Avicenna's Mineralogy Studies

Abstract

Since early ages, subjects like the formation of nature within the context of the problem of existence, the elements of existence, the essence of substance and the points by which living and lifeless substance was different have been taken up by both philosophy and science. True enough, the famous philosopher and scientist Aristotle dwelled upon these subjects in some of his works. Some have claimed that since Aristotle mentioned in his work titled Meteorologica the fact that he would write a work titled Mineralogy, in which he would explain the origins of natural substances and minerals, Avicenna's work with the same tide should actually be ascribed to Aristotle. However, as is clear from the detailed information provided in this article, this book was actually written by Avicenna. The clearest confirmation of this rests on the fact that part of Avicenna's Şifa (Cure) was also dedicated to this subject and the explanations provided resemble those in Mineralogy. The work, in which Avicenna collected his explanations concerning Mineralogy are made up of two parts: 1. The formation of meteorites and of the surface of the earth. 2. The formation of minerals. The main ideas formulated by Avicenna in this work were that each element had its own characteristics and that by utilising some of them you could not obtain other elements.