Is Iran going nuclear? Why do so many scientific terms begin with al-, “the” in Arabic? Science and technology have been important components of all human cultures, yet many have resisted their impact in the name of religious values. This course will introduce the students to the enterprise of science in Islamic cultures, from the Greek translation movement to the present day. We will study the Islamic contribution to the exact sciences, medicine and life sciences, and technology. Particular attention will be paid to questions of historiography, both Western and native Islamic, such as nomenclature (Islamic science? Arabic science? Graeco-Islamic science?), the periodization of scientific activity in Islamic culture, contacts between Islam and the West, and the influence of Islam as a religion on the attitude to science in the past and in the present. While we will be discussing many places and periods, the emphasis will be on the formative period of the first three centuries of Islam (seventh-ninth centuries CE) and on the current engagement of Muslims with modern Western science and technology.
- Teacher: Leigh Chipman
- Teacher: Arik Sadan
- Teacher: Hila Zemer