One reason why I started WoodMarvels.com was to keep my 3D skills on an upward improvement trajectory and the same goes with HowToChinese.com except in this case, it’s teaching myself about editing, green screening and general everyday VIDEO work. I’m always doing 3D, it’s a nice change of pace to switch to video work with all its associated challenges. I also have more than a passive interest in learning and doing business in Chinese… this is a natural fit!
What is HowToChinese.com?
I’ve gone through the tapes, books, videos etc… and although they did teach me a lot of Chinese, the material is rather dry and uninteresting. I believe I can do better! Learning a language involves learning about historical, cultural and a bit of a “travel guide” type approach is needed as well… something I saw lacking in other “learning Chinese” programs.
Why start a new business
Yes, WoodMarvels.com, 3DMarvels.com and a bunch of other sites keep me more than busy as it is, but I believe every little bit you learn in one business can be applied to improve the other. HowToChinese.com is no different. The post-production, videographing and photography involved with that business will soon pay dividends in my other businesses as I learn how to improve the quality and production streams in this new venture.
So far, the production quality has improved dramatically from the first to (now uploading) the third video. It’s rather enjoyable to take a small break while 3D stuff is rendering and dealing with the real world for a change. I look forward to the neverending challenges!
Be sure to visit http://HowToChinese.com for more information… or if you have a budding interest in Chinese, I hope these videos help!
It has been a LONG road from start to finish but I’m proud to say that you can now purchase a digital copy of 2847AD, the science fiction book I wrote and researched for extensively and physical form of 2847 A.D.: Solar Horizons from Amazon! YAHOO!!! This has been a major accomplishment for me, I never knew publishing a science fiction novel could be so much work but now that it’s done, it feels wonderful to have achieved this major goal of mine.
If you wish to follow the journey pretty much from start to finish, I have chronicled it on my blog. I mention this in several other postings but these are the major ones.
What made the book especially challenging is that I tried to integrate almost everything I knew about science and then some, at the time. There is so much information out there, it’s really astounding and trying to condense it into a readable form, not only for me but for the general public takes a lot of effort.
I wanted to write a book that was scientifically accurate while at the same time, within the realm of possibility AND readable by somebody who has little to no scientific knowledge.
I believe I have accomplished this goal. I already started on a second volume of this book but had to put it on the back burner for several reasons, including but not limited to the amount of work I’ve been putting into my WoodMarvels.com company. I love design so much… it’s a true passion, as is writing but I think a long break is necessary to get most of the ideas fleshed-out. The further you jump into the future, the more difficult it becomes to imagine the unimaginable and this is really taxing mentally as I discovered. Exhausting even!
My delight: Hydrogen Sulfide
In the book, I describe in detail why I used this very toxic gas, hydrogen sulfide, as a mechanism for suspended animation during long space travels. Today, I watched a TED video and much to my delight, what I described and envisioned is actually coming true! Yes, they have human trials of this and the results are astoundingly positive. Watch the video to learn more about this important toxic gas
TEDTalks : Mark Roth: Suspended animation is within our grasp – Mark Roth (2010)
The Bottom Line
Research, hard work and tremendous passion can even bend even the most impossible of challenges into reality.
I find this entire series very fascinating… it has helped me greatly in better understanding the times and events that Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham lived through which helps tremendously in developing his LegendaryLife Profile. I don’t know how long this series ran but will keep putting the video and important summaries as this is knowledge that should be lost again! I have included my final thoughts regarding this series… everybody should know about how vitally important the Islamic Empire was to our modern way of life.
BBC’s Science and Islam 3: The Power of Doubt Part 1
astronomy is one of the oldest streams of science, as stated by Professor Jim Al-Khalili of the University of Surrey
Islamic scientists were among the first to shake the Greek view that the Earth was in the center of the solar system with the Sun going around it
Nicolai Copernicus (Copernicito)’s De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) was released in 1539 and it argued for the first time, the planets all go around the Sun
this book started the European scientific revolution leading to modern Physics
Nicolai Copernicus references, in his own book, the observations made by a 9th century Muslim astronomers including calculations devised by Ibn al-Shatir, a 14th century Islamic astronomer
BBC’s Science and Islam 3: The Power of Doubt Part 2
Ibn al-Shatir created a very precise Sun dial in Syria which was heavily referenced by Nicolai Copernicus but has since been taken out but a backup was recently discovered which kept accurate time no matter the day in the year (some days are longer, others shorter)
Muslims need to pray five times a day at precise times, so they required not only a way to tell time but as they pray towards Mecca, precise navigational tools as well
Dawn, Noon, Afternoon, Sunset, Nightfall is when prayers must be done
the discovery of the Equinox lead to that of how long, precisely, a year is by an Islamic astronomer who put both Greek texts that where 700 years old and his own observations over 40 years, together (within 2 minutes error)
the Earth’s tilt was also discovered within half a degree, variations in the diameter of the Sun and celestial distances were also worked-out… all without the use of a telescope
the Greek astronomer, Ptolemy, devised a theory that stood for 700 years in which the Earth was surrounded by perfect circles where the other planets and Sun rotated around
BBC’s Science and Islam 3: The Power of Doubt Part 3
the cosmic foundations of Greek astronomy were found to not match Islamic astronomers findings, as a result, they began to question the entire philosophies that the Greek held, doubt was created as a result which was a revolutionary ideas at the time
Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham is referenced as one of the biggest and most influential doubters of Greek astronomy, he argued that ideas must be backed-up by mathematics and in the 11th century he wrote that even Ptolemy knew he was wrong and now it’s his job to fix this Greek trajedy
Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham challenged people to come-up with an alternative theory that matched true observational data with mathematical equations
the birth of the modern scientific age began with the complete rejection of Greek celestial theories and was figured-out by an Islamic scholar out of Iran, Nasir al-Din Tosi in the 12th century
the Mongols changed Nasir al-Din Tosi life forever, they came into Iran and by 1255, they reached the foothills of his mountaintop home
BBC’s Science and Islam 3: The Power of Doubt Part 4
Nasir al-Din Tosi met with the Mongul Emperor who was very superstitious and convinced him that he could tell the future placement of celestial bodies but needed the proper equipment, which he got and was made the head scientist with the world’s largest observatory in the world at the time
other astronomers from around the known world came to work at this world’s first, they overthrew the Greek view of the solar system as a result with incredibly complicated mathematics except for one small detail, they still had the Earth in the middle of the solar system
based off the work of Muslim scholars, the final rejection of the Earth centris solar system was rejected in Italy during the early beginnings of the European Renaissance
Nicolai Copernicus was like Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham, they both hated the entire concept behind Ptolemy’s interpretation of our solar system
It wasn’t before Isaac Newton that Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham dream of finally rejecting completely Ptolemy’s interpretation using vigorous mathematical equations took place
why was the work began by Islamic astronomers completed in Europe and not the Middle East? How did Islamic knowledge get to Europe in the first place?
answers to both questions lay in the city of Venice, Italy
merchants of Venice had deep trading relationships with the Islamic Empire, as a result, it became a very afluent city
Arabic coffee culture became poppular in Venice as did their architectural style and even measurement units developed in the Middle East
BBC’s Science and Islam 3: The Power of Doubt Part 5
with Arabic trade came Arabic books which began to flood the European marketplace
for instance, the 9th century book about Algebra by Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham appeared in Latin in the 12th century and in the 15th century, the Cannon of Medicine was first published in the West
the shift of knowledge from the Islamic Empire to Europe is was lead to the European Renaissance
the very first print of the Koran was discovered in Venice, Italy among many other books that were also centuries old, oddly enough, it was first printed in Venice and not from the Islamic world by people who didn’t speak Arabic fluently as it was full of mistakes due to the use of printing press
the first Koran printed by a press wasn’t accepted by Muslims for centuries, they preferred the hand-scribed versions of their Holy book
the Arabic language is incredibly precise, as a result, they needed to follow this steam of precision in every other aspect of their lives, including mathematics, astronomy and even chemistry to name but a few
due to all the extra symbols, Arabic was far harder to type than Latin so this failure lead to huge advances in Europe that didn’t translate well into the Middle East who relied on hand-made copies as a way to distribute knowledge
the rejection of the printing press by the Islamic Empire caused a huge shift from the East to the West regarding scientific advances, causing Eastern sciences to fall behind that of the West for the first time
in the mid 12th century, the Islamic Empire begins to falter because it was under attack from all sides; East was the Mongols who, in 1258, arrived into Baghdad and destroyed everything, West was the Christians from the North on their re-conquest and in 1492, took over Spain and destroyed anything with a hint of Arabic
Christians were intent on reclaiming their Holy Land from the Islamic Empire, this was the time of the Crusades and they wanted Jerusalem!
as the Islamic Empire was being attacked from all sides, it broke apart into warring thiefdoms
the death of Islamic influence happened in 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered America, the geography of the entire world changed overnight
BBC’s Science and Islam 3: The Power of Doubt Part 6
the New World lead to an incredible amount of wealth being accumulated by European powers, vaster than anything that the Islamic Empire could ever have dreamed
science followed the money and Britain became the world’s first true superpower as a result with colonies around the world
by the 17th century, Britain was at the center of the Atlantic trade route and funded science at an incredible pace in order to maintain its superiority
Isaac Newton required vast amounts of data from all over the world, the Islamic Empire provided him with accurate mathematics and observational data that he needed to release his first book that finally put an end to the Greek view of the world
as the Middle East lost it’s power and influence through wars and discoveries by rivals, its science declined
English and French, as they colonized the world, put others at a lower tier in order to more easily subjicate them and make them believe they were “helping” instead of “destroying” other cultures
the spreading of colonial power around the world was justified by helping empires that were now in decay
Europeans thought up till the 17th century that their superiority was due to their religion but after this time, it was in their science
the Islamic Empire and achievements were acknowledged but as being “old” and “ancient”, none of which happened recently, thus minimizing their influence on European culture
even to this day, the Middle Eastern achievements are not well known as they were destroyed, intentionally, by the colonial powers
scientific achievements over the past 4 centuries have happened in the West
now in the 21st century, the Middle East is starting to redevelop its scientific influence and knowledge
for instance, in Iran, a deeply religious state, they are pushing the envelopes of cloning and genetic manipulation!
science is the universal and common language of the human race
nature’s laws are true for all of us
Some Final Thoughts
What started as work to write a biography about Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham for LegendaryLife.com has lead me down a path that really changed the entire way I am viewing the world now. I had thought of the Middle East as a backward place with very little achievement to show for itself due to my Western education that neglected to tell me about how important and truly influential this place really was! Think of it this way, if it wasn’t for the Islamic Empire, we most likely would NOT have cars, airplanes, computers and so on right now but all living in wood or mud huts. Seriously… the spread of the Islamic Empire is something that should be imprinted in the minds of ALL people around the world, they are not a decayed people (European view) but actually a very vibrant one that had it’s tree of knowledge almost completely killed by the European’s and their superiority complex. There is nobody to blame for the past events that our ancestors played a role in but I find it very sad that for the past 32 years of my life, this knowledge wasn’t even told to me. This makes me wonder about how much more there is to discover from the vast empires of Africa, again, another people who were colonized, subjicated and whose history was destroyed in order to make our ancestors feel superior in order to justify slavery.
What about today?
With this new knowledge, I now understand why the West looks at the Middle East as I once did, as a people with little scientific value than what they can ship in oil tankers. I now understand a little more as to why the United-States are so fervent on their support of Israel and more importantly, why they continue to hold back, even now, the advancement of the Middle East by allowing dictators to squander their wealth which could be used for scientific knowledge and the acquisition by Iran of nuclear research. We are still, even today, in a world where the West sees itself as the “masters of knowledge” and fear the Middle East or even Asia of ever becoming as formidable as the Islamic Empire once was. We, collectively in the West, are not being told the truth in order to maintain a lie, that of superiority.
This series has been an incredible revelation to me!
The Bottom Line
The truth is out there… but difficult to find unless you are given a hint as to its existence.
This is the review of the second episode of the BBC’s Science and Islam: The Language of Science.
BBC’s Science and Islam 2: The Empire of Reason Part 1
Islamic scholars realized that everything was based off rules, hence the idea of the Scientific Method was born
powerful, advanced and wealthy civilizations lead to huge leaps in knowledge
over a thousand years ago, the Islamic Empire was the largest in the world, governing about 60 million people or 30% of the world’s population at the time
to give an idea of the size of the Islamic Empire, the Roman Empire would have occupied but a third of the territory
“The Translation Movement” was funded by the enormous tax revenues collected by the Islamic Empire which sent scholars around the world to gather-up the sum of the world’s knowledge and get it all translated into one language, God’s language, Arabic
the legacy of the powerful Islamic Empire is spread throughout the Middle East and southern Spain
in the 8th century, Cairo was under Islamic rule and the first thing they did was try to measure, in the hopes of taming, the mighty river Nile
they build the Nilometer which allowed scientists to measure, accurately, the level of the river and record it to help discover patterns and seasonal flows
BBC’s Science and Islam 2: The Empire of Reason Part 2
by having a precise measure of the river Nile, the rulers now had a precise method of instituting taxes on farmers and warn the citizenry of problems early in the flooding season
Nilometer is one of the many instruments created to help make sense of the randomness of natural processes
the idea that you can create stability among chaos is a revelation for the times of Islamic Empire
one of the Caliphs in the 8th century, was obsessed with maps of all kinds, making precise measurements of the world around him was a passion, which lead to the production of the first world map
the first world map lead to a fundamental question… how big is the Earth?
the passion for scientific endeavor continued due to a religious passion to discover everything that the creator had created, the practice is Islam also demanded that its followers have a clear understanding of the world they live in
as they always need to pray towards Mecca no matter where they are, understanding the curvature and size of Earth was required knowledge
Islamic scholars figured out that the circumference of the Earth was 24 thousand miles, which is within 4% of the correct value… all by measuring the angle of the Sun in two different places and measuring the distance between those places (by walking and counting your paces).
the Caliph was pleased but wanted something more accurate so, two centuries later, the size of the Earth was discovered in far more precision
BBC’s Science and Islam 2: The Empire of Reason Part 3
the precise circumference of the Earth was discovered, within 200 miles, by using three angles and the height of one mountain along with a simple mathematical formula
math allows the embracing of the universe
theory is meaningless without experimentation
trade was the glue that, along with religion, help keep the Islamic Empire from falling onto itself due to the shier complexity of keeping everything running smoothly across such a vast area
by the 8th century, the Islamic Empire dominated the world’s trad in both volume and importance
anything that could be traded, was by the Islamic Empire
carrier pigeons were used to help spread knowledge around the Empire, between governments, people and even scholars
by the 7th century, the Islamic Empire was developing the principles of mass production
BBC’s Science and Islam 2: The Empire of Reason Part 4
material knowledge was increasingly becoming important to both merchants and armies alike as new ways or making things had to be developed to support an expanded area of use
the dream to turn base metals into Gold was a project the Islamic scholars poured an incredible amount of time and energy in, the practice of Alchemy had eluded them so far
the study of Alchemy lead towards developments in the field of Chemistry, which was required in order to develop a common currency across the entire Empire
coin making turned alchemy into chemistry
engineers, soap makers and architects all demanded new material innovations in order to turn their concepts into reality
Europe imported tonnes of soap from Islamic Spain during the 13th century as they didn’t have the knowledge to produce their own
glass making expanded greatly with the discovery of new materials, they could change the color of glass by using chemicals and were able to build industrial furnaces to manufacture in large quantities, which were used also in tin, tiles and many other building materials
chemistry was driven by the perfume marketplace as well, distillation was developed as a result to extract ever more complicated base components
chemistry played a key role in weaponry were the Muslims would attack Catholics using bombs and grenades which struck fear in invading armies
BBC’s Science and Islam 2: The Empire of Reason Part 5
the periodic table is the fundamental philosophy of chemistry, it lists all the known elements, grouped in order of similarities
where the Greeks talked about the classification of elements (Earth, Air, Water, Fire), the Islamic chemists devised a classification that used the scientific observations, this was the foundations of the modern periodic table
Physics is a Greek word meaning the science of change, the Greeks thought that math could only explain “perfect world and structures” (quantity) while the Islamic scientists realized quite the opposite, math can be used to make sense of the chaos of the world
Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham thus created a new scientific system that combined the science of change (physics) with quantity (math)
Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham was considered a genius and was known across the empire
Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham used his time during house arrest to create the modern science of optics
BBC’s Science and Islam 2: The Empire of Reason Part 6
Aristotle argued that the essence of an object flows into our eyes while Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham argued that actually, light hits an object and enters our eyes
in 1020, Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham published his “Book of Optics” to explain the properties of light, this book is full of experiemental observation and describes them in great detail so others can see for themselves
Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham discoverd the thickness of the atmosphere by looking at how light reflected after the Sun went under the horizon, he got a value of half of the real thickness… which is pretty good considering the technology at the time!
The Bottom Line
The Scientific Method is the single, most important idea behind our modern world
Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham, the father of the scientific method.
Let’s face it, the Muslim and Islamic world is best known for their religious zealots than scientific breakthroughs… yet, ironically, we have the Middle Eastern culture to thank for the modern scientific method!
What???
Yes, according to an upcoming documentary studying the role that science played while most of Europe was still in the Dark Ages, we all have genius along the ranks of Einstein and Newton, called al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham to thank for all the wonders that we now enjoy today.
How can this be???
We tend to forget that history is written by the victors, not the conquered. When I grew-up, the only science of any importance had its roots in Europe. Anything that came out of the Middle East, which use to be the center of the scientific, financial and social world over a thousand years ago was completely unknown. Even in university while studying for my science degree just ten years ago, all the scientists we read about where white, from (mostly) Europe and anybody from Africa, Australia, Middle East or even Asia was completely unknown to us. I think its marvelous that slowly, the truth long rejected by elitists is coming out. Who knows, maybe these revelations will cause a surge of people from Africa and the Middle East to rise-up again scientifically!
Who is al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham?
Apparently, al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham was a genius on par with the most famous minds in all of history! He was a gifted mathematician who created theories explaining everything from light refraction to the beginnings of gravitation relating how planets orbit around the Sun while most people where forced by the Catholic Church to believe that the Sun orbited around the Earth (see Galileo). Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham is also credited with creating the first pinhole camera, stating that the Earth’s Atmosphere is but 100km thick and even disproved the emissions theory when it was all but accepted as fact! Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham was born in the year 925 in what is now known as the country of Iraq.
More about Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham very soon!
If it wasn’t for the BBC, I never would have heard about Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham, my next task is to learn more about him and make a LegendaryLife Profile of this amazing man who is a credit to the human race no matter his origins or beliefs! I find it ironic that Charles Darwin was a Catholic who tried in vain to disprove the Theory of Evolution and Al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham was a Muslim who, at the very beginning, created the seed that disproves the existence of the supernatural, which was (and still is) a widely debated issue across all religions.
The LegendaryLife.com Blog is all about making not only the most out of your life but making it a successful one. Be warned though, it may cause you to think about things that others do not want you to.
from Amazon! YAHOO!!! 
This has been a major accomplishment for me, I never knew publishing a science fiction novel could be so much work but now that it’s done, it feels wonderful to have achieved this major goal of mine.
