[In the essay that follows, originally delivered as a lecture in 1974, Embree considers al-Bīrūnī's contribution to the study of the history of India and claims that his work neither reduces the complexity of Indian civilization to a false simplicity nor loses its clarity in describing a proliferation of beliefs, practices, and events.]

[In the essay that follows, Lawrence contends that al-Bīrūnī's account of Islamic mysticism, specifically Sūfism, exemplifies his approach to knowledge in general—careful observation and documentation in an attempt to comprehend the unfamiliar.]

[In the essay that follows, originally presented at a 1973 conference, Peters discusses al-Bīrūrūni's "literary history" of India which was conceived as a way of providing religious and cultural information for Islamic scholars.]

[In the following essay, originally presented as a lecture to the Iran Society, Barani surveys the major scientific accomplishments of al-Bīrūnī and provides a brief biography.]

[In the essay that follows, originally presented at a 1973 conference, Qudsi contends that al-Bīrūnī primarily drew his scientific achievements from the two sources of knowledge named in the Qur'an—nature and history—and that he contributed to the transmission of scientific practices to modern Europe.]

[In the following essay, originally presented at a 1973 symposium, Youssefl argues that al-Bīrūnīsis distinguished within the context of the Islamic Renaissance for the independence and originality of his thought, as well as for his rigorous attention to scientific objectivity.]

A comprehensive study of the cosmological doctrines of Abū Raihān Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Bīrūnī,1 undoubtedly one of the most learned of Muslim scholars and scientists, is a doubly difficult task because, on the one hand, in those of his works which are still in existence no attempt is made to deal with this subject thoroughly and systematically, and on the other, the philosophical works which he has written, in which he probably treated this subject more fully, are n...

[In the following essay, Ahmad evaluates al-Bīrūnī's accomplishments in geography and astronomy.]

Each discipline of thought has its own code of ethics. A lawyer, a physician or a teacher is supposed to be honest in his profession. Thus honesty is a part of ethics. No religion is without ethical commandments: "Thou shall not kill" or "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". Daily life is also governed by ethical notions which vary, of course, according to the belief system of the community such as, "The end justifies the means", "Might makes r...

This mathematical point may lead us over to the discussion of the scientific methodology of al-Bīrūnī, surely one of the greatest mathematicians of the Middle Ages. To consider his work after that of Ibn al-Haytham will make it easier for us to select the essential features of his approach as a scientist which otherwise tend to get lost in the very extensive and variegated investigations, calculations and historical accounts that make up his major writings. And al-Bīrūnī ...

We find the views resembling Darwinism expounded by Alberuni in his chapter XLVII entitled, "On Vâsudeva and the Wars of the Bhârata," which follows several chapters consecrated to the chronology and characteristics of previous epochs of Indian history, reaching back to mythological times. These chapters depict the period of common harmony in human collectivity, i.e., the so-called "Golden Era." The introduction to the description of the strife that presumably took plac...

Al-Bīrūnī accepts fully the scripturally supported belief that the world was created ex nihilo and rejects completely the arguments of the Greek philosophers for the eternity of the world. Like the theologians who fought against the Greek idea of the eternity of the world because it led to a kind of "naturalism," al-Bīrūnī also devotes much time to combating this idea. According to him, the creation of the world is a manifestation of the power of the Creator...

1 The quotations which follow will be given both in Arabic (Hyderabad, 1958) and in English (E. C. Sachau, trans., Alberuni's India, London, 1910, reprinted, Delhi, 1964). 2 See E. C. Sachau, ed. Kitāb al-āthār al-bāqīya 'an al-qurūn al-khāliya (Chronologie orientalischer Volker von Alberūni), Leipzig, 1878, pp. 211-12; trans., The Chronology of Ancient Nations, pp. 194-195.

The content of merely the section on Hindu philosophy and religion in the India is itself a formidable collection of disparate data. Moreover, A. Jeffery has already provided an adequate description of its main features.16 There remains the task of discerning what qualities of reflection and analysis characterize al-Bīrūnī's data and point beyond the India to enduring problems in cross-cultural studies. al-Bīrūnī is catalogic in the degree that one might...

Although a distressingly big number of the works ascribed to Ibn al-Haytham and Al-Bīrūnī are lost without any hope of recovery, both men—and the destructive forces of the turbulent centuries that divide us from them—were good enough to leave us lists of their own writings and autobiographic reflections. Any study of their scientific works, and especially a comparative evaluation that tries to lay bare the roots and methodological orientations of their science, will therefore...

A central aspect of al-Bīrūnī's methodology is reflected in the structure of the India. The Preface and the Introduction, for instance, contain almost exclusively ethnographic or religious data. Yet most of the book, roughly forty-eight out of the seventy chapters, sets forth a review of the achievements of Indian science in several fields: grammar, metrology, chrestomathy, astrology and astronomy, cosmology and cosmography, chronology and, of course, mathematics. Hence the Preface ...

Whether al-Bīrūnī applied empirical methods to his analysis of ethics in Kitāb al-Jamāhir or not and whether he treated reason as the ultimate authority in religion and whether he was influenced in his treatment of ethics by Greek rationalism and naturalism, and if so in what ways, and whether he treated human nature as geometrical problem like Spinoza or whether he emphasised intrinsic value of the individual like Kant or whether he reduced ethics to calculus like Bentham or p...

1 Much has been written on the pronunciation of al-Bīrūnī's name, whether it is Bairūnī, Berūnī, or Bīrūnī. The choice of Bīrūnī seems most plausible, however, as shown by the arguments presented in the Al-Bīrūnī Commemoration Volume (Calcutta, 1951) and 'Alī Akbar Dehkhodā, Sharhi hāl-i nābighih-i shahīr-i Irān… Bīrūnī (Tehran,...

… 2 The preface of Al-Qânûn al-Mas 'ûdî reproduced in the Appendix 1 (pp. 225-234) of my "Life of Al-Bīrūnī" (Urdu), 2nd Edition, Aligarh, 1927.… 3 As has actually been done by Yâqût in his Irshâdu 'lArîb, Vol. VI (pp. 308-314) (Gibb Memorial Edition), & Vol. XVII, pp. 188-194, (Cairo Edition), where he cites Al-Bīrūnī's literary works and also quotes several pas...

The phenomenon of tides and tidal currents had been well studied in the Middle Ages and a number of treatises had been written on the subject. But the credit for treating the subject in a logical manner goes to Alberuni. He realized that tides are produced by the attractive power of the Sun and the moon. He emphatically says that the gravitational pull of the moon is far greater than that of the Sun as the former is closer to the earth. However, the part played by the Sun in producing this phenomenon is als...

History of science is a relatively young academic discipline in modern institutions of learning; the individual sciences have grown hypertrophically, leaped forward to magnificent achievements, but also into ever greater independence and isolation. Man has been unable to catch up with these breath-taking advances, to integrate them into a unified human consciousness, the essential condition for an unrestricted and wholesome participation in all the macro- and microcosmic processes on which man's enti...

1 On the relations between Mahmūd and al-Bīrūnī, see E. C. Sachau, trans., Albīrūnī's India, London, 1910, reprinted Delhi, 1964; I, p. xi; E. G. Browne, trans., Chahār Maqāla of Nizāmī-i-'Arudī, London, 1921; pp. 65-67; and E. J. Kennedy, "Al-Bīrūnī"a in C. C. Gillespie, Dictionary of Scientific Biography II, p. 150. 2 E. J. Kennedy, op. cit., p. 152.

In fact, if we look at Alberuni's supposed prototype of some still poorly embryonic notion of natural selection in the light of all the further development of this doctrine, we find that his position differs from all those who come after him in that it was completely bereft of any connection with the idea of evolution. In chapters II to XII of the first volume of the India no trace of the idea in the purely biological sense of the word (even as concerned with the possibility of some phylogenetical im...

1 Cf. Kitāb al-Tafhīm li-avā'il Sinā'at al-Tanjīm, ed. Jalāl Homāyi (Tehran: Ministry of Education, 1939), pp. III, VI, LIX. Hereafter cited as Al-Taihīm. 2 Cf. D. J. Boilot, L'Oeuvre d'al-Bīrūnī: Essai Bibliographique, MIDEO, II (1955), 161-256 and III (1956), 391-396.

Ahmad, S. Maqbul. "Al-Bīrūnī as a Synthesizer and Transmitter of Scientific Knowledge." Indian Journal of the History of Science, Vol. 10, No. 2, November, 1975, pp. 244-8. Argues that al-Bīrūnī drew on the scientific achievements of India and the Islamic Renaissance and took as his guiding principle the scientific method rather than "any theological or mythological" basis.

There is a great deal of controversy as discussed in this Congress on the question of the birth place of al-Bīrūnī. Some of the early Arabic writers claim that al-Blrianhailed from Sind (now a province of Pakistan), and Bīrūnī was a town in Sind. The two primary Arab sources among others to be cited are Ibn Abī Usaybo'ah and Shahrazūrī. They, in their books Tabqāt al-Atibbā (vol. 2) and Akhbār al-Hukamā' respectively...

1 This date given by Sachau in the preamble of his Chronology of Ancient Nations has been questioned by Taqī ud-Dīn al-Hilīlī in his Die Eilcitung Zu al-Bīrūnī Steinbuch, Leipzig 1941, p. VII. He, on the authority of Professor Krenkow says that Sachau's date is not in agreement with al-Bīrīnī's statement who says himself in the introduction to Kitāb al-Saydanah, that he was already eighty years at that time, which con...

[In the following excerpt, Kazmi contends that al-Bīrūnī combines popular, historical, and religious beliefs with scientific observation, particularly in his studies of the hydrosphere and atmosphere.]

As regards the origin of the seas in the initial stage of Creation he believed that it was done under a Divine Plan. Initially when the earth was created out of void and chaos, God purposely elevated some portions above the surface of the water so that the sunken areas where the water remained accumulated became seas.57 The continuous motion of the Sun and other heavenly bodies cause upper air circulation in water and thus redistribution of water amongst the seas always goes on. It is a significa...

Al-Bīrūnī was born in 973 A.D. near Khwārazm, a region south of the Aral Sea in the present-day Soviet Union. Taught by eminent scientists in his native region, he had already completed his first astronomical experiments by the age of seventeen. Political disturbances in the vicinity of Khwārazm, however, required him to leave the land of his birth, and begin the life of an itinerant scholar (—a pattern recurrently familiar to learned men in medieval Islam and one that s...

In the light of the foregoing discussions one can easily decide whether al-Bīrūnī was a good Muslim, a true and devoted believer or a bad Muslim as Professor Sachau maintained. In the preface (English edition) of Kitāb al-Âthâr al-Bāqiyah'an al-Qurūn al-Khāliyah (by al-Blriin) edited by Professor Sachau, the editor has claimed that al-Bīrūnī was (1) a bad Muslim (2) a despiser of the Arabs and of Arabic sciences and finally (3) he ...

1 Sir Henry Sumner Maine, Village Communities in the East and West (London: John Murray, 1890), p. 206. 2 Baburnama, translated by A. S. Beveridge, ed. (London: Luzac, 1969), pp. 518-520.

1 Crombie, A. C.; Robert Grosseteste and the Origins of Experimental Science, 1100 - 1700; Oxford, 1953. 2 The reason might be that both men wrote commentaries on the Almagest.

[In the following essay, Wilczynski examines the theory of natural selection as it is discussed by al-Bīrūnī in his study of Indian philosophy and history.]

1 G. Sarton, History of Science, p. 707. 2 Islamic Culture, Hyderabad Deccan, Oct. 1932, p. 528.

Alberuni took full cognizance of the importance of winds and of their circulation in the distribution of such phenomena as rainfall and temperature but he little realized that winds are caused by differences in atmospheric pressure. He holds that the winds blow because it is in their nature to do so, just as it is in the nature of the earth to attract, or of the fire to burn, or of the water to flow.84 Thus, like the Hindus, he attributes to winds a divine origin. Just as God created the earth in...

The shortcomings to al-Bīrūnīin's description of Indian thought are more obvious to us now than to earlier generations of Western and Eastern scholars. The tacit value of non-literate elements, expressed in myth, magic and ritual, has been impressed on a global readership through the work of anthropological researchers such as Sir J. Frazer and E. E. Evans-Pritchard. As an elitist, al-Bīrūnī prized literacy, adhering mainly to texts for his information on Indian cu...

As mentioned earlier, Alberuni asserts that water being the basic need for life, God created a reservoirs of it in the form of oceans. However, as the habitations of man and animals are often far away from these reservoirs and also as they need fresh water, God has 'designed the continuous motion of the Sun and the moon, and commanded them both… to evaporate it (the water), and to lift its vapour upwards"89 As these water vapours mix with the air above, the air becomes moist ...

Most commentators on al-Bīrūnī's work emphasize the purity and strength of his desire for knowledge at a time when science and religion were deeply intertwined. His mastery of several languages in addition to Arabic, including Sanskrit, Greek, and Persian, enabled him to achieve a broader sense of historical and cultural knowledge and to compile information on the scientific achievements of a variety of thinkers and traditions. According to recent scholars, his unprejudiced view and...

Alberuni has made a clear distinction between a gulf and an estuary. An estuary, according to him, is an inlet or an arm of the sea, specially the wide mouth of a river, where the tide meets the current. His definition of an estuary is very near to our present definition. He admits that an estuary does have a similarity with a gulf but it is not formed like the latter by the penetration of the ocean into the continent. He remarks that an estuary is 'formed by an expanse of flowing water, which is cha...

Alberuni considers the Sun as the source of heat on the surface of the earth but he finds that this heat is not uniformly distributed. This uneven distribution of heat, according to Alberuni, is due to several reasons, one of them being the distance of proximity of the place to the equator.81 The equator receives the greatest amount of heat because there the Sun always shines overhead. The increase in distance from the equator means a decrease in the amount of heat and vice versa. The other impor...

Al-Bīrūinī produced well over one hundred scholarly works, of which twenty-two have survived. His major works are primarily devoted to astronomy, but other prominent texts include his massive work entitled India and The Chronology of Ancient Nations. The latter studies the significance of time, particularly temporal cycles, in relation to religious beliefs—not only of Islam, but also of Judaism and Christianity. In his major works on astronomy—the Kitab fi istiāb al-wuj...

Atmosphere, according to Alberuni, is that part of space which is just above the lithosphere. It is the envelope which covers the earth from all sides. He considers the atmosphere of great consequence to man because most of the meteorological phenomena occur there. He also finds a close relationship between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere and describes the lithosphere as the connecting link between these two,78 meaning thereby that the heat of the Sun lifts up moisture from the sea, which is c...

[In the following essay, originally presented as a conference paper in 1973, Nadvi asserts that the moral philosophy of al-Bīrūnī is grounded in revelation rather than empirical factors, unlike his scientific contributions. Nadvi also contrasts al-Bīrūnī's work with the ethical thought of Immanuel Kant and the Utilitarians.]

Al-Bīrūnī was born and raised in the town of Khwarazm, which lies south of the Aral Sea; his family history and early life remain obscure, but his interest in scientific experimentation developed at a young age and was cultivated through formal studies with a well-known mathematician, Abu Nasr Mansur. Due to civil unrest, al-Bīrūnī was forced to interrupt his formal studies and soon found a patron in the ruler of Gurgan, to whom he dedicated his earliest extant work, the ...

The significance of hydrosphere in the eyes of Alberuni cannot be overemphasised. The importance of water for human beings was brought home to him by the religious scriptures such as those of the Hindus, the Jews, the Christians, the Magians, the Sabians and the Muslims as well as by his own experiences. Almost all religious books informed him that water existed before all Creation. For instance, he notes in the Torah that when the earth was without form and void the spirit of God was dwelling upon the surf...

There can be no doubt that Darwin was not acquainted with Alberuni's work itself, or even aware of its existence, since there is no mention of it in the Historical Sketch devoted to his forerunners that forms the introduction to his Origin of Species, or among the data concerned with the sources of our natural science collected by him in his Variation of Plants and Animals under Domestication. This could not be expected insofar as Alberuni's work was printed by Her Majesty's Indian Offi...

Alberuni's writings contain a very significant note regarding the fluctuations of sea level which occurred in the past. He firmly believes that the level of the seas have never remained constant over long periods of time. We gather from his discussions that the levels of seas are connected with isostatic adjustments and whenever there is any considerable change in the distribution of landmasses, its effect upon the seas is pronounced, and this happens mainly because the earth has to keep its stabilit...

Alberuni remarked that brackishness of some degree is characteristic of sea water. God gave salt to sea water on purpose and the purpose was to prevent the water from turning foul and to guard against putrefaction which is harmful to living beings.61 As for the distribution of salinity in the oceans, Alberuni does not directly refer to this matter in his discussion but we gather from one of his statements that the distribution of salinity in oceans is related with the distribution of temperature ...

1 Danneman, Radl, Singer, Nordenskiold, O'Leary. 2 Alberuni's India An account of the religion, philosophy, literature, geography, chronology, astronomy, customs, laws and astrology of India about A.D. 1030. An English edition with notes and indices. By Dr. Edward Sachau. 2 vols. (London: Trubner and Co., 1887).

…54 [Alberuni, Kitab Tahdid Nihayat al-Amakin li Tashih Masafatal-Masakin, Tr. Ali, J., Beirut, 1967], p. 15 55 ibid., p. 24

A study of the various views and concepts presented by Alberuni in physical geography, shows that although he sometimes succumbs to popular thinking, he usually endeavoured to adopt a scientific approach. There are instances where he refuses to accept facts which had been established scientifically. For instance, it was proved by one of his contemporaries that the heavens do not move but it is the earth which moves on its axis in its diurnal motion. Yet Alberuni shrewdly dispenses with this idea saying that...

In Alberuni's descriptions one comes across the assertion regarding the permanency of the existence of water expanses on the surface of the earth. He explains that 'the sea yields to constant evaporation but it can dry out only if its water shifts to another location. However, the idea of its total disappearance should be completely dismissed as impossible for that would lead to the destruction and extinction of all life. Water is one of the four basic elements on the earth and it cannot disap...

A renowned medieval Islamic scientist, al-Bīrūnī exemplified the cosmopolitan and scholarly atmosphere of what is known as the Islamic Renaissance, but his work remained unknown to the West until translations began to appear in the nineteenth century. Al-Bīrūnī was a prolific writer who generally exhibited a fierce desire for truth free of superstition and opinion and a rich understanding of the historical development of scientific theories and concepts. He also, even in ...

[In the following essay, originally presented as a conference paper in 1973, Heinen considers al-Bīrūnī and al-Haytham, two Islamic scholars of the tenth century, paying specific attention to their methodology in the early development of scientific practices.]

Although al-Bīrūnī remained almost unknown to Western scholars until the modern period, he was a well-known and celebrated scholar in his own time, and his work has been preserved in Islamic centers of learning. One of the first of his works to be translated and published in English was India in 1888. Many manuscripts remain unpublished, but portions of most of al-Bīrūnī's have appeared in translation. A great deal of interest by Western scholars was sparked by the...

It can safely be concluded that the main sources of al-Bīrūnī's ethics were revelational without being influenced by rationalism or naturalism and he was a true devout Muslim and not a bad Muslim as Professor Sachau had thought. Al-Bīrūnī's refusal to apply empiricism to ethics and moral philosophy does not minimise his position as a great scientist and empiricist in other fields of science. Human history is indebted to him for his contribution to mathematic...

[In the essay that follows, Nasr provides biographical and textual information on al-Bīrūnī and discusses al-Bīrūnī's understanding of history and philosophy.]

[In the essay that follows, originally presented at a 1973 symposium, Lawrence studies the "humanistic methodology" employed in al-Bīrūnī's India, a treatise on religious, historical, philosophical and cultural topics, and argues that al-Bīrūnī's elitist presuppositions limit the accuracy and scope of this otherwise monumental and masterful work.]

The Chronology of Ancient Nations [Kitāb al Āthāru 'l-Bāqiah (history) [Edward C. Sachau, ed.] 1879 India [Tahqiq mā li 'I-hind] (history) [Edward C. Sachau, trans.] 1888

1 Unless otherwise specified, this and all subsequent citations are from Eduard C. Sachau's Alberuni's India, London, 1910. 2 No. 150 of Dr. Ahmed Saeed Khan's bibliography.