EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE AND METHODOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN MEDIEVAL CENTRAL ASIAN SCIENCE

• Jahongir Rustam ogli Turdaliyev

  Author

This study explores the emergence and methodological foundations of empirical knowledge in medieval Central Asian science. Rather than equating empiricism exclusively with modern laboratory experiments, it treats the concept as an interconnected practice involving observation, experience, measurement, calculation, comparison of evidence, verification, and instrumental precision. An examination of the intellectual heritage of al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Ulugh Beg, al-Khwarizmi, and al-Farabi demonstrates that scholars of the region did not depend on texts and established authorities alone. They also investigated natural processes, the human body, celestial objects, geographical distances, minerals, and social evidence. The findings indicate that the interaction of theoretical reasoning with practical inquiry formed the methodological basis of empirical knowledge in medieval Central Asian science.

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