User:Axius/Sandbox10: Difference between revisions

[[File:Trajan bath house.jpeg|thumb|left| Partially restored Trajan (98 - 117 AD) bath house in Rome.]]The first issue we need to address here, is the "Muslim" that Paul Vallely is referring to. His name was [[W:Sake Dean Mahomed|Sake Dean Mahomed]] and he was not a Muslim, but a convert to Christianity.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520207172|2=2011-02-07}} The Travels of Dean Mahomet] – University of California press, ISBN 9780520207172</ref> Born to Muslim parents in 1759, He converted to Christianity and married the Anglo-Irish gentlewoman, Jane Daly, in an Anglican ceremony in 1786<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.indianmuslims.info/book/export/html/183|2=2011-02-07}} Deen Mahomed (1759–1851): soldier, writer, businessman] - The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography<!--  --></ref> (long before opening "Mahomed's Indian Vapour Baths" in 1821).<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/roots/asian/tracingasianroots/dean_mahomed3.htm#|2=2011-02-07}} Tracing Your Roots > South Asian > Tracing South Asian Roots: Dean Mahomed Shampooing Surgeon in Brighton] - Moving Here<!--  --></ref> Two of his children (Amelia and Henry) were also baptised into the Anglican faith, and one of his grandsons, Rev. James Kerriman Mahomed, was appointed as the vicar of Hove, Sussex.<ref>Ansari, Humayun (2004), The Infidel Within: The History of Muslims in Britain, 1800 to the Present, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, pp. 57–8, ISBN 1850656851</ref> Also worthy of mention is the fact that Islam is not the only religion which dictates rules on personal cleanliness. The Jews too have rules governing [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Health and Hygiene|hygiene]].

boiled with ashes, which is a method of making soap, but do not refer to the purpose of the "soap." Such materials were later used as hair styling aids. Like the ancient Egyptians before them, daily bathing was an important event in the ancient Roman world<ref>Barbara F. McManus - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/baths.html|2=2011-02-07}} Roman Baths and Bathing] - The College of New Rochelle, revised July, 2003<!--  --></ref> and a common custom in Japan during the Middle Ages. And in Iceland, pools warmed with water from hot springs were popular gathering places on Saturday evenings. Soapmaking was an established craft in Europe by the 7^th century. Soapmaker guilds guarded their trade secrets closely. Vegetable and animal oils were used with ashes of plants, along with fragrance. Gradually more varieties of soap became available for shaving and shampooing, as well as bathing and laundering. The English began making soap during the 12^th century. The soap business was so good that in 1622, King James I granted a monopoly to a soapmaker for $100,000 a year. Well into the 19^th century, soap was heavily taxed as a luxury item in several countries. When the high tax was removed, soap became available to ordinary people, and cleanliness standards improved. Commercial soapmaking in the American colonies began in 1608 with the arrival of several soapmakers on the second ship from England to reach Jamestown, VA. The science of modern soapmaking was bom in the 1820's with the discovery by French chemist Michel Eugene Chevreul, of the chemical nature and relationship of fats, glycerine and fatty acids. His studies established the basis for both fat and soap chemistry.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/clean_living/soaps__detergent_history_3.aspx|2=2011-02-07}} Soaps & Detergent: History] - The American Cleaning Institute, Washington, DC<!--  --></ref>  

Speculation has linked some Egyptian illustrations with distillation, but the earliest evidence for its invention so far is a distillation apparatus and terra-cotta perfume containers recently identified in the Indus Valley (pre-Islamic Pakistan) dating from around 3,000 BC, and Miriam the Prophetess (also known as “Maria the Jewess”) invented the kerotakis, an early still dated around  the 1^st century AD.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20080822204500/http://www.chemheritage.org/EducationalServices/pharm/antibiot/activity/distil.htm Fractional Distillation] - The Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2002</ref> The first firm documentary evidence for distillation in the West comes from Greek historian Herodotus' record of the method of distilling turpentine dated 425 BC.<ref>John Ferguson - [http://web.archive.org/web/20011224081242/http://www.dunromin.demon.co.uk/aromatherapy/oils_history.htm History of distillation and essential oils] - Aromatherapy Organisation Council</ref> Also, the origins of whisky is dated to the 5^th century AD, introduced to Ireland by Saint-Patrick (390 – 461 AD), the patron of the Irish.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.celtic-whisky.com/histrya.htm|2=2011-02-07}} History of Whisky and of Distillation (I)] - Celtic Whisky Compagnie<!--  --></ref>So the Arabs may have improved upon the process of distillation some 3,500 years later, but they most definitely did not invent it.

''Four works by Geber are known: Summa perfectionis magisterii (The Sum of Perfection or the Perfect Magistery, 1678), Liber fornacum (Book of Furnaces, 1678), De investigatione perfectionis (The Investigation of Perfection, 1678), and De inventione veritatis (The Invention of Verity, 1678). They are the clearest expression of alchemical theory and the most important set of laboratory directions to appear before the 16th century. Accordingly, they were widely read and extremely influential in a field where mysticism, secrecy, and obscurity were the usual rule.''"<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/227632/Geber|2=2011-02-07}} Geber] - The Encyclopædia Britannica<!--  --></ref>

Unfortunately for our ingenious Muslim engineer al-Jazari, the crank-shaft was known to the Chinese of the Han Dynasty.<ref name="crank shaft">[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.trivia-library.com/a/major-engineering-events-in-history-first-use-of-the-crank-834-ad.htm|2=2011-02-07}} Major Engineering Events in History: First Use of the Crank 834 A.D.] - Trivia-Library, Inc.<!--  --></ref> The Han Dynasty lasted from 206 BC to 220 AD. By the 1^st century AD cranks were used on Roman medical devices, but it was not until 834 AD where we find proof of the crank in Europe. A picture in a graphic codex of a man sharpening a sword on a grindstone turned by a crank.<ref name="crank shaft"></ref><ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://patentpending.blogs.com/patent_pending_blog/2005/04/the_invention_o.html|2=2011-02-07}} The Invention of the Crank, The Crank Powered Bicycle] - Patent Pending Blog, April 7, 2005<!--  --></ref> 206 BC to 834 AD is certainly a lot earlier than when Paul Vallely claims a 12^th century Muslim invented 'one of the most important mechanical inventions in the history of humankind'.  

Piston technology was also used by Hero of Alexandria in the 1^st century AD with the creation of the worlds first steam-powered engine- the aeolipile, more than a thousand years before al-Jazari. (please refer to [[20_Islamic_Inventions#Flying|Invention 4 - Flying]] for further details.) In his works "Pneumatica" and "Automata" he also described over a hundred machines and automata, including mechanical singing birds, puppets, a fire engine, a wind organ (please refer to [[20_Islamic_Inventions#Flying|Invention 11 - The windmill]] for further details), and a coin-operated machine, so if anyone deserves the title given to al-Jazari by Paul Vallely as the "father of robotics" its Hero of Alexandria. It must also be noted that Hero's works "Mechanica" (in three books) survive only in their Arabic translations, so the Muslims had access to all this pre-Islamic genious,<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/263417/Heron-of-Alexandria#ref=ref218225|2=2011-02-07}} Science & Technology: Heron of Alexandria] - The Encyclopædia Britannica<!--  --></ref> yet writing a factually accurate article on Islamic achievements seems to have proved too much for some.

As for the water clock, the ancient Egyptians used a time mechanism run by flowing water. One of the oldest was found in the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh buried in 1500 BC, and the Chinese began developing mechanized clocks from around 200 BC. The Greeks also measured time with various types of water clocks. The more impressive mechanized water clocks were developed between 100 BC and 500 AD by Greek and Roman horologists and astronomers.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20080531063139/http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/early.html A walk through time - Early Clocks] - The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Physics Laboratory</ref> What we now know as the Antikythera mechanism was discovered among a shipwreck in 1900 off the island of Antikythera. [[File:Chinese combination lock.jpg|thumb|left| An ancient Chinese letter-combination padlock.]]Science historian Derek Price, concluded that it was an ancient computer used to predict the positions of the sun and moon on any given date. Michael Wright, the curator of mechanical engineering at the Science Museum in London, thinks that the original device modelled the entire known solar system. Ancient Greek sources make references to such devices so this is highly plausible. Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 – 43 BC), writes of a device “recently constructed by our friend Poseidonius, which at each revolution reproduces the same motions of the sun, the moon and the five planets.” Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer Archimedes of Syracuse (287 – 212 BC) is also said to have made such a device.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_4.htm|2=2011-02-07}} An Ancient Greek Computer?] - World-Mysteries, The Economist Newspaper Limited 2002<!--  --></ref><ref>Michael Lahanas - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Kythera.htm|2=2011-02-07}} The Antikythera computing device, the most complex instrument of antiquity] - Hellenica<!--  --></ref> By the 9^th century AD a mechanical timekeeper had been developed that lacked only an escapement mechanism.

And what of the Combination Lock, did al-Jazari invent it? Again, the answer is an emphatic 'no'. The earliest known combination lock was unearthed in a Roman period tomb in Kerameikos, Athens.<ref>Hoepfner, Wolfram (1970), "Ein Kombinationsschloss aus dem Kerameikos", Archäologischer Anzeiger 85 (2): 210–213</ref> The ancient Chinese were also responsible for the creation of some of the earliest key-operated padlocks and beautiful letter-combination padlocks.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://140.116.71.92/lock/english/first.htm|2=2011-02-07}} The Beauty of Ancient Chinese Locks] - The Ancient Chinese Machinery Cultural Foundation<!--  --></ref><ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.locks.ru/germ/informat/schlagehistory.htm|2=2011-02-07}} Schlage's History of Locks/ Inventive Ingenuity] - Schlage Lock<!--  --></ref>

It is interesting that the author states himself that it is "not clear whether it was invented in the Muslim world", yet still chose to include quilting as an Islamic invention. However, the evidence against quilting being a Muslim invention is very clear, though it may have come to Europe through the middle East. The actual origins of quilting remains unknown, but its history can so far be traced to ancient China and Egypt as long ago as 3,400 BC<ref>Averil Colby - [http://www.amazon.com/Quilting-Averie-Colby/dp/0684160587/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2 Quilting] - Macmillan Pub Co, 1979, ISBN 9780684160580</ref> with the discovery of a quilted mantle on a carved ivory figure of a Pharaoh of the Egyptian First Dynasty. Moreover, in 1924 archaeologists discovered a quilted floor covering in Mongolia.<ref name="Julie Johnson's History of Quilting"></ref> The estimated age somewhere between the 1^st century BC to the 2^nd century AD. There are also numerous references to quilts in literature and inventories of estates,<ref name="Julie Johnson's History of Quilting">Julie Johnson - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.emporia.edu/cgps/tales/quilte~1.htm|2=2011-02-08}} History of Quilting] - Emporia State University<!--  --></ref> and more recently in September 2007 an ancient male mummy was discovered in Xinjiang- China, wrapped in a cotton quilt.<ref>Chen Lin - [{{Reference archive|1=http://china.org.cn/english/culture/225190.htm|2=2011-02-08}} Male mummy found in Xinjiang] - china.org.cn, September 20, 2007<!--  --></ref>

The second most impressive pre-Islamic dome is that of the Hagia Sophia (the Church of the Holy Wisdom) in Istanbul, Turkey. Built under the supervision of Byzantine Emperor Justinian during the years 532 - 537 AD, it was converted into a mosque by the invading Muslims who conquered Constantinople in 1453 AD. The dome has a diameter of 31 metres (102 feet) and opposed to the articles claims, we find Muslims borrowing from older Christian architecture. It was in fact this 6^th century Byzantine church which was used over a thousand years later as a model for many of the Ottoman mosques including the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (completed 1616 AD), the Şehzade Mosque (completed 1548 AD), the Süleymaniye Mosque (completed 1557 AD), the Rüstem Pasha Mosque (completed 1563 AD), and the Kılıç Ali Paşa Mosque (completed 1580 AD).<ref>Holly Hayes - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/istanbul-hagia-sophia|2=2011-02-08}} Hagia Sophia, Istanbul] - Sacred Destinations, September 19, 2009<!--  --></ref>

The Article also mentions that rose windows are an Islamic invention, but its origins may be traced back to the Roman oculus, again found on top of the dome of the Pantheon. Also, the invention of Rose windows depend entirely on glass and craftsmanship. Glass making originated in the Near East around 2,000 BC. The earliest makers pressed glass into crude molds. Around 1500 BC, finer vessels were being made in Egypt. The best glass manufacturers and exporters of this time were the Phoenicians who had a great supply of silica rich sands. Glass blowing developed around the 1^st century BC in Palestine.<ref>Jamie Humphrey and Linda Phelps - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/stainedglass2.html|2=2011-02-08}} Stained Glass, Europe, Medieval] - Smith College History of Science, Museum of Ancient Inventions<!--  --></ref> The earliest known stained glass is Saxon (7^th century, Jarrow), and the making of it was regarded as a mystery.

And finally, we have ribbed vaulting which was developed from Romanesque architecture by medieval European builders<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/624158/vault#ref=ref749739|2=2011-02-08}} Vault (architecture)] - The Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed February 8, 2011<!--  --></ref> and which was first used in St. Etienne, France. The earliest surviving example of ribbed vaulting can be found in Durham Cathedral (built from 1093 - 1133 AD) in Durham, England.<ref> John Julius Norwich - [http://www.amazon.com/World-Atlas-Architecture-Julius-Norwich/dp/0517668750 The World Atlas of Architecture] - Publisher: Crescent, pg.202, ISBN 9780517668757 </ref>

More than a thousand years before al-Zahrawi, the Greek and Roman physicians in the Classical World had access to a variety of surgical instruments. This is known through several ancient texts which give brief descriptions and also from a 1887 find in the ruins of Pompeii. A house that belonged to a Greek surgeon in 79 AD was identified by its large stores of surgical equipment numbering over a hundred. These medical instruments, which are now on display in museums around the world, were all available to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460 – 370 BC) who lived more than a thousand years before Islam, and many of them in a similar form are still being used today. These instruments include a variety of scalpels, Hooks, Uvula Crushing Forceps, Bone Drills, Bone Forceps, Catheters and Bladder Sounds, Vaginal Speculum and even a Portable Medicine Chest to carry them in.<ref>Prof. Nancy Demand, Indiana University, Bloomington - [{{Reference archive|1=http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/demandinstruments.html|2=2011-02-08}} The Asclepion] - AbleOne Education Network, Classics Technology Center<!--  --></ref> It was also the Greek physician and medical researcher Claudius Galenus (129 – 217 AD) someone who greatly influenced Western medical science, who first used catgut to close wounds, and not al-Zahrawi. In fact "[[Qur'an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Atheists#Ibn_Sina_was_an_atheist|Muslim]]" physician Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) 700 years later (920 AD) used a pig product.<ref>Professor David J. Leaper - [{{Reference archive|1=http://web.archive.org/web/20071111074025/http://www.ewma.org/pdf/fall01/04-WoundClosure.pdf|2=2011-02-08}} Wound Closure Basic Techniques, Scientific paper presented at EWMA Stockholm 2000] - The European Wound Management Association<!--  --></ref> The actions of a pious Muslim, we're sure.

As for the circulation of the blood, it may have been described by Muslim medic Ibn Nafis 300 years before William Harvey, but the Chinese Book of Medicine describes this 1,600 years before Ibn Nafis.<ref>Janet Koenig - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.repohistory.org/circulation/ci_factoids.php3|2=2011-02-08}} A Brief and Selective History of Blood] - REPOhistory<!--  --></ref>  

The article also alleges that Muslim doctors first developed hollow needles to suck cataracts from the eye, and anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes. This in not true. Cataract surgery has been performed for many centuries. The earliest reference to cataract surgery was written by the Hindu surgeon Susruta in manuscripts dating from the 5^th century BC. In Rome, archaeologists found surgical instruments used to treat cataract dating back to the 1^st and 2^nd century AD. Hollow needles were used to break up the cataract and remove it with suction.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.lasersurgeryforeyes.com/cataracthistory.html|2=2011-02-08}} The History of Cataract Surgery] - LaserSurgeryForEyes<!--  --></ref> Anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes were used both by the ancient Chinese and Romans. Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist Pedanius Dioscorides (40 - 90 AD) in his work ''Materia Medica'' (one of the most influential herbal books in history) referred to the taking of an alcoholic extract before an operation. This would suggest that it was typical for the surgeons of ancient Rome to decrease pain of an operation by giving their patients sedative drugs.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.wordsources.info/words-mod-anesthesiaPt1.html|2=2011-02-08}} Facts about Anesthesia’s Past and Present] - Word Sources<!--  --></ref>

The windmill was not invented in the year 634 for a Persian Caliph. Although the Arabs invaded Persia in 634 AD, contrary to the articles claims, there was no Caliph in Persia at that time, he was in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Caliph Abu Bakr died early that year and Umar ibn al-Khattab took over. Fīrūz (Abu-Lu'lu'ah), the Arab-owned non-Muslim slave, who in 644 AD assassinated Caliph Umar in the mosque at Medina, is described by Islamic sources as a Persian builder of windmills.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.islambasics.com/view.php?bkID=150&chapter=6|2=2011-02-08}} Al-Farouq Omar Ibnul- Khattab/ Omar's Martyrdom] - IslamBasics, The Online Islamic Library<!--  --></ref> Therefore, the construction of windmills was an already established craft in Persia, pre-dating the presence of Islam.

If we look to the history behind the development of windmills, the first rotary mills were discovered in Catal Hayuk in Turkey and existed 8,000 years ago,<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=1222|2=2011-02-08}} History of Technology: Mills] - History World<!--  --></ref> while the first windmills were developed much later to automate the tasks of grain-grinding and water-pumping. One of the earliest watermills mentioned can be found in 1^st century BC Greek writings, where a watermill was called a ''hydraletēs'', but because of the heavy use of slave labour we do not find the first archeological evidence of watermills until the 4^th and 5^th century AD. <ref>Geoffrey Ernest Maurice De Ste. Croix - [http://books.google.com/books?id=MSPttWbUPZsC&dq=greek+poem+watermill&hl=nl&source=gbs_navlinks_s The class struggle in the ancient Greek world (pg. 38)] - Cornell University Press, 1989, ISBN 9780801495977</ref> The earliest mention of a type of windmill can be found in the book ''Pneumatica'' written by a 1^st century AD writer called Hero, in it he describes the creation of a type of windpowered organ. <ref>Donald Routledge Hill - [http://books.google.nl/books?id=MqSXc5sGZJUC&dq=hero+windmill+greek&source=gbs_navlinks_s A history of engineering in classical and medieval times (pg. 172)] - London: Croom Helm & La Salle, Illinois: Open Court, 1984, ISBN 0875484220</ref> The idea was never worked out however and we don't find the earliest-known design of the vertical axis system until developed in Persia about 500 - 900 AD. China, is also often claimed as the  birthplace of the windmill. The belief that it was invented in China more than 2,000 years ago is widespread and may be accurate, but the earliest actual documentation of a Chinese windmill was in 1219 AD by the Chinese statesman Yehlu Chhu-Tshai.<ref>Darrell M. Dodge - [{{Reference archive|1=http://telosnet.com/wind/early.html|2=2011-02-08}} Illustrated History of Wind Power Development/ Part 1] - TelosNet Web Development<!--  --></ref>  

It was smallpox that was used for inoculation by the Turks, not cowpox. It was in fact Jenner who first used cowpox to vaccinate against the much more lethal smallpox, hence he invented vaccination. And Yes, Jenner and Pasteur were not the inventors of inoculation but neither were the Muslims. What Paul seems to be continually doing is referring to anything that originated from the Eastern hemisphere (regardless of whether or not it was before or after the advent of Islam) as originating from 'the Muslim world' when even the most unenlightent amongst us will realise that China and India are not a part of this so-called Muslim world. It has been said that Inoculation against smallpox began in China during the 10^th century,<ref name="The Genius of China"></ref> but the earliest documented reference to smallpox inoculation in China comes from text written in 1549.<ref>Joseph Needham - [http://www.amazon.com/Science-Civilisation-China-Biological-Technology/dp/0521632625 Science and Civilization in China: Volume 6, Biology and Biological Technology, Part 6, Medicine] - Cambridge University Press, 2000, pg. 134, ISBN 9780521632621</ref> The earliest known attempts to produce artificial immunity involved powdered smallpox scabs being blown into the sinuses, and in the 17^th century, they prepared pills made from the fleas of cows in an effort to prevent the disease. In India, physicians conferred immunity by applying scabs to the scarified skin of the healthy. The technique of inoculation spread west to Turkey and then Europe.<ref>Christopher S. W. Koehler Ph.D. - [{{Reference archive|1=http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/mdd/v04/i10/html/10timeline.html|2=2011-02-08}} Science, “society”, and immunity] - The American Chemical Society, MDD Vol. 4, No. 10, pp 59–60., October 2001<!--  --></ref>

The history of the fountain pen cannot begin otherwise than with the quill pen. The quill pen was used for the writings of Egyptian kings 4,000 years ago. They most often used a goose feather carved into a sharp tip and dipped into ink of vegetable origin. Though the first pencil was invented by Conrad Gessner In 1567, <ref>Dennis B. Smith - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.leadholder.com/lh-non-gesner.html|2=2011-02-08}} Conrad Gessner] - Leadholder: The Online Drafting Pencil Museum<!--  --></ref> it remained like this until the end of the 18^th century when the metal pen was invented. Daniel Schwenter wrote about the idea of creating a fountain pen in his ''Delicia Physic-Mathematicae'' in 1636 <ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/1881235|2=2011-02-08}} Daniel Schwenter] - Academic dictionaries and encyclopedias<!--  --></ref>, efforts to manufacture a pen with its own ink supply began in the year 1656. For example, Samuel Pepys had one in the year 1663. It functioned in such a way that a small pipe above the tip of the feather was filled with ink by means of a small piston. But a slightly more practically usable pen came to the world in the 19^th century. A fountain pen which functioned on the same principle (a pen with a piston) was created by the inventor Folsch in 1809.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070808094427/http://www.quido.cz/objevy/pero.a.htm Fountain pen] - Quido Magazine</ref> Later in 1931, László Bíró presented the first ballpoint pen at the Budapest world fair,<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/kiadv/ipsz/199608/biro.html|2=2011-02-08}} Golyó a tollban - megemlékezés Bíró László Józsefről (in Hungarian)] - Hungarian Patent Office<!--  --></Ref> the ballpoint pen was designed to use better ink that would not clog or smear.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/ballpen.htm|2=2011-02-10}} Ballpen] - The Great Idea Finder, May 5, 2006</ref>

Paul Vallely begrudgingly admits that the system of numbering in use all round the world is 'probably' Indian in origin, yet the title of the supposed Islamic invention still remains "The system of numbering". The first known use of numbers dates back to around 30,000 BC, but it is universally accepted that the system of numbering we use today (the digits 0 to 9) was invented in India.<ref> Berat Jusufi,  Jon-Fredrik Stryker, Vegard Larsen - [{{Reference archive|1=http://home.c2i.net/greaker/comenius/9899/indiannumerals/india.html|2=2011-02-08}} The history of Indian numerals] - Comenius Maths Project, a Europeen Education Project (EEP)<!--  --></ref><ref>Joel Achenbach - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-909875.html|2=2011-02-08}} Article: Take a Number, Please] - The Washington Post, September 16, 1994<!--  --></ref> The reason why they are referred to as "Arabic" numerals in the West is due to them being introduced to the Europeans through the Arabs, who in the same way had earlier received them from the Hindus. Likewise, the Arabs themselves commonly refer to them as "Hindu numerals."<ref>Russ Rowlett - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/roman.html|2=2011-02-08}} Roman and "Arabic" Numerals] - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 14, 2001, updated July 14, 2004<!--  --></ref>  

As for al-Kindi; While he is thought to be the earliest to describe frequency analysis, the technique itself may not not have been discovered by al-Kindi as claimed. Nobody knows who actually discovered/invented/realized that the frequencies of letters could be used to break chiphers,<ref>Simon Singh - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/crackingsubstitution.html|2=2011-02-08}} The Black Chamber/ Cracking the substitution chipher] - Simon Singh.net<!--  --></ref> and cryptology itself can be traced back to the time of Julius Caesar.