History of Science: Al-Khwarizmi and Abu'l-Hamid Ibn Turk

Вашему вниманию предлагается большая работа (68 страниц) 'Al-Khwarizmi, Abu'l-Hamid Ibn Turk and the place of Central Asia in the history of science and culture' на английском языке. Работа может быть условно поделена на три части.

В первой части речь пойдет о великом математике аль-Хорезми. Среди прочего обсуждаются вопросы приоритета в становлении алгебры как самостоятельной математической дисциплины - аль-Хорезми или Абулхамид ибн Тюрк? - а также влияние греческой и вавилонской математических традиций в работах аль-Хорезми. Освещены некоторые любопытные моменты биографии ученого (в частности работа в качестве посла Халифата в Хазарии).

Вторая часть посвящена роли Центральной Азии – под термином 'Центральная Азия' автор понимает обширный регион от Пакистана до Кавказа и от Хорасана до Сибири – в развитии мусульманского мира: от взаимовлияния цетральноазиатской и китайской научных школ до вклада тюрков в культуру раннего Ислама (декоративное искусство / бумажное производство / мавзолеи / госпитали).

В третьей части речь пойдет о становлении индо-арабской системы исчисления (арабских цифр). Вызывают интерес рассуждения автора о происхождении данной системы в которой автор усматривает угро-финнский и тюркский след!

Не все в этой работе кажется бесспорным но читается с огромным интересом. Приведем несколько цитат:

Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), in his well-known Muqaddima states in a categorical manner that in the fields of science and learning (intellectual endeavours) the part played by the Arabs was a very minor one, while that of the non-Arabs, i. e., ajams was very substantial and outstanding. There is no doubt that Ibn Khaldun exaggerates the little importance he attributes to the contribution of the Arabs to intellectual pursuits of medieval Islam, but it is equally true that he makes a remarkably apt observation when he emphasizes the part played by non-Arabs of Eastern Islam and Central Asia in an unequivocal manner.

Indeed, it is a fact that Central Asia was the home of a great majority of the most outstanding Islamic thinkers and scientists such as Abdu'l-Hamîd ibn Turk, Farghânî, Fârâbi, Ibn Sînâ, Abu'l-Wafâ, Beyrûnî, Gazâlî, Umar Khayyâm, and Nasîru'd-Dîn Tûsî. Certain scholars are wont to tie up this situation solely with the Persian elements of the population of Central Asia, or, those that may be considered as relatives of the Persians. But this attitude is not sufficiently reasonable. In fact, Persia itself was not, as a region, so much in the forefront of the countries giving rise to the production of scientists and thinkers, when compared to Central Asia, i. e., to the countries in the east and northeast of Persia itself.

Arab conquests in Central Asia brought the boundaries of the Muslim World closer to China. But direct contact between Arab and Chinese forces was rare, and the Battle of Talas in 751 A.D. marked the end of such rare direct military encounters. The Turkish element of the population of Central Asia acted as intermediary between whatever contacts the Muslim World had with China. Whether Muslim or non-Muslim, Turks appear as the major element of Central Asia's population. Modern scholarship seems to have exaggerated the importance of the Indo-European elements of Asia's population.

According to Zeki Velidi Togan, a truly outstanding scholar in not only the fields of Turkish medieval Islam and Central Asia but also a foremost contributor to our knowledge of Al-Beyrûnî, Al-Beyrûnî considered the civilized world to be composed of two major parts, the East and the West. The Chinese, the Turks, and the people of India made up the East in his classification, and the World of Islam was a continuation of the Western civilization which was based on the classical Greek civilization. According to Zeki Velidi Togan, Al-Beyrûnî believed that the acceptance of the Muslim religion by the Turks caused a considerable expansion of the Western civilization, and that this constituted a great gain for humanity as a whole and especially for the cause of science.

Об авторе: Aydın Sayılı (1913-1993) – известный турецкий ученый-историк и (если я понял правильно) первый выпускник докторантуры кафедры истории науки Гарварда.