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The history of science and medicine in the Islamic world is very interesting. I don't remember any particularly good secondary sources offhand, but reading abou
by silentbicycle 18y ago
The history of science and medicine in the Islamic world is very interesting. I don't remember any particularly good secondary sources offhand, but reading about the House of Wisdom in Baghdad is probably a good starting point.
Islam greatly accelerated scientific development in the region. Muslims traveling to Mecca brought local discoveries with them, which were shared and quickly spread throughout as they returned. Also, the emphasis on reading the Quran in its original Arabic, rather than translations, ensured that the travelers had a language in common. Not to take away from several real geniuses, but it didn't hurt to have the region so well-networked. This rapid spread of knowledge gave the intellectual centers in the region a wealth of resources to draw from.
- DaniFong 18y agoThe region had Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī, and Avicenna as contemporaries, and then Omar Khayyam soon after. Persia in that era was like Florence in the fifteenth century. Something in the water? Genetic fluke? Probably not...
- silentbicycle 18y agoI was going to make the same comparison. Both had a culture that encouraged scientific inquiry (within certain constraints), some fantastic libraries, rich local patrons that were willing to support research, and social and geographic circumstances that meant new ideas could spread relatively quickly. Both environments seem like great examples of a general formula for encouraging a renaissance: create an environment that is attractive to geniuses and take care of anything that could distract them from bouncing ideas off each other. That sounds like good example of the sort of thing you can learn by studying history.
- danw 18y agoThis wikipedia page seems like a good link rich start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age
- yters 18y agoCounter opinion from a secular Turkish physicist: http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/08/13/taner_edis/index.html http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/08/13/taner_edis/ind... He thinks Islam-science scholars are selective in their representation of medieval Islamic science, and overemphasis their similarities with us.
- silentbicycle 18y agoVery interesting, thanks for posting this.