Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

The Legacy of Arab Science (Tahir Shah Essays)

4.5/5 ( ratings)

At school the majority of us were taught that between the Classical world of the Romans and the Greeks, and the European Renaissance, there was a time in which learning and knowhow of any kind simply stopped. This so-called era of the ‘Dark Ages’ was – we were told – a void, a time of scholastic tumbleweed.

But in reality nothing could have been farther from the truth. In ninth century Baghdad, the son of Harun al-Rashid brought together all the books in the known world at a research centre called ‘The House of Wisdom’. He had these works translated into Arabic, and studied by Muslims, Christians and Hindus and Jews. The combined knowledge of human history was dissected, re-evaluated, and improved upon.

The result was a vast and astonishing contribution to the arts and sciences, made possible by a fraternity of polymathic geniuses. Their work was brought to an abrupt halt by the Mongol invasion of Baghdad, but not before it had sparked the European Renaissance.

The mobile phones in our pockets and the computers on which we surf the internet, our low-tech maps and our high-tech GPS systems, all of them were made possible by the House of Wisdom.

In his fascinating essay THE LEGACY OF ARAB SCIENCE, Tahir Shah discusses the often-forgotten contribution of the Arabs of the Abbasid Age, reflecting on how their breakthroughs helped shape the world in which we live.

This essay is just over 6,700 words in length.

Language: English

Pages: 25

Format: ebook

Publisher: Secretum Mundi

Release: May 20, 2013

The Legacy of Arab Science (Tahir Shah Essays)

4.5/5 ( ratings)

At school the majority of us were taught that between the Classical world of the Romans and the Greeks, and the European Renaissance, there was a time in which learning and knowhow of any kind simply stopped. This so-called era of the ‘Dark Ages’ was – we were told – a void, a time of scholastic tumbleweed.

But in reality nothing could have been farther from the truth. In ninth century Baghdad, the son of Harun al-Rashid brought together all the books in the known world at a research centre called ‘The House of Wisdom’. He had these works translated into Arabic, and studied by Muslims, Christians and Hindus and Jews. The combined knowledge of human history was dissected, re-evaluated, and improved upon.

The result was a vast and astonishing contribution to the arts and sciences, made possible by a fraternity of polymathic geniuses. Their work was brought to an abrupt halt by the Mongol invasion of Baghdad, but not before it had sparked the European Renaissance.

The mobile phones in our pockets and the computers on which we surf the internet, our low-tech maps and our high-tech GPS systems, all of them were made possible by the House of Wisdom.

In his fascinating essay THE LEGACY OF ARAB SCIENCE, Tahir Shah discusses the often-forgotten contribution of the Arabs of the Abbasid Age, reflecting on how their breakthroughs helped shape the world in which we live.

This essay is just over 6,700 words in length.

Language: English

Pages: 25

Format: ebook

Publisher: Secretum Mundi

Release: May 20, 2013

More books from Tahir Shah

In Arabian Nights: A Caravan of Moroccan Dreams

4.1/5 ( ratings)

In Search of King Solomon's Mines

3.8/5 ( ratings)

The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca

4.1/5 ( ratings)

House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City

Sorcerer's Apprentice: An Incredible Journey into the World of India's Godmen

The Complete Collection of Travel Literature: In Search of King Solomon's Mines, Beyond the Devil's Teeth, House of the Tiger King, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Travels With Myself, Trail of Feathers

4.2/5 ( ratings)

Our Morocco: Moroccans and Expats Share Their Lives, Hopes, Dreams, and Adventures

4.1/5 ( ratings)

Start Your Internet Business: 36 Things You Need to Know Now

The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca

The Middle East Bedside Book

Journey Through Namibia

Hannibal Fogg and The Supreme Secret of Man

Paris Syndrome

The Reason to Write

Cannibalism: It's Just Meat (Tahir Shah Essays)

Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Anthologies: People

Travels With Myself

Eye Spy

The Kumbh Mela: Greatest Show On Earth (Tahir Shah Essays)

Rate this book!

Write a review?