SCIENCE AND ISLAM A HISTORY

BETWEEN THE 8TH AND 15TH CENTURIES, SCHOLARS AND RESEARCHERS WORKING FROM SAMARKAND IN MODERN-DAY UZBEKISTAN TO CORDOBA IN SPAIN ADVANCED OUR KNOWLEDGE OF ASTRONOMY, CHEMISTRY, ENGINEERING, MATHEMATICS, MEDICINE AND PHILOSOPHY TO NEW HEIGHTS. IT WAS MUSA AL-KHWARIZMI, FOR INSTANCE, WHO DEVELOPED ALGEBRA IN 9TH CENTURY BAGHDAD, DRAWING ON WORK BY MATHEMATICIANS IN INDIA; AL-JAZARI, A TURKISH ENGINEER OF THE 13TH CENTURY WHOSE ACHIEVEMENTS INCLUDE THE CRANK, THE CAMSHAFT, AND THE RECIPROCATING PISTON; IBN SINA, WHOSE TEXTBOOK CANON OF MEDICINE WAS A STANDARD WORK IN EUROPE'S UNIVERSITIES UNTIL THE 1600S. THESE SCIENTISTS WERE PART OF A SOPHISTICATED CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION THAT WAS BASED ON BELIEF IN GOD - A PICTURE WHICH HELPS TO SCOTCH THE MYTH OF THE 'DARK AGES' IN WHICH SCIENTIFIC ADVANCE FALTERED. SCIENCE WRITER EHSAN MASOOD WEAVES THE STORY OF THESE AND OTHER SCIENTISTS INTO A COMPELLING NARRATIVE, TAKING THE READER ON A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ISLAMIC EMPIRES OF THE MIDDLE AGES, THE