A century-wise list of renowned Muslim scientists during Medieval Islamic Civilization Latinized names, where applicable, are given in brackets. A very impressive and fascinating fact is that during the Islamic Golden era, a large number of Polymaths (a person whose expertise fills a significant number of subject areas) emerged. For example, Ibn Sina (latinized as Avicenna) made major contributions in medicine, Astronomy, Chemistry,Geology,physics, Philosophy,Theology, Engineering and Poetry!

Hence, keeping this in view, I did not prepare this list subject-wise, like found on wikipedia and other sources, as this would have resulted in duplicate entries. Please contact me/write comment if you find any duplicate entries in this list.

According to the famous Historian of Science, George Sarton (regarded as 'Father of History of Science') in his well-recognized book the 'Introduction to the History of Science':

"It will suffice here to evoke a few glorious names without contemporary
equivalents in the West: Jabir ibn Haiyan, al-Kindi, al-Khwarizmi, al-Fargani, al-Razi, Thabit ibn Qurra, al-Battani, Hunain ibn Ishaq, al-Farabi, Ibrahim ibn Sinan, al-Masudi, al-Tabari, Abul Wafa, 'Ali ibn Abbas, Abul Qasim, Ibn al-Jazzar, al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Ibn Yunus, al-Kashi, Ibn al-Haitham, 'Ali Ibn 'Isa al-Ghazali, al-zarqab, Omar Khayyam. A magnificent array of names which it would not be difficult to extend. If anyone tells you that the Middle Ages were scientifically sterile, just quote these men to him, all of whom flourished within a short period, 750 to 1100 A.D."

List of Muslim Scientists

7th century

Jabir Ibn Haiyan (Geber)
Ahmad Nahavandi

8th century

Al-Asmai
Al-Khwarizmi (Algorizm)
Amr ibn Bahr Al-Jahiz
Al Balkhi, Ja'Far Ibn Muhammas (Albumasar)
Al-Fazari,Ibrahim Ibn Habeeb
Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn Maṭar
Ibrahim al-Fazari
Muhammad al-Fazari
Yaqūb ibn Tāriq

9th century

Ibn Ishaq Al-Kindi (Alkindus)
Thabit Ibn Qurrah (Thebit)
Abbas Ibn Firnas
Ali Ibn Rabban Al-Tabari
al-Hasan al-Hamdānī
Al-Battani (Albategnius)
Al -Farghani (Al-Fraganus)
Al-Razi (Rhazes)
Al-Farabi (Al-Pharabius)
Abul Hasan Ali Al-Masu'di
Al-ʿAbbās ibn Saʿid al-Jawharī
Abd al-Hamīd ibn Turk
Hunayn ibn Ishaq
Banū Mūsā Brothers:

1. Ja'far Muhammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir
   
2. Ahmad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir
   
3. Al-Hasan ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir
   

Abū Ḥanīfa Dīnawarī
Al-Mahani
Ahmed ibn Yusuf al-misri
Al-Hashimi
Abu Kamil
Sinan ibn Tabit
Al-Nayrizi
Ja'far ibn Muhammad Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi
Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi
Abu Sa'id al-Darir al-Jurjani(Gorgani)
Ibn al-Jazzar (Algizar)
Ibn Khordadbeh
Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi
Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad
Ibn al-Faqih
Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn Maṭar
Qusta ibn Luqa

10th century

Al-Sufi (Azophi)
Al-Saghani
Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahravi (Albucasis)
Abu Rayhan Biruni
Abū Ja'far al-Khāzin
Al-Uqlidisi
Al-Saghani
Abū Sahl al-Qūhī
Abu Nasr ibn `Iraq
Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi
Al-Karaji
Abū al-Wafā' Būzjānī
Al-Karabisi
Al-Sijzi
Al-Jayyani
Abu Nasr Mansur
Abolfadl Harawi
Al-Muqaddasi
Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi(Haly Abbas)
Ibn Al-Haitham (Alhazen)
Ibn Tahir al-Baghdadi
Ibrahim ibn Sinan
Ikhwan al-Safa'
Ibn Miskawayh
Al-Mawardi (Alboacen)
Abu Raihan Al-Biruni
Abul Hasan al-Tabari
Ibn Sina (Avicenna) 
Ibn Sahl
Ibn Yunus
Kushyar ibn Labban
Labana of Cordoba
Najab ud-din Muhammad

11th century

Al-Zarqali (Arzachel)
Al-Mu'taman ibn Hud
Omar Al-Khayyam
Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi
Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Yahya (Ibn Bajjah)
Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar)
Ibn al-Zarqalluh
Ibn Jazla
Al-Idrisi (Dreses)
ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Nasawī
Ali ibn Ridwan Al-Misri
Maslamah Ibn Ahmad al-Majriti
Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud

12th century

Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Yahya (Ibn Bajjah)
al-Maghribī al-Samaw'al
Al-Hassār
Al-Bitruji (Alpetragius)
Al-Khazini
al-Baghdadi
Anvari
Ibn Tufayl (Abdubacer)
Ibn Rushd (Averroes)
Ibn Jumay
Muhammad al-Idrisi
Ibn Al-Baitar
Ibn al-Yāsamīn
Ibn Bajjah(Avempace)
Nur Ed-Din Al Betrugi (Alpetragius)
Sharaf al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī
Jalal Al-Din Rumi

13th century

Al-Marrakushi
Al-Fida (Abdulfeda)
Ibn Al-Nafis Damishqui
Ibn Mun`im
Ibn Baso
Ibn al-Quff
Muḥyi al-Dīn al-Maghribī
Mo'ayyeduddin Urdi
Nasir Al-Din Al-Tusi
Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī
Qotb al-Din Shirazi

14th century

Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (Ibn Battuta)
Abdur-Rahman Ibn Khaldun
Ibn al-Banna'
Ibn al-Shatir
Ibn Khatima
Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib
Kamal al-Din Al-Farisi
Mansur ibn Ilyas
Al-Khalili
Cheng Muhammad Zheng He
Qāḍī Zāda al-Rūmī
Ulugh Beg

15th century

Jamshīd al-Kāshī
Abū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī
Piri Reis

16th century

Taqi al-Din

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Following are some of the links for their autobiographies:
http://www.islamic-truth.co.uk/islamicstore/pdf_files/scientists.pdf
http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_scientists

Books related to Muslim Scientists

Windmills appeared in Europe in the 12th century. However, windmills were used in the islamic world as early as the 7th century to grind grains and for irrigation purposes.

During the period of Second Muslim Caliph Umer ibn al-Khattab (634-644), a persian Abu Lulua claimed that he could build a mill that is roatated by wind. The caliph on finding this ordered him to build it.

The great tenth century Arab Historian and Geographer Al-Masudi (896-956) mentions the existence of windmills in Seistan in 950 AD:

"Segistan is the land of winds and sand. There the wind drives mills and raises water from streams, whereby gardens are irrigated. There is in the world(and Allah alone knows it) nowhere more frequent use is made of the winds."

The first person to make an attempt at controlled flying was Cordoban muslim `Abbas ibn Firnas (Latin name: Armen Firman), also known as Abbas Qasim Ibn Firnas, in the 9th Century. He constructed a flying machine by placing feathers on a wooden frame - the first of its kind capable of carrying a human into the air.

In 875, at the age of 65 Ibn Firnas made his famous attempt at flight. He launched from the Mount of the Bride (Jabal al-'Arus) in the Rusafa Area, near Córdoba, Spain infront of a large crowd of people gathered to witness his flight. Moments before he flew he stated:

"Presently, I shall take leave of you. By guiding these wings up and down, I should ascend like the birds. If all goes well, after soaring for a time I should be able to return safely to your side."

People watched from a nearby mountain as he flew to a significant height and managed to remain in the air for a considerable time, but then the hand glider plummeted to the ground causing him to injure his back. After failing to land successfully, Ibn Firnas claimed that he had not noticed how birds use their tails to land and that he had forgotten the tail on his flying apparatus. The back injury prevented Ibn Firnas from trying again. He died seven years later.

An witness, the poet Mu'min Ibn Said (d. 886), reported:

"He flew faster than the phoenix in his flight when he dressed his body in the feathers of a vulture."

According to another eye witness:

"He flew a considerable distance as if he had been a bird but in alighting again on the place where he started from, his back was very much hurt. For, not knowing that birds when they alight come down upon their tails, he forgot to provide himself with one."

The crater Ibn Firnas on the Moon is also named in his honor.

In 1260, more than 350 years after Ibn Firnas flight, Roger Bacon who had studied in Cordoba - the homeland of Ibn Firnas, described two possible ways a person may fly.

The cam and camshaft were invented by Al-Jazari in 1206 and were part of his 'castle clock' - a complex water-powered astronomical clock.

The castle clock invented by al-Jazari (1136 – 1206) is one of his many inventions mentioned in his book 'Kitáb fí ma'rifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya' (Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices). One component of this clock was a set of robotic musicians that automatically played music when moved by levers. The levers were operated by a camshaft that was attached to a waterwheel. The musicians only played on the sixth, ninth and twelfth hour. The cams were configured so that the musicians played in unison.

'Elephant clock' invented by Al-Jazari in the thirteenth century consisted of many modern control engineering mechanisms such as automaton, closed-loop system and flow regulators. It was the first clock to use time-based automaton.

Abu al-'Iz Ibn Isma'il ibn al-Razaz al-Jazari (1136 – 1206) wrote an amazing book in 1206 titled 'Kitáb fí ma'rifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya' (Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices). In this book he described in detail the construction of fifty mechanical devices that were classified in six categories.

Elephant clock was basically a water clock about 4 feet long and 6 feet high with clock mechanisms on an artificial elephant. It was the first water clock that accurately recorded the passage of the temporal hours by changing the rate of flow to match the uneven length of days. The clock was an example of automata as after the passage of every hour or half,the mahout hits the drum and the mechanical bird sitting on top of a dome mounted on the elephant sings.

Professor Salim Al Hassani describes the mechanism of this clock as follows:

"The submersible float or tarjahar drives the clock. Initially, the submersible float lies on the surface of the water in the tank. A calibrated orifice on its underside allows water to enter and subsequently sinks the float. Attached to the submersible float are a wire and a chain. The wire runs from the float to the ball release mechanism inside the castle and activates it when the float sinks. The chain runs from the underside of the float to a staple on the tail of the serpent. Upon activation of the return mechanics for the serpent, the chain will tilt the sunken float out of the water thus emptying it of its contents. Then the emptied float will rest on the water surface and repeat the cycle. At the top of the lock, supported by four columns, is the castle (a square brass box with a detachable dome). Inside the castle is a ball release mechanism, which when activated, releases a ball that travels down a channel leading to the beak of the falcon. The ball will travel from the beak of the falcon onto the open mouth of the serpent. The serpent is in effect a pulley which rotates on an axle that rests on bearings fixed between each pair of the columns. Upon loading with the ball, the serpent head will be lowered down to the vase. Once the ball drops away from the serpent's mouth, the return mechanism of the serpent is activated and the serpent returns to its original position. The clock will continue to work as long as there are metal balls in the magazine."

Full-size working reproduction of elephant clock are now presentthe Ibn Battuta Mall Dubai, at the Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts, in Le Locle, Switzerland.


Fig.1: Elephant clock in a manuscript by Al-Jazari (1206 AD) from The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices

In the thirteenth century, muslim polymath Al-Jazari designed a handwashing device featuring humanoid automata as servants that offer soap and towels.

Al-Jazari's full name was Abu al-'Iz Ibn Isma'il ibn al-Razaz al-Jazari (1136 – 1206). He wrote a great book in 1206 titled 'Kitáb fí ma'rifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya' (Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices). In this book he described in detail the construction of fifty mechanical devices that were classified in six categories.

Among Al-Jazari's many inventions, one was a basin with a peacock referred to as 'A peacock which discharges water from its beak'. This is described in detail in his book 'Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices', (in chapter 4, category III -  'Pitchers, basins and other things' ). Mark E. Rosheim in his book 'Robot Evolution' describes this device as follows:

"Pulling a plug on the peacock's tail releases water out of the beak; as the dirty water from the basin fills the hollow base a float rises and actuates a linkage which makes a servant figure appear from behind a door under the peacock and offer soap. When more water is used, a second float at a higher level trips and causes the appearance of a second servant figure — with a towel! Opening the base valve causes both figures to return to their room and the doors automatically close as the water level drops."

In the 8th century Muslim chemist Jabir ibn Hayyan (Latinized as Geber) invented alembic (al-inbiq) - a distillation device still used today and invented the chemical process of Pure Distillation (al-taqtir). Petrol or Gasoline was first produced from crude oil or petroleum by the muslim chemists using Distillation.

In the 9th century al-Razi (Latinized as Rhazes) was the first to produce kerosene from the distillation of petroleum. He described two method for the production of kerosene in his book 'Kitab al-Asrar' (Book of Secrets) - one using using clay as an absorbent and the other using ammonium chloride (sal ammoniac). Al-Razi also described the first kerosene lamps (naffatah) used for heating and lighting in this book.

Destructive distillation was also invented by Muslim chemists in the 8th century to produce tar from petroleum. The first city in the world to have streets paved with tar was Baghdad in the 8th century. Baghdad was the center of learning in the medieval islamic world. Tar paved roads were introduced in Europe 1000 years later in 1834 by John Henry Cassell.

List of books related to the autobiographies of Muslim Scientists.

Following are some of the related books:

Chemists of the medieval islamic civilization established chemistry as a science and invented a number of instruments that are commonly used in chemistry labs.

Some of instruments,invented from 8th century onwards by Jabir ibn Hayyan(Latinized as Geber), Al-Razi(Latinized as Rhazes), Ibn Sina(Latinized as Avicenna) and others are:

• alembic 
  
• still 
  
• chemical retort
  
• cucurbit 
  
• aludel
  
• furnace 
  
• crucible
  
• hearth
  
• bellows
  
• blind still
  
• aludel 
  
• goblet
  
• flask 
  
• oven 
  
• funnel
  
• sieves
  
• filter
  

Famous Historian Will Durant wrote in 'The Story of Civilization IV: The Age of Faith':

"Chemistry as a science was almost created by the Moslems; for in this field, where the Greeks (so far as we know) were confined to industrial experience and vague hypothesis, the Saracens* introduced precise observation, controlled experiment, and careful records. They invented and named the alembic (al-anbiq), chemically analyzed innumerable substances, composed lapidaries, distinguished alkalis and acids, investigated their affinities, studied and manufactured hundreds of drugs. Alchemy, which the Moslems inherited from Egypt, contributed to chemistry by a thousand incidental discoveries, and by its method, which was the most scientific of all medieval operations."

*Saracen was a term used by Europeans in the Middle Ages for Fatimids at first, then later for all who professed the religion of Islam

Many of todays common chemical processes that lay the foundation of chemistry and chemical engineering were developed by muslim chemists about 1000 years back.

Some of these chemical processes, developed from 8th century onwards by Jabir ibn Hayyan(Latinized as Geber), Al-Razi(Latinized as Rhazes), Ibn Sina(Latinized as Avicenna) and others are:

• Pure distillation (al-taqtir)
  
• Filtration (al-tarshih)
  
• Crystallization (al-tabalwur)
  
• liquefaction
  
• purification
  
• oxidisation
  
• evaporation (tabkhir)
  
• Dry distillation
  
• Calcination (al-tashwiya)
  
• Solution (al-tahlil)
  
• sublimation (al-tas'id)
  
• amalgamation (al-talghim)
  
• ceration (al-tashmi)
  
• Assation 
  
• cocotion
  
• ceration
  
• lavage
  
• solution mixture
  
• fixation
  
• Destructive distillation 
  
• Steam distillation 
  
• Water purification
  

Muslim Physician Abu Merwan ’Abdal-Malik ibn Zuhr, Latin name Avenzoar,(1091-1161) was the first surgeon to successfully perform the surgical procedure of Tracheotomy on a goat and give its correct description in the 12th century.

Tracheotomy is a surgical procedure, performed in emergency situations, on the neck to open a direct airway through an incision inthe windpipe. Ibn Zuhr is considered the father of experimental surgery. He was the first to employ animal testing in order to make surgical procedures safe for human beings. His book Al-Taisir Fil-Mudawat Wal-Tadbeer (Book of Simplification Concerning Therapeutics and Diet) was translated into Latin in the late 13th century and was used in European universities until the 18th century.

Medieval Christian physicians in Europe believed that Demonic Possession (control over a human form by a demon) was the explanation for the mental illnesses and as such till 18th century mentally ill patients were subjected to many tortuous inhuman treatments that included whipping,bloodletting and starvation! On the other hand, Muslim physicians combined psychological methods and physiological explanations for the medical treatment of mentally ill patients several centuries before.

One of the many great worsk in Psychology is that by the Muslim physician and psychological thinker Najab ud-din Unhammad (870-925) who classified mental disorders in nine major categories. He described in detail a total of 30 different mental illnesses. Some of the categories he first described included obsessive-compulsive disorders, delusional disorders, degenerative diseases, involutional melancholia, and states of abnormal excitement. The mental illnesses first described by him include agitated depression, neurosis, priapism and sexual impotence (Nafkhae Malikholia), psychosis (Kutrib), and mania (Dual-Kulb).

Due to his categorization of mental illnesses in the tenth century, Najab is regarded as pioneer in the field of Nosology - a branch of medicine that deals with classification of diseases.

 In Europe, the work in nosolgy was started in the 18th century by Carolus Linnaeus, Francois Boissier de Sauvages, and Phillipe Pinel.

Ammar bin Ali Al-Mawsili, the 10th century Iraqi Opthomologist, was the first to remove cataracts through suction - a technique still used today.

Al-Mawsili invented Hypodermic needle for this purpose and performed successful cataract operation. He wrote the following regarding the operation:

"Then I constructed the hollow needle, but I did not operate with it on anybody at all, before I came to Tiberias. There came a man for an operation who told me: Do as you like with me, only I cannot lie on my back. Then I operated on him with the hollow needle and extracted the cataract; and he saw immediately and did not need to lie, but slept as he liked. Only I bandaged his eye for seven days. With this needle nobody preceded me. I have done many operations with it in Egypt."

Al-Mawsili's described forty-eight eye diseases in his book ' Book of Choices in the Treatment of Eye Diseases'. He was also the first to state that cataracts were due to the opacity of the lens of the eye.