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.
developed post seventh century?
Did you intend to use forum in your comment, or is thread a more accurate term?
(As a coherent philosopher, she was on the side of Averroes. :)
Sounds like the same writer that found "complex fractals" in the weavings of primitive African tribes, and upped their mathematical accomplishments to greater than that of Euclid, Godel, Turing, and Newton.
btt 4 later
The Islamic world invented zero so they could adequately describe their economic growth centuries later.
It would depend a lot on the timing, I believe. For me, it was tough for anything to compete with the Atari and Star Wars items received that same year.
What does the design of tiles have to do with mathematics as such? Parts of plants often have fractal forms -- this doesn't mean that your house plant is the next coming of Einstein. I'm perfectly willing to give credit when it's due, and the Arabs did have their famous mathematicians, but during the last few decades there has been more and more of this kind desparate grasping at straws by politically correct historians.
Supposedly you can tell their authenticity is there is a flaw--another Islamic thing: no creature is perfect. From a Christian view, this is almost also true, but it could be a bit arrogant to figure that you have to make a flaw in your rug--there will be one in there even if you try for a perfect rug.
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:w4LbP6_iW3rvJM:http://www.utopiasprings.com/chartes.jpg
The Mogul Empire in India stole lots of things - like the number zero. India is the place where the Arabs got their math smarts. Attributing invention of mathematics to Arabs is to put the cart before the horse.
I see nothing in the article that indicates that the muslims knew the mathematical expression(s) underlying the patterns.`The ancient Egyptions knew that 5^2=3^2 + 4^2 but never figuered out C^2=A^2 + B^2
Plants are not made by human creatures; tile designs are.
Status of Muslim Societies around the World:
...there are several factors for the backwardness of the Muslim society. First and foremost is their illiteracy in general and women illiteracy in particular. Another major reason of Muslim fall is the fact that hardly 16% of population is involved in industrial production. It is important to note that 60% of Christian population is engaged in industry. High population growth is another major factor for Muslim backwardness because this rapid population rise neutralizes whatever economic development takes place in Muslim Societies. Human Development Index prepared by UNDP gives a very dismal picture of the status of literacy, health and economy of Muslim nations. In the first 25 best countries listed under HDI (2002), no Muslim country figured in the list. Barring few small oil producing Muslim nations, majority of the Islamic world lies in the middle and low categories of human development, a clear indication that the Islamic nations needs to increase their focus on human development. Latest data (2002) about the Human Development Index (HDI) and Per capita GDP of some of the important and large populated Muslim countries are as follows;
HDI Income
(Per Capita)
Indonesia: 112 $850
(Population 210 M)
Bangladesh: 139 $350
(150 M)
Pakistan, 144 $500
(1300 M)
India 127 $500
(I Billion, Muslims, 140 M)
Egypt: 120 $1200
(70 M)
Turkey 96 $2700
(65 M)
Iran 106 $1,600
(70 M)
S. Arabia 73 $9,000
(22 M)
Malaysia 58 $4,000
(25 M)
Sudan 138 $450
(30 M)
Nigeria 152 $350
(120 M)
Libya 61 $7,000
(6 M)
Morocco 126 $1,300
(30 M)
Afghanistan 145 $300
(24 M)
Iraq 74 $5,500
(2.5 M)
Tunisia 91 $2,000
(10 M)
Syria 110 $1,300
(15 M)
Algeria 73 $1,700
(30 M)
It may be stated that the few Muslim countries, which do figure between 25 to 50 HDI, are Brunei, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar. Their per capita GDP is also comparatively higher i.e. between 10,000 to 15,000 dollars but combined population of all these Muslim countries is hardly 30 millions. One must bear in mind that total GDP of all the Arab oil producing counties (12 in numbers) is less than the GDP of Spain alone. Ironically Muslim Spain during Middle Ages had higher revenue (because of the industrial products like Textile, Paper, mineral etc) than the whole of the Christian Europe (eleventh Century AD). Today Germany alone has a GDP of 3 thousand Billion Dollars that is almost twice of the entire Muslim World. Per capita GDP of major Christian countries is also staggering. A few examples with higher Human Development Index (HDI) and per capita incomes are as below: ...
http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_251_300/status_of_muslim_societies_aroun.htm
Beautiful image. Thanks for posting.
They (the Muslims) stole their mathematics from the Hindus.
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