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A Framework to Improve Global Dialogue

An appreciation for and understanding of medieval Islamic science can help bridge East-West cultural divide and advance science for the public good.

Published April 1, 2002

By Fred Moreno, Dana Van Atta, Jill Stolarik, and Jennifer Tang
Academy Contributors

Image courtesy of Champ via stock.adobe.com.

For hundreds of years medieval Islamic cities were fertile centers of learning. Wealthy, powerful patrons supported scholars and scientific thought flowered. In Cairo, al-Haytham explored the properties of light and founded the field of optics. In Cordoba, renowned physician al-Zahrawiinvented many surgical techniques and tools still in use today. And in Baghdad, the mathematician, astronomer, and geographer al-Khwarizmi greatly advanced algebra and other basic tenets of mathematics.

Between 800 and 1200 A.D., Arabic was the language in which most works on philosophy, medicine, mathematics, astronomy and geography were written, works that serve as the foundation for modern science. Contemporary scientists and scholars may find these writings useful in a new way: the centuries-old scientific works could help bridge the widening cultural divide between East and West.

A Cross-Cultural Dialogue

Members of The New York Academy of Sciences (the Academy) met this January to mark the publication of a special issue of the journal Technology and Society entitled “Scientists, War and Diplomacy: European Perspectives.” Journal author Alexander Keynan proposed a framework for a cultural dialogue between intellectuals of the two worlds –– a multiyear collaboration that would result in “a comprehensive, in-depth study of Islamic science in the several centuries during which it flourished.”

Such a project could be beneficial in a number of ways, says Keynan, a former scientific advisor to the Israeli government and an expert in international scientific relations. Under its auspices, Islamic and Western scholars could come together “in a creative, cooperative environment conducive to mutual understanding.” In addition, he said, “Western initiative in establishing such a program will send a strong message of appreciation and a willingness to pay tribute to the contributions of the East.”

Alexander Keynan

The project would focus on archives of original writings from the 9th to 12th centuries, many of which never have been explored. “In Toledo, in Morocco and other places are many manuscripts –– thousands from this period, many of them dealing with science –– that never have been opened,” Keynan said.

A Scholarly Endeavor

To locate, catalogue, Translate and analyze these works would be a large-scale scholarly endeavor requiring the contributions of both Islamic and Western scientists, librarians, translators, historians of science –– and people who know Arabic, Greek and Latin. Those heading the project, he added, must be knowledgeable in all of these fields.

Keynan and others at the meeting acknowledged a number of potential roadblocks to the project’s success, including the difficulty in locating people with the interest and expertise in these fields. But many at the meeting agreed that the proposal is a worthy one and that the pitfalls need not stand in the way.

Also read: The Culture Crosser: The Sciences and Humanities


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