Muslims Once Led The World In Science, But Turned Their Backs To It

The Naples [FL] Daily News ^ | December 5, 2004 | Ben Bova

[quidnunc]

The Islamic nations of the world have a population of nearly 1.5 billion, or about one-quarter of the human population of Earth. Yet the gross national product of these nations totals less than half the GNP of Germany.

Poverty is endemic in the Muslim world, despite the fact that most of the world's petroleum deposits and a quarter of our planet's other natural resources lie within these Muslim lands.

The science minister of Pakistan, Atta-ur-Raman, and science adviser Anwar Nasim point out in a recent issue of the British journal Nature that Muslim nations spend only 0.2 percent of their GNP on scientific research, while spending up to seven percent of GNP on their military. They argue that if the nations of Islam put more funding into science, they could create significant economic growth.

Islam once led the world in science.

While Europe wallowed in the poverty and ignorance of the dark ages after the fall of the Roman Empire, the lands of Islam preserved much of the classic learning that was lost in Europe.

-snip-

[Publius6961]

Calculus, I think.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

[weenie]

camel husbandry

And from what we hear they certainly brought a new and literal meaning to that concept...same for goat husbandry.

[dangus]

>>Criticism of Islam is blasphemy,<<

That would almost be functional at one stage. The problem is that corollaries and tradition have led to it becoming blaspheny not only to criticize "true Islam" but also to side with any non-Moslem in criticism of Islamic corruption. Hence, blame for distrust of Islamofascists after 9/11 must always lie with Israel and American Zionists. No-one in Islam can suggest that it is the Muslims who blow up our skyscrapers who have made Islam look bad.

[FBD]

>"It is a religion without any mechanism for self-correction and is frustrated to the point of intense hatred."<

wow...very well put, and succinct.

regards

[FBD]

>"I'm saving words for old age..."<

but will you remember them?
eh? ;^D

[MegaSilver]

Being Celtic by blood and American by nationality, I can't say I like everything about Churchill, but MEGABUMP! He's right on the money here.

[weenie]

Thx

[dangus]

>>camel husbandry<<

>>And from what we hear they certainly brought a new and literal meaning to that concept...same for goat husbandry.<<

Now you're catching on to some of the errors I referred to when I said "trial and error." Ever notice how much Arabic song sounds like "Ma-a-a-a-a-a, Ma-a-a-a-a-!"

[FBD]

Yeah, well you'll really like this one then: ;^D

"The Americans will always do the right thing... after they've exhausted all the alternatives." -- Winston Churchill

[MegaSilver]

The glories of Babylon?

Babylonians were not Arabs but Chaldeans, and much of their empire was taken from the Assyrian legacy. Today, the Chaldeans and Assyrians are Christians, though they are a minority in their native land (Iraq), Arab Muslims having squatted on it and killed most of them off.

[MegaSilver]

That and when the Turks and Mongols crashed into the Middle Eastern world, they destroyed just about everything left after the Crusades.

Yep. The Mongols were brutal savages--great warriors, but they had no appreciation for the civilizations they conquered and were brutal to the enslaved peoples. And the Turks were culturally and religiously undeveloped, and absorbed Islam readily.

[Conspiracy Guy]

I hope so. I've written them all down. If I don't misplace the list, I'll be fine. If I remember why I made it.

What were we talking about?

[RightWingAtheist]

Actually yes, he is very much an expert in scientific AND historical fact, as his body of non-fiction work will tell you. And while I wouldn't consider him either a conserative or libertarian, his overall political stance is that of a center-right pragmatist.

[RightWingAtheist]

This is a must read, from one of our best SF writers, most important yet least appreciated science popularizers, for anyone concerned about the preservation of science and civilization.

[nmh]

Yes and very primative. Beheadings are barbaric.

[MegaSilver]

The second factor (the invasion of Europe by the Moors) was critical because they left the one priceless influence that the West did not have: a numbering system that was conducive to mathematical operations and scientific research. The Roman system of numbers was primarily used for counting and/or identification, but was utterly useless when it came to computations such as multiplication and division. We take simple math for granted today, but before the Moors brought the Persian numbering system to Europe the West didn't have a basic understanding of such things as negative numbers or even a quantity called "zero."

I'll grant you that was a great help, but OTOH if Islam hadn't come around at all, Christianity might have eventually penetrated Persia and brought contact between Iran and Europe, thus importing the modern numerals. The bottom line is, Islam has on balance wrought great destruction to every civilization it has touched.

[razoroccam]

Wrong.
India: You stole our zero.
Muslims: Yes, so?
India: Well, you didn't know what to do with it, so we took it back and used it to become proficient in computers.

[razoroccam]

Though they are called "Arabic' they infact came from India.
Hint: read history.

[Future Snake Eater]

Uh, no. Check out Newton and Liebniz.

[hosepipe]

[ Actually, even the Islamic regions of the Northern and Western Indian subcontinent had once been Christian, and still show many signs of Christian syncretism. ]

I know... but too big a subject to even broach in a multi-religious site..
The question , "What even, IS a christian ?" cannot be vetted here congently..
Or pretty much ANYWHERE..

Since Jesus came to make ALL religion obsolete, AND DID..(by his words and action)
Including Jewish, christian and all other religions too.. BECAUSE:..
Jesus by doing this, has made the "relgious" crazy for a couple of thousand years.. up till this day, even here on a pretty intelligent website.. i.e. short blubs are wiser.. not in depth analysis.. on this subject..(in my experience).

After all what would a REAL God even need with a religion..
False cartoon Gods NEED religion, not a real one..
-OR- he/she/it would not be God<<--who wouldn't need gender either..