A brief introduction to Persia

3. The 18th largest country in the world in terms of area at
1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of
around 78 million. It is a country of
particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in
the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is a regional
power, and holds an important position in international
energy security and world economy as a result of its large
reserves of petroleum and natural gas.
Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations.

4. Iran is an example of a country that has made
considerable advances through education and
training, despite international sanctions in almost
all aspects of research during the past 30
years. Iran's university population swelled from
100,000 in 1979 to 2 million in 2006. Seventy
percent of its science and engineering students are
women. Iran's scientific progress is reported to be
the fastest in the world. Iran has made great strides
in different sectors, including aerospace, nuclear
science, medical development, as well as stem
cell and cloning research.

5. Ancient and modern technology in
Persia
Many of today's concepts in science including the Helio-Centric model of
solar system, finite speed of light, and gravity were first proposed by
Persian scientists.
Ancient Iranians built Qanats and Yakhchal to provide and keep water. The
first windmill appeared in Iran in the 9th century. The oldest and largest
known qanat is in the Iranian city ofGonabad which, after 2,700 years, still
provides drinking and agricultural water to nearly 40,000 people.
Iranians contributed significantly to the current understanding
of astronomy, natural
science, medicine,mathematics, and philosophy. Khwarizmi is widely
hailed as the father of algebra. Ethanol (alcohol) was first identified by
Persian alchemists such as Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi. Throughout
Manuscript of Abdolrahman
the Middle Ages, the natural philosophy and mathematics of the Ancient
Sufi'sDepiction of Celestial
Constellations Greeks and Persians were furthered and preserved within Persia.
The Academy of Gundishapur was a renowned centre of learning in the
city of Gundeshapur during late antiquity and was the most important
medical centre of the ancient world during the 6th and 7th
centuries. During this period, Persia became a centre for the manufacture
of scientific instruments, retaining its reputation for quality well into the
19th century.

6. Ancient and modern technology in
Persia
Iran strives to revive the golden age of Persian science. The country
has increased its publication output nearly tenfold from 1996 through
2004, and has been ranked first in terms of output growth rate followed
by China Despite the limitations in funds, facilities, and international
collaborations, Iranian scientists remain highly productive in several
experimental fields, such as pharmacology, pharmaceutical
chemistry, organic chemistry, and polymer chemistry. Iranian scientists
are also helping construct the Compact Muon Solenoid , one of two
large general-purpose particle physics detectors. In 2009, a SUSE
Linux-based HPC system (High Performance Computing Systems)
made by the Aerospace Research Institute of Iran (ARI) was launched
with 32 cores and now runs 96 cores.
In the biomedical sciences, Iran's Institute of Biochemistry and
Biophysics is a UNESCO chair in biology. In late 2006, Iranian
scientists successfully cloned a sheep by somatic cell nuclear
transfer, at the Rouyan research centre in Tehran. According to a study
by David Morrison and Ali Khademhosseini (Harvard-MIT and
Cambridge), stem cell research in Iran is amongst the top 10 in the
world. Iran ranks 15th in the world in nanotechnologies.

7. Ancient and modern technology in Persia
The Iranian nuclear program was launched in the 1950s. Iran is
the 7th country in production of uranium hexafluoride. Iran now
controls the entire cycle for producing nuclear fuel. Iran's
current facilities includes several research
reactors, a uranium mine, an almost complete
commercial nuclear reactor, and uranium processing facilities
that include a uranium enrichment plant.

8. Ancient and modern
technology in Persia
The Iranian Space Agency launched its
first reconnaissance
satellite named Sina-1 in 2006, and a
space rocket in 2007, which aimed at
improving science and research for
university students. Iran placed its
domestically built satellite, Omid into
orbit on the 30th anniversary of the
Iranian Revolution, on 2 February
2009, through Safir rocket, becoming
the ninth country in the world capable
of both producing a satellite and
sending it into space from a
domestically made launcher.

9. Ancient and modern technology in Persia
 Windwheels were developed by the Babylonians ca. 1700 BC to pump water for irrigation.
In the 7th century, Persian engineers in Greater Iran developed a more advanced wind-
power machine, the windmill, building upon the basic model developed by the
Babylonians.
Mathematics:
 The 12th century mathematician Muhammad Ibn Musa-al-Kharazmi created
the Logarithm table, developed algebra and expanded upon Persian and Indian arithmetic
systems. The works of Kharazmi "exercised a profound influence on the development of
mathematical thought in the medieval West".
The first five rows of Khayam-Pascal's triangle

10.  Persian philosophers and inventors may have
created the first batteries (sometimes known as
the Baghdad Battery). Some have suggested that
the batteries may have been used medicinally.
Other scientists believe the batteries were used for
electroplating—transferring a thin layer of metal to
another metal surface—a technique still used today
and the focus of a common classroom experiment.

11. Medicine:
 The practice and study of medicine in Iran has a long
and prolific history. Situated at the crossroads of the East
and West, Persia was often involved in developments in
ancient Greek and Indian medicine; pre- and post-
Islamic Iran have been involved in medicine as well.
For example, the first teaching hospital where medical
students methodically practiced on patients under the
supervision of physicians was the Academy of
Gundishapur in the Persian Empire. Some experts go so
far as to claim that: "to a very large extent, the credit for
From: Mansur ibn Ilyas: Tashrīḥ-e badan-e the whole hospital system must be given to Persia―.
. Manuscript, ca. 1450, U.S. ensān.
National Library of Medicine.  The idea of xenotransplantation ( the transplantation of
living cells, tissues or organs from one species to
another) dates to the days of first Persian empire as
evidenced by engravings still present in Persepolis.

12.  Several documents still exist from which the definitions and
treatments of the headache in medieval Persia can be
ascertained. These documents give detailed and precise clinical
information on the different types of headaches. The medieval
physicians listed various signs and symptoms, apparent
causes, and hygienic and dietary rules for prevention of
headaches. The medieval writings are both accurate and
vivid, and they provide long lists of substances used in the
treatment of headaches. Many of the approaches of physicians in
A 500-year-old Latin translation of the
Canon of Medicine by Avicenna. medieval Persia are accepted today; however, still more of them
could be of use to modern medicine.
 In the 10th century work of Shahnameh, Ferdowsi describes
a Caesarean section performed on Rudabeh, during which a
special wine agent was prepared by a Zoroastrian priest and used
to produce unconsciousness for the operation. Although largely
mythical in content, the passage illustrates working knowledge
of anesthesia in ancient Persia.
 Later in the 10th century, Abu Bakr Muhammad Bin Zakaria
Razi is considered the founder of practical physics and the
inventor of the special or net weight of matter. His student, Abu
Bakr Joveini, wrote the first comprehensive medical book in
the Persian language.

13. Astronomy
 In 1000 AD, Biruni wrote an astronomical
encyclopaedia which discussed the possibility that the
earth might rotate around the sun. This was before Tycho
Brahe drew the first maps of the sky, using stylized
animals to depict the constellations.
 In the tenth century, the Persian astronomer Abd al-
Rahman al-Sufi cast his eyes upwards to the awning of
stars overhead and was the first to record a galaxy
outside our own. Gazing at the Andromeda galaxy he
called it a "little cloud" – an apt description of the
An 18th century Persian
astrolabe slightly wispy appearance of our galactic neighbour.

14. Chemistry  Tusi believed that a body of matter is able to change but is not able to
disappear entirely. He wrote "a body of matter cannot disappear
completely. It only changes its
form, condition, composition, color, and other properties, and turns
into a different complex or elementary matter". Five hundred years
later, Mikhail Lomonosov (1711–1765) and Antoine-Laurent
Lavoisier (1743–1794) created the law of conservation of
mass, setting down this same idea. However, it should be noted that
Tusi argued for evolution within a firmly Islamic context—he did
not, like Darwin, draw materialist conclusions from his theories.
Moreover, unlike Darwin, he was arguing hypothetically: he did not
attempt to provide empirical data for his theories. Nonetheless his
arguments, which in some ways prefigure natural selection, are still
considered remarkably 'advanced' for their time.
 Jaber Ibn Hayyan, the famous Iranian chemist who died in 804 at
Tous in Khorasan, was the father of a number of discoveries recorded
in an encyclopaedia and of many treatises covering two thousand
topics, and these became the bible of European chemists of the 18th
century, particularly of Lavoisier. These works had a variety of uses
including tinctures and their applications in tanning and textiles;
distillations of plants and flowers; the origin of perfumes; therapeutic
pharmacy, and gunpowder, a powerful military instrument possessed
by Islam long before the West. Jabir ibn Hayyan, is widely regarded
as the founder of chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes
and equipment still used by chemists today such as distillation.

15. Physics
Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham is known in the West as Alhazen, born in 965
in Persia and dying in 1039 in Egypt. He is known as the father of optics for
his writings on, and experiments with, lenses, mirrors, refraction, and
reflection. He correctly stated that vision results from light that is reflected
into the eye by an object, not emitted by the eye itself and reflected back,
as Aristotle believed. He solved the problem of finding the locus of points
on a spherical mirror from which light will be reflected to an observer.
From his studies of refraction, he determined that the atmosphere has a
definite height and that twilight is caused by refraction of solar radiation
from beneath the horizon.
Biruni was the first scientist to formally propose that the speed of light is finite,
before Galileo tried to experimentally prove this.
Kamal al-Din Al-Farisi (1267–1318) born in Tabriz, Iran, is known for giving
the first mathematically satisfactory explanation of the rainbow, and an
Kamal al-Din al-Farisi's autograph
explication of the nature of colours that reformed the theory of Ibn al-
manuscript in Optics, Tanqih al-
Haytham. Al-Farisi also "proposed a model where the ray of light from the
Manazir, 1309 A.D., Adilnor's Collection.
sun was refracted twice by a water droplet, one or more reflections
occurring between the two refractions." He verified this through extensive
experimentation using a transparent sphere filled with water and a camera
obscura. He is also the first who scientifically explains the rainbow.

16. Iranian Philosophy
 Iranian philosophy or Persian philosophycan be traced back as far as to Old
Iranian philosophical traditions and thoughts which originated in ancient Indo-Iranian roots
and were considerably influenced by Zarathustra's teachings. According to the Oxford
Dictionary of Philosophy, the choronology of the subject and science of philosophy starts
with the Indo-Iranians, dating this event to 1500 BC. The Oxford dictionary also
states, "Zarathushtra's philosophy entered to influence Western tradition
through Judaism, and therefore on Middle Platonism."
 Iranian scientists outside Iran have also made some major contributions to science. In
1960, Ali Javan co-invented the first gas laser and fuzzy set theory was introduced by Lotfi
Zadeh. Iranian cardiologist, Tofy Mussivand invented and developed the first artificial
cardiac pump, the precursor of the artificial heart. Furthering research and treatment of
diabetes, HbA1c was discovered by Samuel Rahbar. Iranian physics is especially strong
in string theory, with many papers being published in Iran. Iranian-American string
theorist Cumrun Vafa proposed the Vafa-Witten theorem together with Edward Witten.
 Currently Iran aims for a national goal of self sustainment in all scientific
arenas. The Comprehensive Scientific Plan has been devised based on about 51,000 pages
of documents and includes 224 scientific projects which must be implemented by the year
2025.

24. First Human Rights’ Charter
Cyrus Cylinder: Considered as History's First
Declaration of Human Rights
in Ancient Times is today displayed at the British
Museum
In the 1970s, the Cyrus Cylinder has been described as
the world's first charter of human rights. It was
translated into all six official U.N. languages in 1971. A
replica of the cylinder is kept at the United Nations
Cyrus the Great
Headquarters in New York City in the second floor
hallway, between the Security Council and the
Economic and Social Council chambers.

25. Cyrus Cylinder (The Official Text) :I am Cyrus, King of the globe, great king, mighty king, King of Babylon, king
of the land of Sumer and Akad, King of ......, king of the four quarters of Earth, son of Cambysis (Kambujiye), great
king, king of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus (Kurosh), great king, king of Anshan, descendant of Teispes (Chaish
Pish), great king, king of Anshan, progeny of an unending royal line, whose rule, The Gods, Bel and Nabu
cherish, whose kingship they desire for their hearts' and pleasures.
When I well disposed, entered Babylon, I had established the seat of government in the royal palace of the
ruler, amidst jubilation and rejoicing. Marduk the great god, induced the magnanimous inhabitants of Babylon to
love me, and I sought daily to worship him when my numerous soldiers in great numbers peacefully entered Babylon
and moved about undisturbed in the midst of the Babylon, I did not allow anyone to terrorize the people of the lands
of Sumer and Akad and ...... I kept in view, the needs of the people and all their sanctuaries to promote their well
being. I strove for peace in Babylon and in all his other sacred cities. As to the inhabitants of Babylon who against
the will of the gods were enslaved, I abolished the corvee which was against their social standing, I freed all slaves. I
brought relief to their dilapidated housing, putting thus an end to their misfortunes and slavery Marduk, the great
lord, was well pleased with my deeds, rejoiced and to me, Cyrus, the king who worshipped him, and to
Cambysis, my son, the offspring of my loins, and to all my troops he graciously gave his blessing, and in good
sprit, before him we stood peacefully and praised him
All the kings who sat in throne rooms, throughout the four quarters, from the Upper Sea (Mediterranean Sea) to the
Lower Sea (Persian Gulf), those who dwelt in ...... and all those who live in other types of buildings as well as all the
kings of the West Land, who dwelt in tents, brought me their heavy tribute and kissed my feet in The Babylon. As to
the region, from ...... to the cities of Ashur, Susa (Shoosh), Agade and Eshnuna, the cities of Zamban, Me-Turnu, Der
as far as the region of the land of Gutium, the holy cities beyond the Tigris River, whose sanctuaries had been in
ruins over a long period, the gods whose abode is in the midst of them, I returned to their places and housed them in
lasting abodes.
I also gathered all their former inhabitants and returned to them their habitations. Furthermore, I resettled upon the
command of Marduk, the great lord, all the gods of Sumer and Akad whom Nabonid had brought into Babylon to the
anger of the lord of the gods, unharmed, in their former chapels, the places which makes them happy.
May all the gods whom I have placed within their sanctuaries and resettled in their sacred cities, address a daily
prayer in my favor before Bel and Nabu, that my days may be long, and may they recommend me to him, to Marduk
my lord, they may say: "May Cyrus the King, who worships thee, and Cambysis his son ...... all gods I settled in a
peaceful place, I sacrificed ducks and doves, I endeavored to repair their dwelling places ...... "
joyously.

26. Timeline Map of Ancient Persia to Iran

27. King Pahlavi and the Queen(1925–1979) Before Islamic Revolution

28. Islamic Republic (1979-present) Iranian Revolution,

29. War
The Iran–Iraq War (also known as
the First Persian Gulf War and by
various other names) was an armed
conflict between the armed forces of
Iraq and Iran, lasting from September
1980 to August 1988, making it the
longest conventional war of the 20th
century.It was initially referred to in
English as the "Persian Gulf War"
prior to the "Gulf War" of 1990.

30. Fruit in Iran
 Iran ranks 1st in fruit production in the Middle East and North Africa. Iran has been ranked between
8th and 10th in global fruit production in different years. Iran produces Persian
walnut, melon, tangerine, citrus fruits, Kiwifruit, dates, black cherries, pomegranates, oranges and
raisins

31. Iranian cuisine
Badenjon shekam
por
Gheyme nesar
Kabab shishlik

32. eshkeneh abgosht
fesenjan
Kaleh pacheh Ashe reshteh Mahi
shekampor
Kabab kobideh Kabab torsh Halim badenjan

33. Iranian Cookies
Dried yolk
Honey and cinnamon biscuits
Gaz

34. Ghorabiyeh
Sujuq
Baklava
Reshteh khoshkar

35. Export

49. Tehran

52. kish

53. kish

54. Takhte
jamshid
shiraz
Eram
garden

55. Tabriz

56. Esfahan

58. Ali daei
Fotbal
Zorkhne
Rezazadeh
Chogan

59. Thank you!