In the Fourth Conference of the Role of Muslim Iranian Scientists in the Advancement of Science, the expert Iraj Nikseresht referred to ‘Shafa Great Encyclopedia’, saying it is an example of the formation of scientific knowledge.
According
to IBNA correspondent, Iraj Nikseresht (Ph.D.), a member of the faculty of the
Institute for History of Science at Tehran University, presented an article
titled “Ibn-e Sina (Avicenna), the Travelling Scientist: Examining the Content
and Formation of the Great Encyclopedia Shafa (Healing)” in the Fourth
Conference on ‘The role of Muslim Iranian Scientists in the Advancement of
Natural Sciences’, held on June 17, 2015.
Ibn-e
Sina, the Travelling Scientist
Pointing
to the factors involved in prosperity of science in the Islamic civilization,
he posed a few questions and asked: “What mechanisms were involved in the
production of science in the Islamic civilization? What obstacles were
encountered by Muslim scientists to generate knowledge? Which tradition was
followed by Islamic scholars and what scientific paradigms affected them? And
what has been their rival’s paradigm? Were scholars in Muslim lands innovative
in science? It is, of course, very important to know who responds to these
questions, and this is a great point to know.”
He
continued that no historian has yet given a convincible answer to these general
questions in different areas. Therefore, we need a great collective effort to
know our own traditions.
Ibn-e
Sina’s Absence in Textbooks
Nikseresht
went on saying that as we live in a modern era, one asks himself about the
knowledge of ancient Iranian tradition and its application. Unfortunately,
there has been no reference made to the knowledge of physics of Ibn-e Sina and
Ibn-e Haytham (Alhazen) in any of the textbooks at different levels.
Source:
IBNA News Agency