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Work detailsThe House of Wisdom by Jim Al-Khalili
None.  bell7 | Apr 7, 2013 |  This was not the book that I thought it was. Less math and science more history. (  ) wagon333 | Dec 17, 2012 | An interesting book which rests on the authors special position an english trained physics professor who went to school in Iraq. Al-Khalili states the case for arabic science in the 8th-14th centuries (CE) by biographical sketches of the scholars involved. The term arabic rather than islamic is used since many of the leading scholars were not muslims, but wrote in arabic. The book relies mostly on secondary sources and is aimed at a popular rather than academic market. The main problem I have with this book is that it tends to become a list of scholars, indeed by the end this is exactly what it becomes -with an alphabetical appendix of short biographies. Also the biographies tend to become a list of 'ologies as the interests of the scholars are listed, astronomy, astrology, geography, mathematics etc. There is not enough details about what they actually did. However, the book is welcome for bringing to greater notice the great figures of arabic science. It also reads very well. It certainly will encourage me to find out more about these great scholars of the past. (  ) MarkHurn | Nov 17, 2012 | Many of us were taught that the origins of science were in Ancient Greece but that the Western World fell into the "Dark Ages" where science was lost and no progress was made. This traditional story concludes that the Western world rediscovered the Greek philosophies thus spurring on the Renaissance. The House of Wisdom educates us about how the Arab world built upon the science of the Greeks, thus building the foundation for the scientific progress made during the Renaissance. The House of Wisdom is an engrossing description of Ancient Arab history of science. Al-Khalili discusses the development of math, optics, medicine, chemistry, and philosophy by sketching descriptions of major scientific figures and their accomplishments. For relief, All-Khalili inserts little passages about his own experiences in Iraq, which were helpful for lightening the mood. One thing I didn't like about Al-Khalili's book is that he is still stuck on the old-fashioned belief that the Western Middle Ages were dark and progress-free. Overall, if you're interested in reading about Arabic science, I think this book is an excellent place to start. For my full review go to: http://rachelreadingnthinking.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-house-of-wisdom-by-jim-al... (  )1  The_Hibernator | Nov 11, 2012 | Very interesting material, but the author protests too much. He spends at least as much time arguing about the relative values of western and arabic discoveries as he does telling us about the discoveries themselves. ( ) MarthaJeanne | Aug 23, 2012 | no reviews | add a review
No descriptions found. "A myth-shattering view of the medieval Islamic world's myriad scientific innovations, which preceded-and enabled-the European Renaissance. The Arabic legacy of science and philosophy has long been hidden from the West. British-Iraqi physicist Jim Al-Khalili unveils that legacy to fascinating effect by returning to its roots in the hubs of Arab innovation that would advance science and jump-start the European Renaissance. Inspired by the Koranic injunction to study closely all of God's works, rulers throughout the Islamic world funded armies of scholars who gathered and translated Persian, Sanskrit, and Greek texts. From the ninth through the fourteenth centuries, these scholars built upon those foundations a scientific revolution that bridged the one-thousand-year gap between the ancient Greeks and the European Renaissance. Many of the innovations that we think of as hallmarks of Western science were actually the result of Arab ingenuity: Astronomers laid the foundations for the heliocentric model of the solar system long before Copernicus; physicians accurately described blood circulation and the inner workings of the eye ages before Europeans solved those mysteries; physicists made discoveries that laid the foundation for Newton's theories of optics. But the most significant legacy of Middle Eastern science was its evidence-based approach-the lack of which kept Europeans in the dark throughout the Dark Ages. The father of this experimental approach to science-what we call the scientific method-was an Iraqi physicist who applied it centuries before Europeans first dabbled in it. Al-Khalili details not only how discoveries like these were made, but also how they changed European minds and how they were ultimately obscured by later Western versions of the same principles. With transporting detail, Al-Khalili places the reader in the intellectual and cultural hothouses of the Arab Enlightenment: the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, one of the world's greatest academies, the holy city of Isfahan, the melting pots of Damascus and Cairo, and the embattled Islamic outposts of Spain. Al-Khalili tackles two tantalizing questions: Why did the Arab world enter its own Dark Age after such a dazzling enlightenment? And how much did Arabic learning contribute to making the Western world as we know it? Given his singular combination of expertise in both the Western and Middle Eastern scientific traditions, Al-Khalili is uniquely qualified to solve those riddles"--… (more) (summary from another edition) |
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Wikipedia in English (1)
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This book, too, is necessarily a survey and covers a few centuries and places. If you're not a names and dates person, it might be difficult to take in the sheer number of names and keep them all straight. But it's an informative look at a culture who began with translating Greek works into Arabic and then went on to make scientific progress in a wide range of subjects, from algebra to astronomy. I found the presentation dry and sometimes technical (the math was hard to me to follow - my fault, not the book's), but the book is intended for a general rather than academic audience, as the author often inserts his opinions and personal anecdotes into the narrative. He sometimes overstates his case for these little-known scientists, introducing them in such a way that made me think they made a huge discovery, only to find that the actual advancement was a much smaller - but necessary - step on the way to the larger one. The facts could have stood better on their own without such buildup. Still, it's a useful introduction to the topic, and worth checking out if you're interested. (