Posted on 02/22/2007 6:15:51 PM PST by xcamel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Magnificently sophisticated geometric patterns in mediaeval Islamic architecture indicate their designers achieved a mathematical breakthrough 500 years earlier than Western scholars, scientists said on Thursday.
By the 15th century, decorative tile patterns on these masterpieces of Islamic architecture reached such complexity that a small number boasted what seem to be "quasicrystalline" designs, Harvard University's Peter Lu and Princeton University's Paul Steinhardt wrote in the journal Science.
Only in the 1970s did British mathematician and cosmologist Roger Penrose become the first to describe these geometric designs in the West. Quasicrystalline patterns comprise a set of interlocking units whose pattern never repeats, even when extended infinitely in all directions, and possess a special form of symmetry.
"Oh, it's absolutely stunning," Lu said in an interview. "They made tilings that reflect mathematics that were so sophisticated that we didn't figure it out until the last 20 or 30 years."
Lu and Steinhardt in particular cite designs on the Darb-i Imam shrine in Isfahan, Iran, built in 1453.
Islamic tradition has frowned upon pictorial representations in artwork. Mosques and other grand buildings erected by Islamic architects throughout the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere often are wrapped in rich, intricate tile designs setting out elaborate geometric patterns.
The walls of many mediaeval Islamic structures display sumptuous geometric star-and-polygon patterns. The research indicated that by 1200 an important breakthrough had occurred in Islamic mathematics and design, as illustrated by these geometric designs.
"You can go through and see the evolution of increasing geometric sophistication. So they start out with simple patterns, and they get more complex" over time, Lu added.
ISLAMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
While Europe was mired in the Dark Ages, Islamic culture flourished beginning in the 7th century, with achievements over numerous centuries in mathematics, medicine, engineering, ceramics, art, textiles, architecture and other areas.
Lu said the new revelations suggest Islamic culture was even more advanced than previously thought.
While travelling in Uzbekistan, Lu said, he noticed a 16th century Islamic building with decagonal motif tiling, arousing his curiosity as to the existence of quasicrystalline Islamic tilings.
The sophistication of the patterns used in Islamic architecture has intrigued scholars worldwide.
Emil Makovicky of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark in the 1990s noticed the relationship between these designs and a form of quasicrystalline designs. Makovicky was interested in particular in an 1197 tomb in Maragha, Iran.
Joshua Socolar, a Duke university physicist, said it is unclear whether the mediaeval Islamic artisans fully understood the mathematical properties of the patterns they were making.
"It leads you to wonder whether they kind of got lucky," Socolar said in an interview. "But the fact remains that the patterns are tantalizingly close to having the structure that Penrose discovered in the mid-70s."
"And it will be a lot of fun if somebody turns up bigger tilings that sort of make a more convincing case that they understood even more of the geometry than the present examples show," Socolar said.
Two terrorists are traveling in a car bomb at 45 mph. If they have to be at their destination in 2.5 hours and it's 10:00, what time will the car bomb explode?
Oh, the islamists do quite believe they're striving very hard for a great islamic civilization. Only problem is that what they consider 'great' is pretty much some of the most miserable existence imaginable.
How much Western technology and science is based on non-European origins? (rhetorical) Imagine Columbus traveling to the Americas without his ship (of Arabic design), gunpowder, paper, and (if they used one) a compass.
The libs seem to be more than willing to give them ours.
You can see photos of the cited Darb I Imam shrine at this link:
http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.tcl?site_id=8380
I could list a number of Arabic philosophers (then considered rightfully to be scientists), who wrote amazing philosophic and theological treatises.
But I guess for some, ignorance is bliss. Good to see you posting on this thread, btw.....
Do you think gotribe got the brilliance of his remark?
See #37.
Is the picture on the right from [King] of the Rings, too (the one from your earlier post definitely was)?
looks like ithas a lot of bullet holes in it.
You are right, and even the math and science they get credited for is mostly just Greek learning which they copied. They should get credit only for maintaining the magnificent works of the ancients, but very little was invented by them.
Exactly. If anyone associated with such crystalline designs possessed any more significant understanding of the geometry and mathematics associated with it, why did it end there? Why is there no further mathematical tradition associated with this, just a 500+ year lapse??
Yes, these are remarkable and intricate patterns of tiles, beautiful in their own way. No, they do not represent some great leap forward in 15th century mathematics.
That's great! What they do with their discovery? Make more rugs?
They still don't have the technology to drill for oil.
Then the eeville Zionists came and stole all the Moslems' inventions, their rocket ships, their polio vaccines, the advanced hospitals, their airports, their railroads, their steam engines, their microwave ovens, their cell phones, their Intel chips, and left them a bunch of sand and their left hands to wipe with.
Guessing.....yes.
Read Bernard Lewis's book "What Went Wrong".
Explains it very well.
Alderaan is a multiple "system", but not in the usual sense of gravitationally bound objects. It's two pairs of stars, one of the pairs we know as "Castor and Pollux", aka "The Twins".
From Wikipedia
Alderaan is a unused name for the two pairs of stars α and β Canis Minoris (Procyon and Gomeisa) and α and β Geminorum (Castor and Pollux). The name was taken from Arabic al-dhirÄ`ain الذراعين (= "the two forearms" or "the two front paws" or "the two cubit measuring rods").
Also from Wikipedia
Aldebaran from the Arabic( الدبران al-dabarÄn) meaning "the follower", (α Tau / α Tauri / Alpha Tauri) is the brightest star in the constellation Taurus and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. Because of its location in the head of Taurus, it has historically been called the Bull's Eye. Its name is derived from the Arabic الدبران al-dabarÄn meaning "the follower", a reference to the way the star follows the Pleiades star cluster in its nightly journey across the sky. Aldebaran has the appearance of being the brightest member of the more scattered Hyades cluster, which is the closest star cluster to Earth. However, it is merely located in the line of sight between the Earth and the Hyades, and is actually an independent star.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.