[RayChuang88]

It's not implausible that a Muslim may have discovered America. There's good reason for this: the Moors of Morocco and Algeria had extensive access to Arab knowledge, which meant by 900-1000 AD they had the finest scientific knowledge on this planet, no contest. After, the very name algerbra is a derivative of an Arabic word. And it was Muslim scientists who did some major breakthroughs in using stars for navigation, derived from the need to find out where is the direction of Mecca from anywhere in the world.

With such knowledge, a fleet of Moorish vessels could have easily traversed the Atlantic to the New World with just as much navigational knowledge as Columbus did in 1492.

[Phillip Augustus]

It is not implausible, then, that the Rams actually won last year's SuperBowl. After all, they COULD have won it, since they were more talented than the Patriots.

[browardchad]

The downfall of Islamic civilization rested in their belief in their own superiority, and the certainty they had nothing to learn from the despised and barbarian West. In fact, according to Bernard Lewis, "the remoter lands of Europe were seen in the same light as the remoter lands of Africa -- as an outer darkness of barbarism and unbelief from which there was nothing to learn and little even to be imported, except slaves and raw materials."

Lewis also points out that Ottoman ships were "Mediterranean-style galleys" as contrasted with Portugese and Spanish carracks (such as the Santa Maria) and galleons, "built for the Atlantic, and therefore bigger, heavier...and more maneuverable."

Given that mindset, and the nature of the Ottoman navy, why would they want to explore lands further West?

[DBtoo]

I thought the Moors were Arabs. They are different? And if so how? I'm just curious. I've heard of the Moorish invasions but assumed they were Arabs.