History and Philosophy of Islamic Science

The essays presented in The History and Philosophy of Islamic Science discuss the principles behind the different sciences cultivated in the Islamic world from the third century of the Islamic era onwards and the place of science in relation to other branches of Islamic learning. In defining what Islamic science means, Professor Osman Bakar shows how these sciences are organically related to the fundamental teachings of Islam. Covering all the natural and mathematical sciences, The History and Philosophy of Islamic Science illustrates what Islamic science shares with modern science. Professor Osman Bakar also highlights where the Islamic approach to science differs from the secular, modern approach.

Discusses the sciences cultivated in the Islamic world from the ninth century to today, examining the place of science in relation to other branches of Islamic learning.

Professor Dato' Dr Osman Bakar is Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs) of the University of Malaya, Malaysia and an authority on Islamic science. He is the author of Classification of Knowledge in Islam published by The Islamic Texts Society.

Part One: The Epistemological Foundation of Islamic Science

Religious Consciousness and the Scientific Spirit in Islamic Tradition

The Question of Methodology in Islamic Science

The Place of Doubt in Islamic Epistemology: al-Ghazzali's Philosophical Experience

Part Two: Man, Nature, and God in Islamic Science

The Unity of Science and Spiritual Knowledge: The Islamic Experience

The Atomistic Conception of Nature in Ash'arite Theology

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Islamic Medicine

Part Three: Islamic Science and the West

The Influence of Islamic Science on Medieval Christian Conceptions of Nature

Umar Khayyam's Criticism of Euclid's Theory of Parallels

Part Four: Islam and Modern Science

Islam and Bioethics

Muslim Intellectual Responses to Modern Science

Islam, Science and Technology: Past Glory, Present Predicaments, and the Shaping of the Future

Appendix: Designing a Sound Syllabus for Courses on Philosophy of Applied and Engineering Sciences in a 21st Century Islamic University