Exploring the Intersection of Philosophy, Science, and History, Gülhan Yaşar is a distinguished molecular biologist and historian of science, dedicated to reviving and sharing the profound philosophical and scientific insights of of botanical studies in Islamic civilization. Her meticulous work, combines the ancient wisdom of the East with contemporary thought, making complex ideas in metaphysics, natural sciences, and logic accessible to modern readers.
Her work on Islamic civilization focuses on understanding the scientific systems of the significant figures of the Golden Age of Islam. She also explores the scope of agricultural and botanical studies conducted during the Ottoman Empire through the manuscripts preserved in Turkey.
She also examines the modern system of plant classification from ancient Greek philosophers to the Age of Enlightenment to give her readers a general understanding of how modern botany has evolved. In these works, she aims to reveal the elements that form the basic logic of plant studies represented in all these books and how these systems of thought have influenced botanical studies in the West and modern times.
Her passion is to present the adventure of modern botany, which has developed with the contributions to natural sciences and philosophy in an enlightening, understandable, and inspiring way for scholars and curious minds. She also reminds readers of the wisdom of the East as an alternative way to gain a new perspective on the problems of modern botanical studies.
With a strong background in Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics, Gülhan Yaşar’s career has spanned research at Istanbul University, Yale University, and Marquette University. Her fascination with the history of natural sciences has led her to investigate the rich intellectual traditions of the Islamic world, particularly on botany. She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in Istanbul, focusing on the untapped treasures of historical scientific texts.
The work is designed to examine Ibn Sina's Book of Healing from a botanical and natural science perspective. The author provides an in-depth analysis of the 'Book of Plants', the seventh chapter of the Book of Healing, which is not sufficiently understood today. In order to ensure the integrity of the subject in his work, the author examines the Book of Healing, which reflects Ibn Sina's philosophical system holistically, with all its chapters and headings. Since plant studies are a subject of natural philosophy and since all sciences were accepted as interconnected within a certain hierarchy in the scientific and philosophical approach of the period, Ibn Sina's natural philosophy is also examined in the work. After introducing the reader to this entire philosophical system and understanding, Ibn Sina's findings on many important topics related to plants, such as vitality, senses, plant groups, reproduction and development, seed and fruit structure, and wilting mechanisms, are carefully examined in the work. The studies of one of the most influential philosophers of the Islamic world on plants are compared with modern scientific approaches and an analytical perspective is presented to the reader.
In this section, the author begins her work by summarizing the history of botany from Greek philosophers to Islamic scholars so that the reader can understand plant science during the time of Ibn Sina. At the center of the work is an in-depth analysis of the Book of Plants, the seventh section of the Natural Sciences Section of the Book of Healing. For these studies, the author translated a copy of the work in Arabic in Egypt and provided explanations based on modern biological concepts to understand this philosophical-scientific text. As a result of the studies, the author discusses Avicenna's approach to plants, such as life and nutrition in plants, formation and classification of organs, differences between development and reproduction, differences in plant organs, classification of fruits, and determination of the primary groups that make up plants.
In this section, the author presents Avicenna’s detailed philosophy on nature based on Physics, the first book of the second part of the Book of Healing. She also explains the evidence and logical system Avicenna used to present his philosophy. In the 'Physics' section, Avicenna explains other philosophers' definitions of natural science topics, especially Aristotle's, such as motion, time, matter, and the first principle, and criticizes all these views, presenting the current perspective of his time on nature from his viewpoint. The discussion of natural sciences primarily revolves around method and subject, and a section is dedicated to defining the term 'nature.' The following sections provide detailed information about the causes that affect objects as subjects of natural sciences and their causal relationships. Since the work is a subject of natural sciences, it is completed with the concepts of time and space, which are the primary variables used in defining motion.
The Book of Healing is a first chapter of the book ‘Avicenna’s Contributions: A Journey from Metaphysics to Plant Studies (Detailed Translation and Analysis of Avicenna’s Major Work on Botany)’ covers all aspects of Avicenna’s philosophy. In this chapter, logic, natural sciences, mathematic, and metaphysics sections and the main topics which are discussed in all these sections examines. Avicenna in the Book of Healing logic and natural sections part follows Arsitotelian system. However he uses Euclid's ‘Elements’, Ptolemy's ‘Almagest’ and Nicomachus’s ‘Introduction to Arithmetic’ books as a main source for the Mathematic section and complete it by adding the music part with the informations he gained through a long research and with deep thought. İn metaphysics section he underlines different topics such as subject of metaphysics, distinction between necessary and possible existence, the definition and the parts of essence, distinction between genus and species, efficiency, and final cause discussed. Overall of the book summarizes the ideas on the previous philosopher studies, clarifies the doubts, and includes additional informations.
In celebrating this legacy, we honor the thinkers and dreamers who dared to see the world differently, reminding ourselves of the power of exploration and discovery.
In Islam, the statements of the Prophet Muhammad regarding diseases motivated Muslim doctors to work in the field of medicine.
Embark on a transformative journey through the lens of Avicenna’s timeless wisdom, reinterpreted for today’s world by Gülhan Yaşar. Whether you are a researcher, student, or simply curious about philosophy and science, Gülhan’s work offers valuable insights that bridge the gap between ancient knowledge and modern understanding.
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