Introduction to Avicenna’s (Ibn Sīnā) Conception of Botany

By Gülhan Yaşar

Ibn Sīnā (also known as Avicenna), one of the most influential philosophers of the Islamic world, has an important place in the history of science.  Kitab al-Shifa, also known as the Book of Healing, is one of Ibn Sina's most important works. It encompasses all the aspects of his philosophical system. In the seventh chapter of the natural sciences section of the Book of Healing, Ibn Sina provides detailed information about plants. The purpose of this book is to introduce the valuable information written by Ibn Sina about plants to the scientific community.. The author gives a general history of botanical books from Greek philosophers to Islamic scholars in her work, "Introduction to Avicenna's (Ibn Sīnā) Conception of Botany" to understand the knowledge of the relevant period. In addition, Ibn Sînâ's explanations about plants (life, classification of plant parts, reproduction of plants, fruit types, etc.) are interpreted in the light of contemporary plant science.

The study, equally emphasizing scientific concepts and historical processes, hopes to benefit students and experts in biology and history of science. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gülhan Yaşar
• Release date: Feb 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224120376

Gülhan Yaşar

Gülhan Yaşar, having grew up in Turkey, is a Molecular Biologist working in the field of History of Science, especially in the history of natural sciences. She participated in scientific studies first at TUBITAK, the most important science center in Turkey, and then at Yale University in the USA during her undergraduate education. She has worked as a Project Manager and Researcher in many projects and her articles have been published in international journals. Due to her interest in the History of Science, she earned a master's degree in History of Science at FSMVU in Istanbul. In this process, she was entitled to receive the postgraduate scholarship of The Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Research Foundation for the History of Science in Islam. This foundation aims to understand the works of Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin, who is known worldwide for his studies in the field of history of science, and preserve these studies for future generations. In her works, she deals with the important works of the history of natural sciences through basic concepts and aims to convey the interpretations she has reached in the light of contemporary knowledge to the reader in a simple and understandable language.

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Gülhan Yaşar

INTRODUCTION TO AVICENNA’S (IBN SĪNĀ) CONCEPTION OF BOTANY

Copyright © 2023 by Gülhan Yaşar

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

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Contents

Preface

HISTORY OF BOTANY

INTERPRETATION OF IBN SĪNĀ’S KITĀB AL-NĀBĀT

Plant Reproduction, Nourishment, Male, Female and the Origin of Temperament

Plant Organs at the Beginning of Their Formation and After

The Roots of Nourishment, Reproduction and Growth in Plants

Development of Plant Organs and Differences Between Them, Differences of Plants in Terms of Geographical Location

Special Conditions of Trunk, Branch and Leaves

Fruit, Seed, Resin and Thorns

General Information About Plant Species and Secretions of Plants Taking the Same Nutrition

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Notes

Preface

Ibn Sīnā, one of the most influential philosophers of the Islamic world, has an important place in the history of science, especially with his studies in medicine and philosophy. He had a direct or indirect influence on the following philosophical-scientific studies, especially Book of Healing that he wrote in the field of philosophy-science. The seventh part of the natural sciences section of Ibn Sīnā’s Book of Healing (Kitāb al-Shifāʾ) is devoted to plants. The section on plants (al-Nābāt) has not been sufficiently studied. Bringing such a valuable work for the history of science, written by the greatest systemist philosopher (Ibn Sīnā), to the world of science formed our main motivation source.

To understand the knowledge of the relevant period, information about the books in the field of botany is given in the first chapter. In the second chapter, the botanical studies of Ibn Sīnā are discussed in comparison with current biological information.

It is hoped that this study, prepared with a similar emphasis on scientific concepts and historical processes, will be a basis for further studies.

MAY, 2023

HISTORY OF BOTANY

In the history of science, as in many branches of science, Greek philosophers have an important place in botanical studies. Ernst H. F. Meyer (d.o.b. 1858), one of the important names in the history of science, discussed botanical history comprehensively in four volumes in his work on botanical history, Geschichte der Botanik, and grouped the studies done by the Greeks as pre-Aristotelian and post-Aristotelian. Empedocles (d.o.b. 435 BC) and Plato (d.o.b. 348/347 BC) are important names of botanical studies before Aristotle (d.o.b. 322 BC).¹

Philosopher, poet, and physician, Empedocles was born in 495 BC in Sicily. The works of Empedocles have survived in the form of quotations from the works of philosophers who came after him, such as Plato and Aristotle². Empedocles’ views on biology are included in Aristotle’s book Kitāb al-Nābāt. According to part of Kitāb al-Nābāt, in which Aristotle included the views of philosopher before him and criticized them from time to time, Empedocles states that plants have desire (lust), feeling, sorrow, taste, intelligence, and understanding.³ According to Empedocles, who claims that plants androgynous concerning sex in plants, the reason for this is that the universe was in a chaotic structure during the formation phase of plants; therefore, night and day were not yet separated from each other.⁴

Another important name in the philosophy of nature of ancient Greece is Plato. He was born in 427 BC as a member of a well-known family from Messina. The real name of Plato is Aristocles. Plato, a student of Socrates, founded a school called Akademia in 385 BC and taught philosophy at this school until the end of his life (347 BC)⁵. According to Plato, plants, weakened by their inactivity, exist to feed people.⁶ Like Empedocles, Plato claimed that there are souls in plants. According to this view, the proof of the spirit in plants is the elongation and trembling of their branches.⁷

According to Meyer, since the studies of other philosophers on plants other than Aristotle and his student, Theophrastus, on plants have not reached the present day, It is a correct approach to deal with the botanical studies of the Greeks through the works of