Posted by:
rt
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Date: September 16, 2017 05:06AM
bona dea Wrote:
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age> Here is a link.
Thank you. I read the article and several linked items. It seems to support the thesis that Islam has contributed very little to anything in terms of science, progress, etc. What is attributed to Islam, on closer inspection turns out to be assimilated from conquered civilizations. Some examples:
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From the intro: they basically translated works from other/previous civilizations; most scientists were actually Christians:
"During this period, the Muslims showed a strong interest in assimilating the scientific knowledge of the civilizations that had been conquered. Many classic works of antiquity that might otherwise have been lost were translated from Greek, Persian, Indian, Chinese, Egyptian, and Phoenician civilizations into Arabic and Persian, and later in turn translated into Turkish, Hebrew, and Latin."
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Education: they are called universities, but are basically Islamic BYUs with an added degree in war and violence (which comes in handy when spreading Islam, I suppose):
"The University of Al Karaouine, founded in 859 AD, is arguably the world's oldest degree-granting university."
> "Al Quaraouiyine was founded with an associated school, or madrasa,in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri"
>> "In the curriculum of the madrasa, there were teachings of The Qur'an, The Hadith, fara'iz, tajweed, genealogy, treatises of first aid, etc. There were also trainings of horse-riding, art of war, handwriting and calligraphy, athletics and martial arts."
>> In another link I followed about Al-Burini, it says: "He lived during the Islamic Golden Age, in which scholarly thought went hand in hand with the thinking and methodology of the Islamic religion."
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Algebra: say what now? Hindu? Indian numerals? 4th century? Yeah, quoting without attributing ain't science...
"Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī played a significant role in the development of algebra, algorithms, and Hindu-Arabic numerals."
> "In the 12th century, Latin translations of his work on the Indian numerals introduced the decimal positional number system to the Western world.[5] Al-Khwārizmī's The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing presented the first systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations in Arabic. He is often considered one of the fathers of algebra.He revised Ptolemy's Geography and wrote on astronomy and astrology."
>> "The Hindu–Arabic numeral system (also called the Arabic numeral system or Hindu numeral system) a positional decimal numeral system, is the most common system for the symbolic representation of numbers in the world. It was invented between the 1st and 4th centuries by Indian mathematicians."
>> "The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing (Arabic: الكتاب المختصر في حساب الجبر والمقابلة, Al-kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-ğabr wa’l-muqābala; Latin: Liber Algebræ et Almucabola) is an Arabic treatise on mathematics written by Persian polymath Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī around 820 CE while he was in the Abbasid capital of Baghdad.
(...)
The book was a compilation and extension of known rules for solving quadratic equations and for some other problems, and considered to be the foundation of algebra, establishing it as an independent discipline. The word algebra is derived from the name of one of the basic operations with equations described in this book, following its Latin translation by Robert of Chester.
Since the book does not give any citations to previous authors, it is not clearly known what earlier works were used by al-Khwarizmi, and modern mathematical historians put forth opinions based on the textual analysis of the book and the overall body of knowledge of the contemporary Muslim world. There are indications of connections with Indian mathematics, as he had written a book entitled The Book of Bringing Together and Separating According to the Hindu Calculation (Kitāb al-Jamʿ wa-l-tafrīq bi-ḥisāb al-Hind), discussing the Hindu-Arabic numeral system."
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O, and as for blaming Islamic backwardness on colonialism:
"According to many historians, science in the Muslim civilization flourished during the Middle Ages, but began declining at some time around the 14th to 16th centuries. At least some scholars blame this on the "rise of a clerical faction which froze this same science and withered its progress." Examples of conflicts with prevailing interpretations of Islam and science – or at least the fruits of science – thereafter include the demolition of Taqi al-Din's great Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din in Galata, "comparable in its technical equipment and its specialist personnel with that of his celebrated contemporary, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe." But while Brahe's observatory "opened the way to a vast new development of astronomical science," Taqi al-Din's was demolished by a squad of Janissaries, "by order of the sultan, on the recommendation of the Chief Mufti," sometime after 1577 CE."
Nothing to do with religion?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2017 05:06AM by rt.