum, erythema multiforme)Skin nodulesMediastinal granuloma -- enlarged chest-cavity lymph nodes, which may compress body parts such as the esophagus and blood vessels of the lungsMedication side effects (for example, amphotericin can have severe side effects)In addition, people who have a weakened immune system may develop disseminated disease, which can infect the meninges of the brain (causing meningitis).Calling your health care providerNotify your health care provider if you live in an area where histoplasmosis is common, and you develop flu-like symptoms, chest pain, cough and shortness of breath. While there are many other illnesses that have similar symptoms, you may need to be tested for the possibility of histoplasmosis.PreventionMinimize exposure to dust in contaminated environments such as chicken coops and bat caves. Wear protective equipment such as masks if you work in these environments.ReferencesKauffman CA. Histoplasmosis. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds.Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 353.


What was the history of Islam during its first 100 years?

This was the golden period of not only of Islam also of whole humanity. The Muslim rulers (HALIFAH) give peace, education, Justice equally, and all happiness to mankind. The Islamic Golden Age or the Islamic Renaissance, is traditionally dated from the 9th to 13th centuries C.E., for 400 years but has been extended to the 15th century by recent scholarship. During this period, artists, engineers, scholars, poets, philosophers, geographers and traders in theIslamic worldcontributed to the arts,agriculture, economics,industry, law,literature,navigation,philosophy,sciences, sociology, andtechnology, both by preserving earlier traditions and by adding inventions and innovations of their own. Howard R. Turner writes: "Muslim artists and scientists, princes and laborers together made a unique culture that has directly and indirectly influenced societies on every continent.Contents[hide] 1 Foundations 1.1 Ethics1.2 Institutions1.3 Polymaths2 Economy 2.1 Age of discovery2.2 Agricultural Revolution2.3 Market economy2.4 Industrial growth2.5 Labour2.6 Technology2.7 Urbanization3 Sciences 3.1 Scientific method3.2 Peer review3.3 Astronomy3.4 Chemistry3.5 Mathematics3.6 Medicine3.7 Physics3.8 Other sciences4 Other achievements 4.1 Architecture4.2 Arts4.3 Literature4.4 Music4.5 Philosophy5 End of the Golden Age 5.1 Mongol invasion and Turkic settlement5.2 Causes of decline6 Notes7 See also8 References9 External links[edit]FoundationsFurther information: Early reforms under Islam and Muslim conquests Age of the Caliphs Expansion under Muhammad, 622-632 Expansion during the Rashidun Caliphate, 632-661 Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750 During the Muslim conquests of the 7th and early 8th centuries, Rashidun armiesestablished the Caliphate, or Islamic Empire, one of the largest empires in history. TheIslamic Golden Age was soon inaugurated by the middle of the 8th century by the ascension of the Abbasid Caliphate and the transfer of the capital from Damascus to the newly founded city Baghdad. The Abbassids were influenced by the Qur'anic injunctions and hadith such as "The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of martyrs" stressing the value of knowledge. During this period the Muslim world became the unrivaled intellectual centre for science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge. They established the "House of Wisdom" (Arabic:بيت الحكمة) in Baghdad, where scholars, both Muslim and non-Muslim, sought to gather and translate all the world's knowledge into Arabic in the Translation Movement. Many classic works of antiquity that would otherwise have been forgotten were translated into Arabic and later in turn translated into Turkish,Persian, Hebrew and Latin. During this period the Muslim world was a cauldron of cultures which collected, synthesized and significantly advanced the knowledge gained from the ancient Mesopotamian,Roman, Chinese, Indian, Persian, Egyptian, North African, Greek and Byzantine civilizations. Rival Muslim dynasties such as the Fatimids of Egypt and the Umayyads of al-Andalus were also major intellectual centres with cities such as Cairo and Córdoba rivaling Baghdad.[6]A major innovation of this period was paper - originally a secret tightly guarded by the Chinese. The art ofpapermaking was obtained from prisoners taken at the Battle of Talas (751), resulting in paper millsbeing built in the Islamic cities of Samarkand and Baghdad. The Arabs improved upon the Chinese techniques of using mulberry bark by using starch to account for the Muslim preference for pens vs. the Chinese for brushes. By AD 900 there were hundreds of shops employing scribes and binders for books in Baghdad and even public libraries began to become established, including the first lending libraries. From here paper-making spread west to Fez and then to al-Andalus and from there to Europe in the 13th century.[7]Much of this learning and development can be linked to topography. Even prior to Islam's presence, the city of Mecca served as a center of trade in Arabia. The tradition of the pilgrimage to Mecca became a center for exchanging ideas and goods. The influence held by Muslim merchants over African-Arabian and Arabian-Asian trade routes was tremendous. As a result, Islamic civilization grew and expanded on the basis of its merchant economy, in contrast to their Christian, Indian and Chinese peers who built societies from an agricultural landholding nobility. Merchants brought goods and their faith to China, India (the Indian subcontinent now has over 450 million followers), South-east Asia (which now has over 230 million followers), and the kingdoms of Western Africa and returned with new inventions. Merchants used their wealth to invest in textiles and plantations.Aside from traders, Sufi missionaries also played a large role in the spread of Islam, by bringing their message to various regions around the world. The principal locations included: Persia, Ancient Mesopotamia, Central Asia and North Africa. Although, the mystics also had a significant influence in parts of Eastern Africa, Ancient Anatolia (Turkey), South Asia, East Asia and South-east Asia.[8][9][edit]EthicsMain articles: Islamic ethics and Early reforms under IslamFurther information: Islamic democracy and Constitution of MedinaMany medieval Muslim thinkers pursued humanistic, rational and scientific discourses in their search forknowledge, meaning and values. A wide range of Islamic writings on love, poetry, history andphilosophical theology show that medieval Islamic thought was open to the humanistic ideas ofindividualism, occasional secularism, skepticism and liberalism.[10][11]Religious freedom, though society was still controlled under Islamic values, helped create cross-culturalnetworks by attracting Muslim, Christian and Jewish intellectuals and thereby helped spawn the greatest period of philosophical creativity in the Middle Ages from the 8th to 13th centuries.[6] Another reason the Islamic world flourished during this period was an early emphasis on freedom of speech, as summarized by al-Hashimi (a cousin of Caliph al-Ma'mun) in the following letter to one of the religious opponents he was attempting to convert through reason:[12]"Bring forward all the arguments you wish and say whatever you please and speak your mind freely. Now that you are safe and free to say whatever you please appoint some arbitrator who will impartially judge between us and lean only towards the truth and be free from the empary of passion, and that arbitrator shall be Reason, whereby God makes us responsible for our own rewards and punishments. Herein I have dealt justly with you and have given you full security and am ready to accept whatever decision Reason may give for me or against me. For "There is no compulsion in religion" (Qur'an 2:256) and I have only invited you to accept our faith willingly and of your own accord and have pointed out the hideousness of your present belief. Peace be upon you and the blessings of God!"The earliest known treatises dealing with environmentalism and environmental science, especiallypollution, were Arabic treatises written by al-Kindi, al-Razi, Ibn Al-Jazzar, al-Tamimi, al-Masihi, Avicenna,Ali ibn Ridwan, Abd-el-latif, and Ibn al-Nafis. Their works covered a number of subjects related to pollution such as air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination, municipal solid waste mishandling, and environmental impact assessments of certain localities.[13] Cordoba, al-Andalus also had the firstwaste containers and waste disposal facilities for litter collection.[14][edit]InstitutionsFurther information: Madrasah, Bimaristan, Islamic astronomy, Sharia, Fiqh, and Islamic economics in the worldA number of important educational and scientific institutions previously unknown in the ancient world have their origins in the early Islamic world, with the most notable examples being: the public hospital(which replaced healing temples and sleep temples)[15] and psychiatric hospital,[16] the public library andlending library, the academic degree-granting university, and the astronomical observatory as a research institute[15] (as opposed to a private observation post as was the case in ancient times).[17]The first universities which issued diplomas were the Bimaristan medical university-hospitals of the medieval Islamic world, where medical diplomas were issued to students of Islamic medicine who were qualified to be practicing doctors of medicine from the 9th century.[18] The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes the University of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco as the oldest degree-granting university in the world with its founding in 859 CE.[19] Al-Azhar University, founded in Cairo, Egypt in the975 CE, offered a variety of academic degrees, including postgraduate degrees, and is often considered the first full-fledged university. The origins of the doctorate also dates back to the ijazat attadris WA 'l-ifttd("license to teach and issue legal opinions") in the medieval Madrasahs which taught Islamic law.[20]By the 10th century, Cordoba had 700 mosques, 60,000 palaces, and 70 libraries, the largest of which had 600,000 books. In the whole al-Andalus, 60,000 treatises, poems, polemics and compilations were published each year.[21] The library of Cairo had two million books,[22] while the library of Tripoli is said to have had as many as three million books before it was destroyed by Crusaders. The number of important and original medieval Arabic works on the mathematical sciences far exceeds the combined total of medieval Latin and Greek works of comparable significance, although only a small fraction of the surviving Arabic scientific works have been studied in modern times.[23] For instance, Jamil Ragip, anhistorian of science from McGill University, says that 'less than 5% of the available material has been studied.'[24] A Russian historian gives an idea of the numerical quantity of these manuscripts and works always findable:"The results of the Arab scholars' literary activities are reflected in the enormous amount of works (about some hundred thousand) and manuscripts (not less than 5 million) which were current... These figures are so imposing that only the printed epoch presents comparable materials"[25]A number of distinct features of the modern library were introduced in the Islamic world, where libraries not only served as a collection of manuscripts as was the case in ancient libraries, but also as a public library and lending library, a centre for the instruction and spread of sciences and ideas, a place for meetings and discussions, and sometimes as a lodging for scholars or boarding school for pupils. The concept of the library catalogue was also introduced in medieval Islamic libraries, where books were organized into specific genres and categories.[26]Several fundamental common law institutions may have been adapted from similar legal institutions inIslamic law and jurisprudence, and introduced to England by the Normans after the Norman conquest of England and the Emirate of Sicily, and by Crusaders during the Crusades. In particular, the "royal English contract protected by the action of debt is identified with the Islamic Aqd, the English assize of novel disseisin is identified with the Islamic Istihqaq, and the English jury is identified with the IslamicLafif." Other legal institutions introduced in Islamic law include the trust and charitable trust(Waqf),[27][28] the agency and aval (Hawala),[29] and the lawsuit and medical peer review.[30] Other English legal institutions such as "the scholastic method, the license to teach," the "law schools known as Inns of Court in England and Madrasas in Islam" and the "European commenda" (Islamic Qirad) may have also originated from Islamic law. These influences have led some scholars to suggest that Islamic law may have laid the foundations for "the common law as an integrated whole".[20][edit]PolymathsAnother common feature during the Islamic Golden Age was the large number of Muslim polymathscholars, who were known as "Hakeems", each of whom contributed to a variety of different fields of both religious and secular learning, comparable to the later "Renaissance Men" (such as Leonardo da Vinci) of the European Renaissance period.[31][32] During the Islamic Golden Age, polymath scholars with a wide breadth of knowledge in different fields were more common than scholars who specialized in any single field of learning.[31] Notable medieval Muslim polymaths included al-Biruni, al-Jahiz, al-Kindi, Ibn Sina (Latinized: Avicenna),al-Idrisi, Ibn Bajjah, Ibn Zuhr, Ibn Tufail, Ibn Rushd (Latinized: Averroes), al-Suyuti,[33] Geber,[34] Abbas Ibn Firnas,[35] Alhacen,[36] Ibn al-Nafis,[37] Ibn Khaldun,[38] al-Khwarizmi, al-Masudi, al-Muqaddasi, andNasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī.[31][edit]Economy[edit]Age of discoveryMain article: Islamic geographySee also: Islamic economics in the world, Inventions in the Muslim world, Ibn Battuta, and Pre-Columbian Andalusian-Americas contact theoriesThe Islamic Empire significantly contributed to globalization during the Islamic Golden Age, when theknowledge, trade and economies from many previously isolated regions and civilizations began integrating due to contacts with Muslim explorers, sailors, scholars, traders, and travelers. Some have called this period the "Pax Islamica" or "Afro-Asiatic age of discovery", in reference to the Southwest Asian and North African traders and explorers (though mostly Muslims, some were also JewishRadhanites) who travelled most of the Old World, and established an early global economy[39] across most of Asia and Africa and much of Europe, with their trade networks extending from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Indian Ocean and China Sea in the east.[40] This helped establish the Islamic Empire (including the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates) as the world's leading extensive economic power throughout the 7th-13th centuries.[39] Several contemporary medieval Arabic reports also suggest that Muslim explorers from al-Andalus and theMaghreb may have travelled in expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean between the 9th and 14th centuries.[41][edit]Agricultural RevolutionMain article: Muslim Agricultural RevolutionThe valve-operatedreciprocating suction piston pumpwith crankshaft-connecting rodmechanism invented by al-Jazari in the 12th century.The Islamic Golden Age witnessed a fundamental transformation inagriculture known as the "Muslim Agricultural Revolution" or "Arab Agricultural Revolution".[42] Due to the global economy established by Muslim traders across the Old World, this enabled the diffusion of many plants and farming techniques between different parts of the Islamic world, as well as the adaptation of plants and techniques from beyond the Islamic world. Crops from Africa such as sorghum, crops from China such as citrus fruits, and numerous crops fromIndia such as mangos, rice, and especially cotton and sugar cane, were distributed throughout Islamic lands which normally would not be able to grow these crops.[43] Some have referred to the diffusion of numerous crops during this period as the "Globalisation of Crops",[44]which, along with an increased mechanization of agriculture (seeIndustrial growth below), led to major changes in economy,population distribution, vegetation cover,[45] agricultural production and income, population levels, urban growth, the distribution of thelabour force, linked industries, cooking and diet, clothing, and numerous other aspects of life in the Islamic world.[43]During the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, sugar production was refined and transformed into a large-scale industry by the Arabs, who built the first sugar refineries and sugar plantations. The Arabs andBerbers diffused sugar throughout the Islamic Empire from the 8th century.[46]Muslims introduced cash cropping[47] and the modern crop rotation system where land was cropped four or more times in a two-year period. Winter crops were followed by summer ones. In areas where plants of shorter growing season were used, such as spinach and eggplants, the land could be cropped three or more times a year. In parts of Yemen, wheat yielded two harvests a year on the same land, as did rice in Iraq.[43] Muslims developed a scientific approach to agriculture based on three major elements; sophisticated systems of crop rotation, highly developed irrigation techniques, and the introduction of a large variety of crops which were studied and catalogued according to the season, type of land and amount of water they require. Numerous encyclopaedias on farming and botany were produced, containing accurate, precise detail.[48][edit]Market economyMain article: Islamic economics in the worldEarly forms of proto-capitalism and free markets were present in the Caliphate,[49] where an early market economy and early form of merchant capitalism was developed between the 8th-12th centuries, which some refer to as "Islamic capitalism".[50] A vigorous monetary economy was created on the basis of the expanding levels of circulation of a stable high-value currency (the dinar) and the integration of monetaryareas that were previously independent. Innovative new business techniques and forms of business organisation were introduced by economists, merchants and traders during this time. Such innovations included early trading companies, credit cards, big businesses, contracts, bills of exchange, long-distance international trade, early forms of partnership (mufawada) such as limited partnerships(mudaraba), and early forms of credit, debt, profit, loss, capital (al-mal), capital accumulation (nama al-mal),[47] circulating capital, capital expenditure, revenue, cheques, promissory notes,[51] trusts (waqf),startup companies,[52] savings accounts, transactional accounts, pawning, loaning, exchange rates,bankers, money changers, ledgers, deposits, assignments, the double-entry bookkeeping system,[53]and lawsuits.[30] Organizational enterprises similar to corporations independent from the state also existed in the medieval Islamic world.[54][55] Many of these early proto-capitalist concepts were adopted and further advanced in medieval Europe from the 13th century onwards.[47]The systems of contract relied upon by merchants was very effective. Merchants would buy and sell oncommission, with money loaned to them by wealthy investors, or a joint investment of several merchants, who were often Muslim, Christian and Jewish. Recently, a collection of documents was found in an Egyptian synagogue shedding a very detailed and human light on the life of medieval Middle Eastern merchants. Business partnerships would be made for many commercial ventures, and bonds ofkinship enabled trade networks to form over huge distances. Networks developed during this time enabled a world in which money could be promised by a bank in Baghdad and cashed in Spain, creating the cheque system of today. Each time items passed through the cities along this extraordinary network, the city imposed a tax, resulting in high prices once reaching the final destination. These innovations made by Muslims and Jews laid the foundations for the modern economic system.Though medieval Islamic economics appears to have been closer to proto-capitalism, some scholars have also found a number of parallels between Islamic economic jurisprudence and communism, including the Islamic ideas of zakat and riba.[56][edit]Industrial growthFurther information: Muslim Agricultural Revolution: Industrial growth and Inventions in the Muslim world Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) introduced the experimental methodto chemistry. He established thechemical industry and perfumeryindustry. Muslim engineers in the Islamic world made a number of innovativeindustrial uses of hydropower, and early industrial uses of tidal power, wind power, steam power,[57] fossil fuels such as petroleum, and early large factory complexes (tiraz in Arabic).[58] The industrial uses of watermills in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, while horizontal-wheeled and vertical-wheeled water mills were both in widespread use since at least the 9th century. A variety of industrial mills were being employed in the Islamic world, including early fulling mills, gristmills, hullers, paper mills, sawmills, shipmills,stamp mills, steel mills, sugar mills, tide mills and windmills. By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic world had these industrial mills in operation, from al-Andalus and North Africa to theMiddle East and Central Asia.[59] Muslim engineers also inventedcrankshafts and water turbines, employed gears in mills and water-raising machines, and pioneered the use of dams as a source of water power, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines.[46] Such advances made it possible for many industrial tasks that were previously driven by manual labour inancient times to be mechanized and driven by machinery instead in the medieval Islamic world. The transfer of these technologies to medieval Europe had an influence on the Industrial Revolution.[60]A number of industries were generated due to the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, including early industries for agribusiness, astronomical instruments, ceramics, chemicals, distillation technologies,clocks, glass, mechanical hydropowered and wind powered machinery, matting, mosaics, pulp and paper, perfumery, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, rope-making, shipping, shipbuilding, silk, sugar, textiles,water, weapons, and the mining of minerals such as sulphur, ammonia, lead and iron. Early large factorycomplexes (tiraz) were built for many of these industries, and knowledge of these industries were later transmitted to medieval Europe, especially during the Latin translations of the 12th century, as well as before and after. For example, the first glass factories in Europe were founded in the 11th century byEgyptian craftsmen in Greece.[61] The agricultural and handicraft industries also experienced high levels of growth during this period.[40][edit]LabourFurther information: Muslim Agricultural Revolution - LabourThe labour force in the Caliphate were employed from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, while both men and women were involved in diverse occupations and economic activities.[62] Women were employed in a wide range of commercial activities and diverse occupations[63] in the primary sector (asfarmers for example), secondary sector (as construction workers, dyers, spinners, etc.) and tertiary sector (as investors, doctors, nurses, presidents of guilds, brokers, peddlers, lenders, scholars, etc.).[64]Muslim women also had a monopoly over certain branches of the textile industry.[63]During the Arab slave trade, slaves were purchased on the frontiers of the Islamic world and then imported to the major centers, where there were slave markets from which they were widely distributed.[65][66][67] Slaves occupied an important place in the economic life of Islamic world.[68][69]Large numbers of slaves were exported from eastern Africa to work in salt mines and labour-intensiveplantations; the best evidence for this is the magnitude of the Zanj revolt in Iraq in the 9th century.[70]Slaves were also used for domestic work,[71] military service,[72] and civil administration.[73] Central andEastern European slaves were generally known as Saqaliba (i.e. Slavs), while slaves from Central Asiaand the Caucasus were often known as Mamluk.[74][edit]TechnologyMain articles: Inventions in the Muslim world, Muslim Agricultural Revolution, and Timeline of Muslim scientists and engineersThe programmable automata ofal-Jazari.A significant number of inventions were produced by medieval Muslim engineers and inventors, such as Abbas Ibn Firnas, theBanū Mūsā, Taqi al-Din, and most notably al-Jazari.Some of the inventions believed to have come from the Islamic Golden Age include the camera obscura, coffee, soap bar, tooth paste, shampoo, pure distillation, liquefaction, crystallization,purification, oxidization, evaporation, filtration, distilled alcohol, uric acid, nitric acid, alembic, valve, reciprocating suction piston pump, mechanized waterclocks, quilting, scalpel, bone saw, forceps, surgical catgut, vertical-axle windmill, inoculation, smallpox vaccine, fountain pen, cryptanalysis,frequency analysis, three-course meal, stained glass and quartz glass, Persian carpet, and celestial globe.[75][edit]UrbanizationFurther information: Muslim Agricultural Revolution: UrbanizationAs urbanization increased, Muslim cities grew unregulated, resulting in narrow winding city streets andneighbourhoods separated by different ethnic backgrounds and religious affiliations. These qualities proved efficient for transporting goods[citation needed] to and from major commercial centres while preserving the privacy valued by Islamic family life. Suburbs lay just outside the walled city, from wealthy residential communities, to working class semi-slums. City garbage dumps were located far from the city, as were clearly defined cemeteries which were often homes for criminals. A place of prayer was found just near one of the main gates, for religious festivals and public executions. Similarly, military training grounds were found near a main gate.Muslim cities also had advanced domestic water systems with sewers, public baths, drinking fountains,piped drinking water supplies,[76] and widespread private and public toilet and bathing facilities.[77] By the 10th century, Cordoba had 700 mosques, 60,000 palaces, and 70 libraries.[21]The average life expectancy in the lands under Islamic rule also experienced an increase, due to the Agricultural Revolution as well as improved medical care. In contrast to the average lifespan in the ancient Greco-Roman world (22-28 years),[78][79] the average lifespan in the early Islamic Caliphate was more than 35 years.[80] The average lifespans of the Islamic scholarly class in particular was much higher: 84.3 years in 10th-11th century Iraq and Persia,[81] 72.8 years in the 11th century Middle East, 69-75 years in 11th century Islamic Spain,[82] 75 years in 12th century Persia,[83] and 59-72 years in 13th century Persia.[84] The Islamic Empire also experienced a growth in literacy, having the highest literacy rate of the Middle Ages, comparable to Athens' literacy in classical antiquity but on a larger scale.[85][edit]SciencesMain article: Islamic scienceFurther information: Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe, Timeline of science and technology in the Islamic world, and List of Muslim scientistsThe traditional view of Islamic science was that it was chiefly a preserver and transmitter of ancient knowledge.[86] For example, Donald Lach argues that modern science originated in Europe as an amalgam of medieval technology and Greek learning.[87] These views have been disputed in recent times, with some scholars suggesting that Muslim scientists laid the foundations for modernscience,[88][89][90][91][92] for their development of early scientific methods and an empirical, experimentaland quantitative approach to scientific inquiry.[93] Some scholars have referred to this period as a "Muslim scientific revolution",[4][94][95][96] a term which expresses the view that Islam was the driving force behind the Muslim scientific achievements,[97] and should not to be confused with the early modernEuropean Scientific Revolution leading to the rise of modern science.[98][99][100] Edward Grant argues that modern science was due to the cumulative efforts of the Hellenic, Islamic and Latin civilizations.[101][edit]Scientific methodFurther information: Islamic science: Scientific methodEarly scientific methods were developed in the Islamic world, where significant progress in methodology was made, especially in the works of Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) in the 11th century, who is considered the pioneer of experimental physics.[93][102] The most important development of the scientific method was the use of experimentation and quantification to distinguish between competing scientific theories set within a generally empirical orientation. Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) wrote the Book of Optics, in which he significantly reformed the field of optics, empirically proved that vision occurred because of light raysentering the eye, and invented the camera obscura to demonstrate the physical nature of light rays.[103][104]Ibn al-Haytham has also been described as the "first scientist" for his introduction of the scientific method,[105] and his pioneering work on the psychology of visual perception[106][107] is considered a precursor to psychophysics and experimental psychology.[108][edit]Peer reviewThe earliest medical peer review, a process by which a committee of physicians investigate the medical care rendered in order to determine whether accepted standards of care have been met, is found in theEthics of the Physician written by Ishaq bin Ali al-Rahwi (854-931) of al-Raha in Syria. His work, as well as later Arabic medical manuals, state that a visiting physician must always make duplicate notes of a patient's condition on every visit. When the patient was cured or had died, the notes of the physician were examined by a local medical council of other physicians, who would review the practising physician's notes to decide whether his/her performance have met the required standards of medical care. If their reviews were negative, the practicing physician could face a lawsuit from a maltreated patient.[30] The first scientific peer review, the evaluation of research findings for competence, significance and originality by qualified experts, was described later in the Medical Essays and Observations published by the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1731. The present-day scientific peer review system evolved from this 18th century process.[109][edit]AstronomyMain article: Islamic astronomyFurther information: Maragheh observatory, Islamic astrology, List of Muslim astronomers, and List of Arabic star namesPhoto taken from medieval manuscript by Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi(1236-1311), a Persian astronomer. The image depicts an epicyclic planetary model.Some have referred to the achievements of the Maragha school and their predecessors and successors in astronomy as a "Maragha Revolution", "Maragha School Revolution" or "Scientific Revolution before the Renaissance".[4] Advances in astronomy by the Maragha school and their predecessors and successors include the construction of the first observatory in Baghdad during the reign ofCaliph al-Ma'mun,[110] the collection and correction of previous astronomical data, resolving significant problems in the Ptolemaic model, the development of universal astrolabes,[111] the invention of numerous other astronomical instruments, the beginning ofastrophysics and celestial mechanics after Ja'far Muhammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir discovered that the heavenly bodies and celestial spheres were subject to the same physical laws as Earth,[112] the first elaborate experiments related to astronomical phenomena and the first semantic distinction between astronomy and astrology byAbū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,[113] the use of exacting empiricalobservations and experimental techniques,[114] the discovery that the celestial spheres are not solid and that the heavens are less dense than the air by Ibn al-Haytham,[115] the separation of natural philosophy from astronomy by Ibn al-Haytham and Ibn al-Shatir,[116] the first non-Ptolemaic models by Ibn al-Haytham and Mo'ayyeduddin Urdi, the rejection of the Ptolemaic model on empirical rather thanphilosophical grounds by Ibn al-Shatir,[4] the first empirical observational evidence of the Earth's rotationby Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī and Ali al-Qushji, and al-Birjandi's early hypothesis on "circular inertia."[117]Several Muslim astronomers also considered the possibility of the Earth's rotation on its axis and perhaps a heliocentric solar system.[91][118] It is known that the Copernican heliocentric model inNicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus was adapted from the geocentric model of Ibn al-Shatir and the Maragha school (including the Tusi-couple) in a heliocentric context,[119] and that his arguments for the Earth's rotation were similar to those of Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī and Ali al-Qushji.[117][edit]ChemistryMain article: Alchemy (Islam)Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan) is considered a pioneer of chemistry,[120][121] as he was responsible for introducing an early experimental scientific method within the field, as well as the alembic, still, retort,[75]and the chemical processes of pure distillation, filtration, sublimation,[122] liquefaction, crystallisation,purification, oxidisation and evaporation.[75]The study of traditional alchemy and the theory of the transmutation of metals were first refuted by al-Kindi,[123] followed by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,[124] Avicenna,[125] and Ibn Khaldun. In his Doubts about Galen, al-Razi was the first to prove both Aristotle's theory of classical elements and Galen's theory ofhumorism false using an experimental method.[126] Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī stated an early version of the law of conservation of mass, noting that a body of matter is able to change, but is not able to disappear.[127]Alexander von Humboldt and Will Durant consider medieval Muslim chemists to be founders of chemistry.[89][91][edit]MathematicsMain article: Islamic mathematicsAmong the achievements of Muslim mathematicians during this period include the development ofalgebra and algorithms by the Persian and Islamic mathematician Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī,[128][129] the invention of spherical trigonometry,[130] the addition of the decimal point notation to the Arabic numerals, the discovery of all the trigonometric functions besides sine, al-Kindi's introduction of cryptanalysis and frequency analysis, al-Karaji's introduction of algebraic calculus andproof by mathematical induction, the development of analytic geometry and the earliest general formula for infinitesimal and integral calculus by Ibn al-Haytham, the beginning of algebraic geometry by Omar Khayyam, the first refutations of Euclidean geometry and the parallel postulate by Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī, the first attempt at a non-Euclidean geometry by Sadr al-Din, the development of symbolic algebra byAbū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī,[131] and numerous other advances in algebra, arithmetic, calculus,cryptography, geometry, number theory and trigonometry. An Arabic manuscript describing the eye, dating back to the 12th century[edit]MedicineMain article: Islamic medicineFurther information: Islamic psychology, Bimaristan, and Ophthalmology in medieval IslamIslamic medicine was a genre of medical writing that was influenced by several different medical systems. The works of ancient Greekand Roman physicians Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Soranus, Celsusand Galen had a lasting impact on Islamic medicine.[132][133][134]Muslim physicians made many significant contributions to medicine, including anatomy, experimental medicine, ophthalmology,pathology, the pharmaceutical sciences, physiology, surgery, etc. They also set up some of the earliest dedicated hospitals,[135]including the first medical schools[136] and psychiatric hospitals.[137]Al-Kindi wrote the De Gradibus, in which he first demonstrated the application of quantification and mathematics to medicine and pharmacology, such as a mathematical scale to quantify the strength of drugs and the determination in advance of the most critical days of a patient's illness.[138] Al-Razi (Rhazes) discovered measles andsmallpox, and in his Doubts about Galen, proved Galen's humorism false.[126]Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis) helped lay the foudations for modern surgery,[139] with his Kitab al-Tasrif, in which he invented numerous surgical instruments, including the first instruments unique to women,[140]as well as the surgical uses of catgut and forceps, the ligature, surgical needle, scalpel, curette,retractor, surgical spoon, sound, surgical hook, surgical rod, and specula,[141] and bone saw.[75] Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen) made important advances in eye surgery, as he correctly explained the process of sight and visual perception for the first time in his Book of Optics.[140]Ibn Sina (Avicenna) helped lay the foundations for modern medicine,[142] with The Canon of Medicine, which was responsible for introducing systematic experimentation and quantification in physiology,[143]the discovery of contagious disease, introduction of quarantine to limit their spread, introduction ofexperimental medicine, evidence-based medicine, clinical trials,[144] randomized controlled trials,[145][146] efficacy tests,[147][148] and clinical pharmacology,[149] the first descriptions on bacteriaand viral organisms,[150] distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisy, contagious nature of tuberculosis, distribution of diseases by water and soil, skin troubles, sexually transmitted diseases, perversions,nervous ailments,[135] use of ice to treat fevers, and separation of medicine from pharmacology.[140]Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) was the earliest known experimental surgeon.[151] In the 12th century, he was responsible for introducing the experimental method into surgery, as he was the first to employ animal testing in order to experiment with surgical procedures before applying them to human patients.[152] He also performed the first dissections and postmortem autopsies on humans as well as animals.[153]Ibn al-Nafis laid the foundations for circulatory physiology,[154] as he was the first to describe thepulmonary circulation[155] and coronary circulation,[156][157] which form the basis of the circulatory system, for which he is considered "the greatest physiologist of the Middle Ages."[158] He also described the earliest concept of metabolism,[159] and developed new systems of physiology andpsychology to replace the Avicennian and Galenic systems, while discrediting many of their erroneous theories on humorism, pulsation,[160] bones, muscles, intestines, sensory organs, bilious canals,esophagus, stomach, etc.[161]Ibn al-Lubudi rejected the theory of humorism, and discovered that the body and its preservation depend exclusively upon blood, women cannot produce sperm, the movement of arteries are not dependent upon the movement of the heart, the heart is the first organ to form in a fetus' body, and the bones forming theskull can grow into tumors.[162] Ibn Khatima and Ibn al-Khatib discovered that infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms which enter the human body.[163] Mansur ibn Ilyas drew comprehensive diagrams of the body's structural, nervous and circulatory systems.[5][edit]PhysicsMain article: Islamic physicsThe study of experimental physics began with Ibn al-Haytham,[164] a pioneer of modern optics, who introduced the experimental scientific method and used it to drastically transform the understanding oflight and vision in his Book of Optics, which has been ranked alongside Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica as one of the most influential books in the history of physics,[165] for initiating a scientific revolution in optics[166] and visual perception.[167]The experimental scientific method was soon introduced into mechanics by Biruni,[168] and early precursors to Newton's laws of motion were discovered by several Muslim scientists. The law of inertia, known as Newton's first law of motion, and the concept of momentum were discovered by Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen)[169][170] and Avicenna.[171][172] The proportionality between force and acceleration, considered "the fundamental law of classical mechanics" and foreshadowing Newton's second law of motion, was discovered by Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi,[173] while the concept of reaction, foreshadowing Newton's third law of motion, was discovered by Ibn Bajjah (Avempace).[174] Theories foreshadowing Newton's law of universal gravitation were developed by Ja'far Muhammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir,[175] Ibn al-Haytham,[176] and al-Khazini.[177] Galileo Galilei's mathematical treatment ofacceleration and his concept of impetus[178] was enriched by the commentaries of Avicenna[171] and Ibn Bajjah to Aristotle's Physics as well as the Neoplatonist tradition of Alexandria, represented by John Philoponus.[179][edit]Other sciencesMain article: Islamic scienceFurther information: Islamic geography, Islamic psychology, Early Muslim sociology, and Historiography of early IslamMany other advances were made by Muslim scientists in biology (anatomy, botany, evolution,physiology and zoology), the earth sciences (anthropology, cartography, geodesy, geography andgeology), psychology (experimental psychology, psychiatry, psychophysics and psychotherapy), and the social sciences (demography, economics, sociology, history and historiography).Other famous Muslim scientists during the Islamic Golden Age include al-Farabi (a polymath), Biruni (a polymath who was one of the earliest anthropologists and a pioneer of geodesy),[180] Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī(a polymath), and Ibn Khaldun (considered to be a pioneer of several social sciences[181] such asdemography,[182] economics,[183] cultural history,[184] historiography[185] and sociology),[186] among others.[edit]Other achievements[edit]ArchitectureMain article: Islamic architectureThe Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, that was built under Mughal rule.Selimiye Mosque, built by Sinan in 1575. Edirne, Turkey.The Great Mosque of Xi'an in China was completed circa740, and the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq was completed in 847. The Great Mosque of Samarra combined the hypostyle architecture of rows of columns supporting a flat base above which a huge spiralingminaret was constructed.The Spanish Muslims began construction of the Great Mosque at Cordoba in 785 marking the beginning of Islamic architecture in Spain and Northern Africa (see Moors). The mosque is noted for its striking interior arches. Moorish architecture reached its peak with the construction of the Alhambra, the magnificent palace/fortress ofGranada, with its open and breezy interior spaces adorned in red, blue, and gold. The walls are decorated with stylized foliage motifs, Arabic inscriptions, and arabesque design work, with walls covered in glazed tiles.Another distinctive sub-style is the architecture of the Mughal Empire in India in the 15-17th centuries. Blending Islamic and Hinduelements, the emperor Akbar constructed the royal city of Fatehpur Sikri, located 26 miles (42 km) west of Agra, in the late 1500s and his grandson Shah Jahan had constructed the mausoleum of Taj Mahal for Mumtaz Mahal in the 1650s, though this time period is well after the Islamic Golden Age.In the Sunni Muslim Ottoman Empire massive mosques with ornate tiles and calligraphy were constructed by a series of sultans including the Süleymaniye Mosque , Sultanahmet Mosque, Selimiye Mosque, and Bayezid II Mosque[edit]ArtsMain article: Islamic artFurther information: Islamic calligraphy, Arabesque, Iranian art, and Persian miniatureSee also: Islamic music, Arabic music, and Persian traditional musicAn Arabic manuscript from the 13th century depicting Socrates(Soqrāt) in discussion with his pupils.The golden age of Islamic (and/or Muslim) art lasted from 750 to the 16th century, when ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, illuminated manuscripts, and woodwork flourished. Lustrous glazing was an Islamic contribution to ceramics. Islamic luster-painted ceramics were imitated by Italian potters during the Renaissance. Manuscript illumination developed into an important and greatly respected art, and portrait miniature painting flourished in Persia. Calligraphy, an essential aspect of written Arabic, developed in manuscripts and architectural decoration.[edit]LiteratureMain articles: Islamic literature, Arabic literature, Arabic epic literature, and Persian literatureThe most well known fiction from the Islamic world was The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights), which was a compilation of many earlier folk tales told by the Persian QueenScheherazade. The epic took form in the 10th century and reached its final form by the 14th century; the number and type of tales have varied from one manuscript to another.[187] All Arabian fantasy tales were often called "Arabian Nights" when translated into English, regardless of whether they appeared in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, in any version, and a number of tales are known in Europe as "Arabian Nights" despite existing in no Arabic manuscript.[187] "Ali Baba" by Maxfield Parrish.This epic has been influential in the West since it was translated in the 18th century, first by Antoine Galland.[188] Many imitations were written, especially in France.[189] Various characters from this epic have themselves become cultural icons in Western culture, such asAladdin, Sinbad and Ali Baba. However, no medieval Arabic source has been traced for Aladdin, which was incorporated into The Book of One Thousand and One Nights by its French translator, Antoine Galland, who heard it from an Arab Syrian Christian storyteller fromAleppo. Part of its popularity may have sprung from the increasing historical and geographical knowledge, so that places of which little was known and so marvels were plausible had to be set further "long ago" or farther "far away"; this is a process that continues, and finally culminate in the fantasy world having little connection, if any, to actual times and places. A number of elements from Arabian mythology and Persian mythology are now common in modernfantasy, such as genies, bahamuts, magic carpets, magic lamps, etc.[189] When L. Frank Baumproposed writing a modern fairy tale that banished stereotypical elements, he included the genie as well as the dwarf and the fairy as stereotypes to go.[190]Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran, is a mythical and heroic retelling of Persian history.Amir Arsalan was also a popular mythical Persian story, which has influenced some modern works of fantasy fiction, such as The Heroic Legend of Arslan.A famous example of Arabic poetry and Persian poetry on romance (love) is Layla and Majnun, dating back to the Umayyad era in the 7th century. It is a tragic story of undying love much like the laterRomeo and Juliet, which was itself said to have been inspired by a Latin version of Layli and Majnun to an extent.[191]Ibn Tufail (Abubacer) and Ibn al-Nafis were pioneers of the philosophical novel. Ibn Tufail wrote the first fictional Arabic novel Hayy ibn Yaqdhan (Philosophus Autodidactus) as a response to al-Ghazali's The Incoherence of the Philosophers, and then Ibn al-Nafis also wrote a novel Theologus Autodidactus as a response to Ibn Tufail's Philosophus Autodidactus. Both of these narratives had protagonists (Hayy inPhilosophus Autodidactus and Kamil in Theologus Autodidactus) who were autodidactic feral childrenliving in seclusion on a desert island, both being the earliest examples of a desert island story. However, while Hayy lives alone with animals on the desert island for the rest of the story in Philosophus Autodidactus, the story of Kamil extends beyond the desert island setting in Theologus Autodidactus, developing into the earliest known coming of age plot and eventually becoming the first example of ascience fiction novel.[159][192]Theologus Autodidactus, written by the Arabian polymath Ibn al-Nafis (1213-1288), is the first example of a science fiction novel. It deals with various science fiction elements such as spontaneous generation,futurology, the end of the world and doomsday, resurrection, and the afterlife. Rather than giving supernatural or mythological explnations for these events, Ibn al-Nafis attempted to explain these plot elements using the scientific knowledge of biology, astronomy, cosmology and geology known in his time. His main purpose behind this science fiction work was to explain Islamic religious teachings in terms of science and philosophy through the use of fiction.[193]A Latin translation of Ibn Tufail's work, Philosophus Autodidactus, first appeared in 1671, prepared byEdward Pococke the Younger, followed by an English translation by Simon Ockley in 1708, as well asGerman and Dutch translations. These translations later inspired Daniel Defoe to write Robinson Crusoe, regarded as the first novel in English.[194][195][196][197] Philosophus Autodidactus also inspired Robert Boyle to write his own philosophical novel set on an island, The Aspiring Naturalist.[198] The story also anticipated Rousseau's Emile: or, On Education in some ways, and is also similar to Mowgli's story inRudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book as well as Tarzan's story, in that a baby is abandoned but taken care of and fed by a mother wolf.[199]Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, considered the greatest epic of Italian literature, derived many features of and episodes about the hereafter directly or indirectly from Arabic works on Islamic eschatology: theHadith and the Kitab al-Miraj(translated into Latin in 1264 or shortly before[200] as Liber Scale Machometi, "The Book of Muhammad's Ladder") concerning Muhammad's ascension to Heaven, and the spiritual writings of Ibn Arabi. The Moors also had a noticeable influence on the works of George Peeleand William Shakespeare. Some of their works featured Moorish characters, such as Peele's The Battle of Alcazarand Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Titus Andronicus and Othello, which featured a Moorish Othello as its title character. These works are said to have been inspired by several Moorishdelegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England at the beginning of the 17th century.[201][edit]MusicThe lute was adopted from the Arab world. 1568 print. Main articles: Islamic music and Arabic musicA number of musical instruments used in Western music are believed to have been derived from Arabic musical instruments: thelute was derived from the al'ud, the rebec (ancestor of violin) from therebab, the guitar from qitara, naker from naqareh, adufe from al-duff,alboka from al-buq, anafil from al-nafir, exabeba from al-shabbaba(flute), atabal (bass drum) from al-tabl, atambal from al-tinbal,[202]the balaban, the castanet from kasatan, sonajas de azófar fromsunuj al-sufr, the conical bore wind instruments,[203] the xelami from the sulami or fistula (flute or musical pipe),[204] the shawm anddulzaina from the reed instruments zamr and al-zurna,[205] the gaitafrom the ghaita, rackett from iraqya or iraqiyya,[206] the harp andzither from the qanun,[207] canon from qanun, geige (violin) fromghichak,[208] and the theorbo from the tarab.[209]A theory on the origins of the Western Solfège musical notationsuggests that it may have also had Arabic origins. It has been argued that the Solfège syllables (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti) may have been derived from the syllables of the Arabic solmization system Durr-i-Mufassal ("Separated Pearls") (dal, ra, mim, fa, sad, lam). This origin theory was first proposed by Meninski in his Thesaurus Linguarum Orientalum(1680) and then by Laborde in his Essai sur la Musique Ancienne et Moderne (1780).[210][211] See as well the gifted Ziryab(Abu l-Hasan 'Ali Ibn Nafi').[edit]PhilosophyMain articles: Islamic philosophy and Early Islamic philosophyFurther information: Logic in Islamic philosophy, Judeo-Islamic philosophies (800 - 1400), and List of Muslim philosophersSee also: Islamic theology, Avicennism, Averroism, Early Muslim sociology, and Historiography of early IslamAverroes, an Arab Muslim polymath is the founder of theAverroism school of philosophy, was influential in the rise of secular thought in Western Europe.[212]Arab philosophers like al-Kindi (Alkindus) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and Persian philosophers like Ibn Sina (Avicenna) played a major role in preserving the works of Aristotle, whose ideas came to dominate the non-religious thought of the Christian and Muslim worlds. They would also absorb ideas from China, and India, adding to them tremendous knowledge from their own studies. Three speculative thinkers, al-Kindi, al-Farabi, and Avicenna (Ibn Sina), fused Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism with other ideas introduced through Islam, such as Kalam and Qiyas. This led to Avicenna founding his own Avicennism school of philosophy, which was influential in both Islamic and Christian lands. Avicenna was also a critic of Aristotelian logic and founder of Avicennian logic, and he developed the concepts of empiricism and tabula rasa, and distinguished between essence and existence.From Spain the Arabic philosophic literature was translated into Hebrew, Latin, and Ladino, contributing to the development of modern European philosophy. The Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, Muslim sociologist-historian Ibn Khaldun, Carthage citizen Constantine the African who translated Greek medical texts, and the Muslim Al-Khwarzimi's collation of mathematical techniques were important figures of the Golden Age.One of the most influential Muslim philosophers in the West was Averroes (Ibn Rushd), founder of theAverroism school of philosophy, whose works and commentaries had an impact on the rise of secular thought in Western Europe.[212] He also developed the concept of "existence precedes essence".[213]Another influential philosopher who had a significant influence on modern philosophy was Ibn Tufail. Hisphilosophical novel, Hayy ibn Yaqdhan, translated into Latin as Philosophus Autodidactus in 1671, developed the themes of empiricism, tabula rasa, nature versus nurture,[214] condition of possibility,materialism,[215] and Molyneux's Problem.[216] European scholars and writers influenced by this novel include John Locke,[217] Gottfried Leibniz,[197] Melchisédech Thévenot, John Wallis, Christiaan Huygens,[218] George Keith, Robert Barclay, the Quakers,[219] and Samuel Hartlib.[198]Al-Ghazali also had an important influence on Jewish thinkers like Maimonides[220][221] and Christianmedieval philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas[222] and René Descartes, who expressed similar ideas to that of al-Ghazali in Discourse on the Method.[223] However, al-Ghazali also wrote a devastating critique in his The Incoherence of the Philosophers on the speculative theological works of Kindi, Farabi and Ibn Sina. The study of metaphysics declined in the Muslim world due to this critique, though Ibn Rushd (Averroes) responded strongly in his The Incoherence of the Incoherence to many of the points Ghazali raised. Nevertheless, Avicennism continued to flourish long after and Islamic philosophers continued making advances in philosophy through to the 17th century, when Mulla Sadra founded his school of Transcendent Theosophy and developed the concept of existentialism.[224]Other influential Muslim philosophers include al-Jahiz, a pioneer of evolutionary thought and natural selection; Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen), a pioneer of phenomenology and the philosophy of science and a critic of Aristotelian natural philosophy and Aristotle's concept of place (topos); Biruni, a critic of Aristotelian natural philosophy; Ibn Tufail and Ibn al-Nafis, pioneers of the philosophical novel; Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi, founder of Illuminationist philosophy; Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, a critic of Aristotelian logic and a pioneer of inductive logic; and Ibn Khaldun, a pioneer in the philosophy of history[186] and social philosophy.[edit]End of the Golden Age[edit]Mongol invasion and Turkic settlementAfter the Crusades from the West that resulted in the instability of the Islamic world during the 11th century, a new threat came from the East during the 13th century: the Mongol invasions. In 1206,Genghis Khan from Central Asia established a powerful Mongol Empire. A Mongolian ambassador to the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad is said to have been murdered,[225] which may have been one of the reasons behind Hulagu Khan's sack of Baghdad in 1258.[226] The Mongols and Turks from Central Asia conquered most of the Eurasian land mass, including bothChina in the east and parts of the old Islamic Caliphate and Persian Islamic Khwarezm, as well asRussia and Eastern Europe in the west, and subsequent invasions of the Levant. Later Mongol leaders, such as Timur, though he himself became a Muslim, destroyed many cities, slaughtered thousands of people and did irreparable damage to the ancient irrigation systems of Mesopotamia. These invasions transformed a settled society to a nomadic one. On the other hand, due to the lack of a powerful leader after the Mongolian invasion and Turkish settlement, some local Turkish kingdoms appeared in the Islamic world and they were in war and fighting against each other for centuries. The most powerful kingdoms among them were the empire of Ottoman Turks, who became Sunni Muslims and the empire of Safavi Turks, who became Shia Muslims. Eventually, they invaded very wide parts of the Islamic world and entered in a competition and a series of bloody wars until the middle of seventeenth century.Traditionalist Muslims at the time, including the polymath Ibn al-Nafis, believed that the Crusades and Mongol invasions were a divine punishment from God against Muslims deviating from the Sunnah. As a result, the falsafa, some of whom held ideas incompatible with the Sunnah, became targets of criticism from many traditionalist Muslims, though other traditionalists such as Ibn al-Nafis made attempts at reconciling reason with revelation and blur the line between the two.[227]Eventually, the Mongols and Turks that settled in parts of Persia, Central Asia, Russia and Anatoliaconverted to Islam, and as a result, the Ilkhanate, Golden Horde and Chagatai Khanates became Islamic states. In many instances, Mongols assimilated into various Muslim Iranian or Turkic peoples (for instance, one of the greatest Muslim astronomers of the 15th century, Ulugh Beg, was a grandson ofTimur). By the time the Ottoman Empire rose from the ashes, the Golden Age is considered to have come to an end.[edit]Causes of declineFurther information: Islamic science: DeclineSee also: Great divergence and European miracle"The achievements of the Arabic speaking peoples between the ninth and twelfth centuries are so great as to baffle our understanding. The decadence of Islam and of Arabic is almost as puzzling in its speed and completeness as their phenomenal rise. Scholars will forever try to explain it as they try to explain the decadence and fall of Rome. Such questions are exceedingly complex and it is impossible to answer them in a simple way." - George Sarton , The Incubation of Western Culture in the Middle East'[228]Islamic civilization, which had at the outset been creative and dynamic in dealing with issues, began to struggle to respond to the challenges and rapid changes it faced from the 12th century onwards, towards the end of the Abbassid rule. Despite a brief respite with the new Ottoman rule, the decline continued until its eventual collapse and subsequent stagnation in the 20th century. Some scholars such as M. I. Sanduk believe that the declination began from around the 11th century and still continued after this.[229]Despite a number of attempts by many writers, historical and modern, none seem to agree on the causes of decline. The main views on the causes of decline comprise the following: political mismanagement after the early Caliphs (10th century onwards), foreign involvement by invading forces and colonial powers (11th century Crusades, 13th century Mongol Empire, 15th century Reconquista, 19th century European colonial empires), and the disruption to the cycle of equity based on Ibn Khaldun's famous model of Asabiyyah (the rise and fall of civilizations) which points to the decline being mainly due to political and economic factors.[2]The North Africa's Islamic civilization collapsed after exhausting its resources in internal fighting and suffering devastation from the invasion of the Bedouin tribes of Banu Sulaym and Banu Hilal.[230][231] TheBlack Death ravaged much of the Islamic world in the mid-14th century. Plague epidemics kept returning to the Islamic world up to the 19th century.[232]There was an increasing lack of tolerance of intellectual debate and freedom of thought, with some seminaries systematically forbidding speculative philosophy, while polemic debates appear to have been abandoned in the 14th century. A significant intellectual shift in Islamic philosophy is perhaps demonstrated by al-Ghazali's late 11th century polemic work The Incoherence of the Philosophers, which lambasted metaphysical philosophy in favor of the primacy of scripture, and was later criticized inThe Incoherence of the Incoherence by Averroes. Institutions of science comprising Islamic universities, libraries (including the House of Wisdom), observatories, and hospitals, were later destroyed by foreign invaders like the Crusaders and particularly the Mongols, and were rarely promoted again in the devastated regions.[233] Not only wasn't new publishing equipment accepted but also wide illiteracy overwhelmed the devastated lands, especially in Mesopotamia. Meanwhile in Persia, due to the Mongol invasions and the plague, the average life expectancy of the scholarly class in Persia had declined from 72 years in 1209 to 57 years by 1242.[84]American economist Timur Kuran proposed an answer why economic development in the Middle East lagged that of the West: Islamic partnership law and inheritance law interacted to keep Middle Eastern enterprises small, never allowing the development of corporate forms.[234][235]Some scholars have come to question the traditional picture of decline, pointing to continued astronomical activity as a sign of a continuing and creative scientific tradition through to the 15th and 16th centuries, with the works of Ibn al-Shatir, Ulugh Beg, Ali Kuşçu, al-Birjandi and Taqi al-Dinconsidered noteworthy examples.[236][237] This was also the case for other fields, such as medicine, notably the works of Ibn al-Nafis, Mansur ibn Ilyas and Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu; mathematics, notably the works of al-Kashi and al-Qalasadi; philosophy, notably Mulla Sadra's transcendent theosophy; and the social sciences, notably Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddimah (1370), which itself points out that though science was declining in Iraq, Al-Andalus and Maghreb, it continued to flourish in Persia, Syria andEgypt during his time.[2][edit]Notes^ Joel L. Kraemer (1992), Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam, p. 1 & 148, Brill Publishers, ISBN 9004072594.^ a b c Ahmad Y Hassan, Factors Behind the Decline of Islamic Science After the Sixteenth Century^ Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samonis (2006). "Arab science in the golden age (750-1258 C.E.) and today", The FASEB Journal 20, p. 1581-1586.^ a b cd George Saliba (1994), A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam, p. 245, 250, 256-257. New York University Press, ISBN 0814780237.^ a b c Howard R. Turner (1997), Science in Medieval Islam, p. 270 (book cover, last page), University of Texas Press, ISBN 0-292-78149-0^ a b Vartan Gregorian, "Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith", Brookings Institution Press, 2003, pg 26-38 ISBN 081573283X^ Arnold Pacey, "Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History", MIT Press, 1990, ISBN 0262660725 pg 41-42^ Bülent Þenay. "Sufism". Retrieved 2007-06-26.^ "Muslim History and the Spread of Islam from the 7th to the 21st century". The Islam Project. Retrieved 2007-06-26.^ Lenn Evan Goodman (2003), Islamic Humanism, p. 155, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195135806.^ Joel L. Kraemer (1992), Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam, Brill Publishers, ISBN 9004072594.^ Ahmad, I. A. (June 3, 2002), "The Rise and Fall of Islamic Science: The Calendar as a Case Study" (PDF), Faith and Reason: Convergence and Complementarity, Al Akhawayn University, retrieved 2008-01-31^ L. Gari (2002), "Arabic Treatises on Environmental Pollution up to the End of the Thirteenth Century", Environment and History 8 (4), pp. 475-488.^ S. P. Scott (1904), History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, 3 vols, J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and London. F. B. Artz (1980), The Mind of the Middle Ages, Third edition revised, University of Chicago Press, pp 148-50.(cf. 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King, "The Astronomy of the Mamluks", Isis, 74 (1983):531-555^ George Saliba, "Writing the History of Arabic Astronomy: Problems and Differing Perspectives (Review Article),Journal of the American Oriental Society, 116 (1996): 709-718.[edit]See alsoGolden age of Jewish culture in SpainIslamic contributions to Medieval Europe Latin translations of the 12th centuryIslamic studies Inventions in the Islamic worldIslamic scienceMuslim Agricultural RevolutionTimeline of science and technology in the Islamic worldList of Islamic studies scholars List of Muslim scientistsList of Arab scientists and scholarsList of Iranian scientists and scholarsMuslim conquests List of Muslim empiresGlobal empireArts Architecture • Art • Calligraphy • Literature • Music • Poetry • PotteryEconomics Economic Jurisprudence • Economic History • Islam and PovertyHistory Timeline • Historiography • Conquests • Golden Age • Agricultural Revolution •Economic History • Contributions to Medieval Europe • European RenaissancePhilosophy Early Philosophy • Modern Philosophy • Theology (Kalam) • Ethics • Logic • Metaphysics •Historiography • Sociology (Medieval Sociology)Science & Technology Timeline • Agricultural Revolution • Alchemy and Chemistry • Astronomy • Geography •Inventions • Mathematics • Medicine (Ophthalmology) • Physics • PsychologyOther fields Feminism • Jurisprudence • Law • Peace • Politics • Sufi Studies (Mysticism)[edit]ReferencesGaudiosi, Monica M. (April 1988), "The Influence of the Islamic Law of Waqf on the Development of the Trust in England: The Case of Merton College", University of Pennsylvania Law Review136 (4): 1231-1261Donald Routledge Hill, Islamic Science And Engineering, Edinburgh University Press (1993), ISBN 0-7486-0455-3Morelon, Régis & Roshdi Rashed (1996), Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, vol. 3,Routledge, ISBN 0415124107Hudson, A. (2003), Equity and Trusts (3rd ed.), Cavendish Publishing, ISBN 1-85941-729-9George Sarton, The Incubation of Western Culture in the Middle East, A George C. Keiser Foundation Lecture, March 29, 1950, Washington DC, 1951Shatzmiller, Maya (1994), Labour in the Medieval Islamic World, Brill Publishers, ISBN 9004098968Shoja-e-din Shafa, Rebirth (1995) (Persian Title: تولدى ديگر)*Shoja-e-din Shafa, After 1400 Years(2000) (Persian Title: پس از 1400 سال[hide] v • d • e Islamic studies