Jak islámští vynálezci nezměnili svět: Difference between revisions

{{Quote||Způsob separace kapalin skrze rozdíl v jejich teplotě varu, byl vymyšlen kolem roku 800 předním islámským vědcem, Jabir ibn Hayyan, který transformoval alchymii na chemii, vynalezl mnoho základních procesů a aparát, který používáme dodnes- liquefaction, crystallisation, distillation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation a filtration. Stejně tak objevil sulphuric and nitric kyselinu, vynalezl alembic still, giving the world intense rosewater and other perfumes and alcoholic spirits (although drinking them is haram, or forbidden, in Islam). Ibn Hayyan emphasised systematic experimentation and was the founder of modern chemistry.<ref name="Paul Vallely"></ref>}}

Speculation has linked some Egyptian illustrations with distillation, but the earliest evidence for its invention so far is a distillation apparatus and terra-cotta perfume containers recently identified in the Indus Valley (pre-Islamic Pakistan) dating from around 3,000 BC, and Miriam the Prophetess (also known as “Maria the Jewess”) invented the kerotakis, an early still dated around  the 1^st century AD.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20080822204500/http://www.chemheritage.org/EducationalServices/pharm/antibiot/activity/distil.htm Fractional Distillation], The Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2002</ref> The first firm documentary evidence for distillation in the West comes from Greek historian Herodotus' record of the method of distilling turpentine dated 425 BC.<ref>John Ferguson, [http://web.archive.org/web/20011224081242/http://www.dunromin.demon.co.uk/aromatherapy/oils_history.htm History of distillation and essential oils], Aromatherapy Organisation Council</ref> Also, the origins of whisky is dated to the 5^th century AD, introduced to Ireland by Saint Patrick (390–461 AD), the patron of the Irish.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.celtic-whisky.com/histrya.htm|2=2011-02-07}} History of Whisky and of Distillation (I)], Celtic Whisky Compagnie</ref>So the Arabs may have improved upon the process of distillation some 3500 years later, but they most definitely did not invent it.

It is also of great interest to note that the authorship of many books previously attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan (including "his" most famous work, ''Summa Perfectionis'') have now been attributed to an unknown European alchemist, sometimes to the little-known Paul of Taranto, writing shortly after 1300 AD.<ref>Newman, William (1985). "New Light on the Identity of Geber", Sudhoffs Archiv fuer die Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften.</ref> According to the Encyclopædia Britannica:

"''[Geber was an] unknown author of several books that were among the most influential works on alchemy and metallurgy during the 14th and 15th centuries.''

''The name Geber, a Latinized form of Jābir, was adopted because of the great reputation of the 8th-century Arab alchemist Jābir ibn Ḥayyān. A number of Arabic scientific works credited to Jābir were translated into Latin during the 11th to 13th centuries. Thus, when an author who was probably a practicing Spanish alchemist began to write in about 1310, he adopted the westernized form of the name, Geber, to give added authority to his work, which nevertheless reflected 14th-century European alchemical practices rather than earlier Arab ones.''

''Four works by Geber are known: Summa perfectionis magisterii (The Sum of Perfection or the Perfect Magistery, 1678), Liber fornacum (Book of Furnaces, 1678), De investigatione perfectionis (The Investigation of Perfection, 1678), and De inventione veritatis (The Invention of Verity, 1678). They are the clearest expression of alchemical theory and the most important set of laboratory directions to appear before the 16th century. Accordingly, they were widely read and extremely influential in a field where mysticism, secrecy, and obscurity were the usual rule.''"<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/227632/Geber|2=2011-02-07}} Geber], ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref>