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History of Technology in Islam 2 - Al-Shia The Scientific and Cultural Website of Shia belief History of Technology in Islam 2 2021-06-24 568 Views Islam and Technology , Islam and Science In this article titled “History of technology in Islam”, we shall be looking at “Watermills”, “Windmills” and “Fine Technology” as among the technological fields to which Muslim scholars immensely contributed.

Contents Watermills Windmills Fine Technology Watermills The three main types of waterwheel had all been in existence since Classical times – the horizontal wheel and two variations of the vertical wheel. The horizontal wheel has vanes protruding from a wooden rotor, onto which a jet of water is directed. In modern Europe, the design was altered to use water moving axially, like air flowing through a pinwheel, creating the water turbine.

Interestingly, wheels with curved blades onto which the flow was directed axially are described in an Arabic treatise of the ninth century. The more powerful vertical wheels came in two designs: undershot and overshot. The former is a paddle wheel that turns under the impulse of the current. The overshot wheel receives water from above, often from specially constructed channels; it thus adds the impetus of gravity to that of the current.

When the levels of rivers fall in the dry season, and their flow diminishes, undershot wheels lose some of their power. Indeed, if they are fixed to the banks of rivers, their paddles may cease to be immersed. One way this problem was avoided was by mounting the waterwheels on the piers of bridges and taking advantage of the increased flow there. Another common solution was provided by the shipmill, powered by undershot wheels mounted on the sides of ships moored in midstream.

On the rivers Tigris and Euphrates in the 10th century, in Upper Mesopotamia, which was the granary for Baghdad, enormous shipmills made of teak and iron could produce 10 tons of flour from corn every 24-hour period. Gristmilling – the grinding of corn and other seeds to produce meals – was always the most important function of mills. Mills were, however, put to many other industrial uses.

Among these applications were the fulling of cloth, the crushing of metallic ores prior to the extraction process, rice husking, paper making and the pulping of sugarcane. The usual method of adapting waterwheels for such purposes was to extend the axle and fit cams to it.