What they are teaching us: The concept of the finite nature of matter was first introduced by Antione Lavoisier during the 18th century CE. He discovered that, although matter may change its form or shape, its mass always remains the same. Thus, for instance, if water is heated to steam, if salt is dissolved in water or if a piece of wood is burned to ashes, the total mass remains unchanged.
What is correct: The principles of this discovery were discussed centuries before by Islamic Persia's great scholar, al-Biruni (d. 1050 CE). Lavoisier was a disciple of the Muslim chemists and physicists and referred to their books frequently.
Decimal fractions
½ = 0.5
¼ = 0.25
What they are teaching us: The use of decimal fractions in mathematics was first developed by a Dutchman, Simon Stevin, in 1589 CE. He helped advance the mathematical sciences by replacing the cumbersome fractions, for instance, 1/2, with decimal fractions, for example, 0.5.
What is Correct: Muslim mathematicians were the first to use decimals instead of fractions on a large scale. Al·Kashi's book, Key to Arithmetic, was written at the beginning of the 15th century CE and was the stimulus for the systematic application of decimals to whole numbers and fractions thereof. It is most likely that Stevin imported the idea to Europe from al-Kashi's work.
Trigonometry
What is taught: The Greeks were the developers of trigonometry.
What should be taught: Trigonometry remained largely a theoretical science among the Greeks. It was developed to a level of modern perfection by Muslim scholars, although the weight of the credit must be given to al-Battani. The words describing the basic functions of this science, sine, cosine and tangent, are all derived from Arabic terms. Thus, original contributions by the Greeks in trigonometry were minimal.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited