of cast iron under a cold blast that Hartwell and Needham consider to be a predecessor to the 18th century Bessemer process. 1077 – Constantine the African introduces ancient Greek medicine to the Schola Medica Salernitana in Salerno, Italy. c. 1080 – the Liber pantegni, a compendium of Hellenistic and Islamic medicine, is written in Italy by the Carthaginian Christian Constantine the African, paraphrasing translated passages from the Kitab al-malaki of Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi as well as other Arabic texts. 1088 – As written by Shen Kuo in his Dream Pool Essays, the earlier 10th-century invention of the pound lock in China allows large ships to travel along canals without laborious hauling, thus allowing smooth travel of government ships holding cargo of up to 700 tan (49 tons) and large privately owned-ships holding cargo of up to 1600 tan (113 tons). 1094 – The Chinese mechanical engineer and astronomer Su Song incorporates an escapement mechanism and the world's first known chain drive to operate the armillary sphere, the astronomical clock, and the striking clock jacks of his clock tower in Kaifeng. Literature 1000 – The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries is written by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī. c. 1000 – The Al-Tasrif is written by the Andalusian physician and scientist Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis). c. 1000 – The Zij al-Kabir al-Hakimi is written by the Egyptian astronomer Ibn Yunus. 1000–1037 – Hayy ibn Yaqdhan is written by Avicenna. 1008 – The Leningrad Codex, one of the oldest full manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, is completed. c. 1010 – The oldest known copy of the epic poem Beowulf was written around this year. 1013 – The Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau, a Chinese encyclopedia, is completed by a team of scholars including Wang Qinruo. 1020 – The Bamberg Apocalypse commissioned by Otto III is completed. 1021 – Lady Murasaki Shikibu writes her Japanese novel, The Tale of Genji. 1021 – The Book of Optics by Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen or Alhacen) is completed. 1025 – The Canon of Medicine by Avicenna (Ibn Sina) is completed. 1027 – The Book of Healing is published by Avicenna. 1037 – The Jiyun, a Chinese rime dictionary, is published by Ding Du and expanded by later scholars. 1037 – Birth of the Chinese poet Su Shi, one of the renowned poets of the Song dynasty, who also penned works of travel literature. 1044 – The