"Why the Arabic world turned away from science"

Quicksearch

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Wednesday, July 27. 2011

"Why the Arabic world turned away from science"

It's not clear whether religion is the reason, since the Arab Golden Age of Science occurred during the dominance of Islam.

From Ofek's article of the above title,

To anyone familiar with this Golden Age, roughly spanning the eighth through the thirteenth centuries a.d., the disparity between the intellectual achievements of the Middle East then and now — particularly relative to the rest of the world — is staggering indeed. In his 2002 book What Went Wrong?, historian Bernard Lewis notes that “for many centuries the world of Islam was in the forefront of human civilization and achievement.” “Nothing in Europe,” notes Jamil Ragep, a professor of the history of science at the University of Oklahoma, “could hold a candle to what was going on in the Islamic world until about 1600.” Algebra, algorithm, alchemy, alcohol, alkali, nadir, zenith, coffee, and lemon: these words all derive from Arabic, reflecting Islam’s contribution to the West.

Today, however, the spirit of science in the Muslim world is as dry as the desert.

Posted by The Barrister at 13:59 | Comments (13) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

I think this understates what was going on in Europe. The "Dark Ages" thesis is empty of facts.

That's not to dismiss what was happening in the Middle East, but rather the contrast is not as dramatic, or even as appropriate, as these people suggest.

#1 DrTorch on 2011-07-27 14:12 (Reply)

Interesting subject to try and develop some cohesive explanations. I have always had a bunch of disjointed ideas on the topic:

- Full implementation and cultural integration of Islam took a few centuries in the Middle East and North Africa. North Africa was still populated by Goths and Vandals (not Arabs) when Islam swept over it. The same culture and place that produced St. Augustine produced mathematicians and scientists a couple of centuries later. The new religion had not penetrated yet.

They had yet to say Insha'Allah (if God wills it) as an excuse for laziness and incompetence like modern Arabs.

- Cultural confidence. Until they were driven out of Spain and Southeast Europe, the Muslims assumed they would prevail over the primitive Christians to their north. Those reversals shook their confidence to the core.

- The usual decay and corruption. The same rot that set in on the Greeks, Romans, and now the Americans when they peaked. After a few centuries of idealism and success, the bureaucrats, theologians, and corrupt aristocracy takes over and malaise sets in.

#2 NJSoldier on 2011-07-27 15:47 (Reply)

Any nation that must resort to accomplishment centuries ago has no future.

#3 PacRim Jim (Link) on 2011-07-27 16:05 (Reply)

The accomplishments of the Arab Empire in it's golden era were primarily the accomplishments of its conquered civilizations. They were primarily Byzantine or Persian and, to a lesser degree, Armenian in origin. After Islam had sufficient time to essentially obliterate these underlying civilizations, the golden age and the great achievements of Arab civilization came to an end.

#4 matthew49 on 2011-07-27 17:39 (Reply)

From what I have read of Islam and the fate of every country or entity they conquered I would suggest that these Arabic advances were in spite of Islam rather than because of it.

#5 Bob Devine on 2011-07-27 17:56 (Reply)

In one word: Jahiliya. When the infidels were no longer useful their history got burned in the memory pit. Islamic supremacy is what is taught.

#6 Jewel (Link) on 2011-07-27 20:54 (Reply)

“Nothing in Europe,” notes Jamil Ragep, a professor of the history of science at the University of Oklahoma, “could hold a candle to what was going on in the Islamic world until about 1600.”

Copernicus. While De revolutionibus orbium coelestium wasn't published until 1540, some forms of his heliocentric theory had been done as early as circa 1515.

Medieval philosophers - and clerics- in Christendom such as Roger Bacon and St. Thomas Aquinas helped lay the foundations for the subsequent scientific advancement in Europe. As a Catholic cleric, Copernicus would have studied them.

As Dr. Torch points out , the Dark Ages weren't all that dark, especially by 1300.

#7 Gringo on 2011-07-28 06:57 (Reply)

What happened to enlightened, intellectual islam?

The dumb f'ks pissed off the Mongols. When your biggest city, the head of the caliphate and the center of learning and advancement is torched and the skulls of it's denizens mounded into piles 90 feet high scientific and philosophical advancement come to an end.

#8 William O. B'Livion on 2011-07-28 07:12 (Reply)

Well. Then we needn't war with the whole Moslem world to cripple it completely. Where should be place the decapitation strike in this century?

#8.1 ErisGuy on 2011-07-28 11:20 (Reply)

Clearly, the degree to which the minds of the populace were captive to the religious authorities has varied as much over time as it does from place to place in the Muslim world.

#9 John on 2011-07-28 07:54 (Reply)

Much that has been attributed to Islam's contributions to the Golden Age may be mythology.** In an case, it's worth a look.

** http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/06/fjordman-to-president-obama-regarding-islam-and-science.html

#10 Thalpy on 2011-07-28 09:11 (Reply)

One other contribution to this topic comes from Fjordman: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/10/fjordman-medieval-muslim-scholars---print.html

Again, it's worth a look.

#10.1 Thalpy on 2011-07-28 09:18 (Reply)

My two cents... The "Golden Age of Islam", is very early in the history of Islam. In other words, "their" demonstrated learning and enlightenment was actually just the continuation of what was going on the Greek, Christian, and Persian areas they conquored. It took a couple of centuries for the Islamic theocrats to firm things up and shut down competing populations. And with it civilization.

#11 Steve on 2011-08-18 15:24 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Wednesday, July 27. 2011

"Why the Arabic world turned away from science"