The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western CivilizationFor centuries following the fall of Rome, Western Europe was backward and benighted, locked into the Dark Ages and barely able to tell the time of day. Augustine had decreed that belief, not reason, should be the guiding light of Christian thinking and partially as a result Europeans lived in a world of nominal literacy and subsistence farming, where blind faith, superstition and sorcery took the place of medicine, and the church harnessed nascent aggression among the kingdoms to its own ends in the pursuit of astonishingly violent and cruel holy wars - the Crusades. Arab culture, however, was thriving, and had become a powerhouse of intellectual exploration and discussion that dazzled the likes of Adelard of Bath who ventured to the Near East in search of the scientific riches pouring out of cities like Antioch or Baghdad, whose House of Wisdom held four hundred thousand books at a time when the best European libraries housed, at most, several dozen. The Arabs could measure the earth's circumference, a feat not matched in the West for eight hundred years; they discovered algebra; were adept at astronomy and navigation, developed the astrolabe, translated all the Greek scientific and philosophical texts including, importantly, those of Aristotle; they made paper lenses and mirrors. Without them, and the knowledge that travellers like Adelard brought back to the West, Europe would in all likelihood have been a very different place over the last millennium. In this fascinating and thoughtful book Jonathan Lyons restores credit to the Arab thinkers of the past, explores and reveals the extent of their learning and describes the intrepid adventures of those who went in search of it and who, in doing so, laid the foundations of what we now call the Renaissance. |
Contents
The Warriors of God | 9 |
The Earth Is Like a Wheel | 28 |
The House of Wisdom | 55 |
Copyright | |
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The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization Jonathan Lyons Limited preview - 2011 |
The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization Jonathan Lyons Limited preview - 2010 |
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Abbasid Adelard of Bath Ages already appear Arab Aristotle arrival arts astrolabe astrology astronomy authority Averroes Baghdad began beginning Book caliph called Cambridge central century Christian church classical completed court created Crusade cultural direct earlier early earth East established Eternity Europe European example faith followed force Frederick geography geometry Greek hand helped History Holy hundred ideas important influence intellectual Introduction Islam Italy Jews King knowledge known lands later Latin leading learning masters mathematical medieval Michael Middle Muslim natural notion observations once original Paris Persian Peter philosophical political popular practical questions quoted reading reason religious Roger says scholars schools scientific scientists soon Spain stars tables teachings texts theologians Thomas thought took tradition trans translation understanding University University Press views West Western writings