Kitâb al-hiyal of Banû Mûsa bin Shâkir, interpreted in sense of modern system and control engineering. Prep. by Atilla Bir; Edited by Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

Paperback. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In English. [iv], 227, [5] p., 88 numerous b/w ills. This publication highlights one of the outstanding Muslim contributions of the past in the field of mechanical sciences. It is an analysis of Kitab al-Hiyal from the point of view of modern systems and control engineering. Magic cups, automatic control mechanisms, oil lamps, fountains, and other devices described in the book will interest the layman as well. "Works dealing with technical and mechanical subjects are few in Islamic science. This book of IRCICA highlights one of the outstanding muslim contributions of the past in the field of mechanical sciences. In this work Dr. A. Bir interprets and analyses Kitâb al-Hiyal from the point of view of modern systems and control engineering. This is an interesting work on magic cups, automatic control mechanisms, oil, oil lamps, fountains, a bellow and an elevator. This work reflects a new approach and methodology in the history of science studies. It analyses medieval Islamic science from the viewpoint of modern scientific knowledge.". The Banû (sons of) Musâ bin Shakir were three brothers who lived in Baghdad in the ninth century. Their names, in order of seniority, were Muhammad, Ahmad, and alHasan. They were rich and influential, eminent in the courtly circles of the caliph al-Mac mûn (813-833) and his successors. They used much of their wealth in fostering the intense intellectual activity that was an important feature of life in Baghdad at this time. They arranged for the collection of numerous Greek manuscripts from Byzantium and sponsored a group of scholars who translated these works into Arabic, as well as laying the foundations of Islamic science. The Banû Mûsâ were also scientists and engineers in their own right. Some twenty works on mathematics, astronomy, and mechanics are credited to them by the Arabic biographers, but only three of these have survived: a mathematical treatise now extant only in a Latin version, a short treatise describing a musical automaton, and the Book of Ingenious Devices, which seems to have been largely the work of Ahmad. One hundred devices are described in the book, each accompanied by a line drawing. About eighty of the devices are trick vessels; the remainder include lamps, alternating fountains, and a clamshell grab, identical in design to its modern counterpart. The trick vessels display a bewildering variety of effects: for example, a pitcher into which liquids of three different colors are poured in succession-when the tap is opened they discharge in the order in which they were inpoured; or a basin that is replenished when small amounts of liquid are extracted from it, but is not replenished if a larger amount is taken. These effects, and many others, are obtained by switching mechanisms operated by small variations in aerostatic and hydraulic pressures, and by the use of automatically activated conical valves. The purpose of these devices was partly didactic and partly to amuse. They appear trivial to us, but the Banû Mâsâ's mastery of delicate controls was unsurpassed until fairly recent times. In his study Atilla Bir examines these devices, analyzing each one as a system incorporating various mechanisms. Then, basing his analysis on various logical relationships and linear and nonlinear blocks, he obtains the corresponding block diagrams. This method of establishing the workings of the systems and explaining their behavior is very much in accordance with the principles of modern systems analysis and as such will be fully understood only by those who are familiar with modern control engineering. While this may seem to be an anachronistic approach, it is the only interpretative method that fully explains how all these devices worked. Also, it does justice to the extraordinary ingenuity and inventiveness of the Banû Mûsâ.