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Article: Islamic science and the renaissance.(Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance)(Book review)
- Article from:
- Middle East Quarterly
- Article date:
- September 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Middle East Forum. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance. By George Saliba. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2007.315 pp. $40 (24.95 [pounds sterling]).
Saliba has been studying Arabic scientific texts for many years, mainly those written by astronomers, and this volume offers his account of astronomical studies in Islamic civilization to the end of the sixteenth century. He argues that Islamic civilization, with no mention of Muslims, Christians, or Jews, hosted a "brilliant scientific production" in astronomy, medicine, and optics into the sixteenth century.
This is, however, a highly problematic and exaggerated story.
Saliba begins by casting a ...