So what's with the thumbnail of this video being subliminal? (@ 2:34)

Interesting, but not that surprising as all cultures have developed and shared their discoveries with one another. Probably one of the only saving graces of our species.

"Muslim"? Why not say Arab, Persian or whatnot?

I don't think sorting discoveries by religion is something the Islamic world wants to tread into...

There's a strong feeling of nostalgia among Muslims for their once-great empire. Yes indeed, they ruled a fair share of the Old Continent for some time and had very structured societies back in the day, but their advancement has stagnated somewhat. Arabs were renowned for their knowledge of "fringe" sciences such as astrology (not astronomy!), alchemy (not chemistry!) and even some hard sciences such as mathematics and physics. It is undeniable that these forays were vastly precipitated and aided by knowledge inherited from Greek thinkers.

Islamic shortcomings are however ironically linked to the "Muslim" aspect of the whole thing. They adopted an empirical view of things, the exact opposite of the rational impetus the Greeks were leaning towards. Another impediment was that the Muslim world was constantly entwined with the Koran, which is to say that theology played an authoritarian role in legislative, economic, social and pedantic spheres. This prohibited many possible advances.

One reason Europe thrived so much during the Renaissance is that these spheres (although the Church did dominate social life) were not so interwoven as to proscribe scientific endeavours with much aplomb.

I like your comment.
As to the first part, though, I don't think anyone is "sorting" discoveries at this point, just pointing out facts, that's all. These things are true, and I'd like to keep it just that simple...tired of walking on eggshells about labels actually. That's way too serious for me.

>> ^Pprt:
"Muslim"? Why not say Arab, Persian or whatnot?
I don't think sorting discoveries by religion is something the Islamic world wants to tread into...

*history
*engineering

Adding video to channels (Engineering, History) - requested by Eklek.

>> ^laura:
I like your comment.
As to the first part, though, I don't think anyone is "sorting" discoveries at this point, just pointing out facts, that's all. These things are true, and I'd like to keep it just that simple...tired of walking on eggshells about labels actually. That's way too serious for me.
>> ^Pprt:
"Muslim"? Why not say Arab, Persian or whatnot?
I don't think sorting discoveries by religion is something the Islamic world wants to tread into...



I must admit I got flustered when I saw "Muslim Origins"...

To me this indicates that "Muslims" are taking credit for these discoveries. I'm not averse to feeling pride towards one's accomplishments, but crediting a religion over a nationality is a bit out of place. I doubt that Mauritanians, Uyghur and Indonesian have a hand in these contributions, but all the best to them if they are proud. Muslim solidarity is admirable.