WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Magnificently sophisticated geometric patterns in medieval 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 medieval 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 traveling 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 medieval 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.
Thank you for the article , we need to be reminded of the Islamic golden era & we need to keep draming it in to the next gererations !
Andalussia ,they were the days we had it all when the rest lived the dark ages in mud hats .....we had libraries ,street lights ,public bath ............
We need to dig out the 1000 years of our history ...........
Muslim explorers journeyed to the far-flung corners of their world in spectacular voyages of discovery. From Ibn Battuta walking, riding and sailing over 75,000 miles, through Zheng He sailing the oceans and navigating to Mecca, Muslim explorers predated Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama in their quests.
Their world was made more visible thanks to map-making men like Piri Re'is, the great Turkish admiral. On their journeys, Muslim travellers devised unique navigational devices, tools for defence - and attack - and learnt about the natural wonders of their world.
World Zone Highlights A major breakthrough in communications occurred in Baghdad under the ‘Abbasid Caliphs. Carrier pigeons were used as a postal service. It is mentioned in a book that at one time there would be about 1,900 pigeons in the lofts of the citadel in Cairo, which was the communication nerve centre at the time.
Piri Re’is, a Turkish captain, created a map in 1513 which has come to be known as the famous ‘Map of America’. This astonishing map clearly shows Antarctica, as well as the Andes Mountains of South America. Both of these were ‘first seen’ years after this map was created in 1513.
Zheng He was a Muslim who helped transform China into the regional superpower of his time. Within 28 years of travel, he visited 37 countries in the course of seven monumental sea voyagers. Zheng He sailed throughout the Indian Ocean decades before Christopher Columbus or Vasco de Gama and with ships five times bigger.
Other World Zone topics:
Planet earth Surveying Earth science Tilt of earth and equinoxes Natural phenomena Tides Geography World maps Travellers Navigation Qibla compass Sea exploration Cryptography Weaponry Castles and battlements Social science and economy Mail and post pigeons
All of the above mentioned topics and highlights are discussed in much greater detail in our book, 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World. For more information on how to order your copy, please see the Book section.
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