Science
Mathematics and Methodology
This chapter is divided into three sections dealing with pharmacology, optics, and music, and emphasizes the issues of methodology, especially how al-Kindī thinks mathematics is used in science. In pharmacology, al-Kindī gives an arithmetical theory for calculating the effects of compound drugs. In optics, he expands on ideas inherited from Ptolemy to provide a novel theory of light and color. In music, he puts forward an ambitious theory, influenced by Pythagoreanism, which holds that all things are interconnected by relations of harmony.
Keywords: pharmacology, music, optics, science, mathematics, light, color, Ptolemy, Pythagoreanism, harmony
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