Science, ancient roots
and modern achievements
The science in Uzbekistan has deep and powerful roots and extends back for many centuries.
It had served the Uzbek nation and the whole of
mankind by introducing many great discoveries
of the secrets of nature, medicine, philosophy, law,
geology and literature. Many doctors, scientists, and
philosophers from Central Asia have brought great
innovations and provided a huge contribution to the
world civilization.
The region of Central Asia and Uzbekistan in particular became a source of the two powerful outburst
of scientific and cultural growth in the 9-12th centuries and the 14-15th centuries which are rightfully
recognized by the global scientific community as
an epoch of the Oriental Renaissance that had a
favorable impact on the processes of Renaissance
in other parts of the world.
The encyclopedic work of the great scientist Imam
Al- Bukhari is of special significance. Islamic scholars and researches have agreed that his collection of
hadiths (sayings, deeds and or habits of the Prophet
Muhammad) «Sahih al-Bukhari» is, after the holy
book of Quran, the second most important source
of the Islamic faith.
It is impossible to imagine the development of
modern mathematics without Muhammad Muso
Al- Khorazmi. His encyclopedic work became a
cornerstone of modern mathematics; geography
and geometry. In his scientific work al-jabr he established the basic notions of algebra, even giving
algebra its name, and in the 12th century, his works
served as the general manual on algebra in European countries. His name entered mathematics as
46
the indication of arithmetic lumbers through Indian
numbers and algorithm stems from Algoritmi, the
Latin form of his name.
One outstanding scientist from Central Asia, Abu
Raihan Al-Beruni, was the first to claim that the
Earth revolves around the Sun. Al-Beruni was also
known for his fundamental research in the fields
of geology, astronomy, mathematics, mineralogy,
and pharmacology. The Academy of Mamun was
established in the 10th century in Khorezm, where
the leading scientists worked under Al-Beruni’s
leadership. Some historians have called the period
of his activity as «The Age of Al-Beruni».
Deep tracks in the history of civilization have been
left by Abu Ali Ibn Sino, who was a scientist, philosopher, doctor, and musician. In philosophy he continued the Eastern traditions of Arabic Aristotelian
logic, and his treatises were extraordinarily popular
in both East and West. He was the doctor and minister for various rulers. His famous multi-volume
treatise «Basics of Medical Science» remained the
principal working manual for many doctors of the
world for many centuries. His westernised name,
Avicenna, is perceived as a symbol for a wise person
of medicine.
The fundamental work of Akhmad al-Ferghani
«Madkhal un-Nujum» («The book of astronomy
elements») was written yet in the 9th century and
contained the first data on the structure of universe,
dimensions of the Earth, proofs of its sphericity
and up to the 17th century was used at European