[The_Reader_David]

To all of which I will simply reply by pointing out that the reciprocating steam engine was invented at Constantinople, but the only use to which it was put was to shake a building to evict some odious tenants.

A list of discoveries whose utitility was not exploited due to social conditions of the civilization in which they were made does not put a civilization at the forefront of culture or social development. The most humane and cultured society of the middle ages was the Christian Roman Empire, which Islam destroyed and pillaged for the basis on which what you have cited was built.

[timestax]

bump for the newbies to peruse and think about!!