GLOBAL VOICES OF SCIENCE Science in the Arab World: Vision of Glories Beyond Wasim Maziak Wasim Maziak Syria Of all its accomplishments, the West is per- haps most proud of its scientific revolution, which has been unfolding for the past half- millennium. Only students of history remain consistently mindful of the pivotal and cat- alytic role that the Arab world played in the early phases of this revolution. Now, all of us should have a vested interest in advancing science and technology in the Arab community. Science and technol- ogy provide the means to feed peo- ple, improve their health, and cre- ate wealth. They can help to reduce societal tensions and build interna- tional bridges for badly needed dialogue and mutual understand- ing. To usher science and technol- ogy more thoroughly into Arab culture and society, however, the West needs to acknowledge the Arab world’s historical contributions, and the Arab world needs to stop dwelling on its golden past by also embracing lessons about science and technology that the West learned long ago. In medieval Europe, where the Christian dogma that the world unfolded according to a divinely predetermined plan prevailed, there was little space for those willing and eager to understand nature in order to use it for their own benefit. Beginning in the 11th century, the ailing Arab provinces in Spain (Al- Andalus) were falling to European armies, and with them came priceless spoils that changed the world: the epic intellectual achievement of Arab-Islamic scholars since the 8th century. Flourishing libraries in cities like Toledo and Cordoba contained thousands of books on every field of knowledge. Unlike the Moguls, who in the 13th cen- tury destroyed Baghdad and its libraries, thereby abruptly ending the golden era of the Arab-Islamic civilization, the Europeans were quick to realize the value of these windfalls of knowledge. During the Abbasid reign (750 to 1258), learning in Islam was encouraged in every field of knowledge, and scholars of every color and creed traveled to Damascus and Baghdad to study and work. In these tolerant times, Islam’s leaders encouraged learn- ing and the use of reason to under- stand nature. The early Abbasid Caliphs— most notably Al-Mansur, Harun Al-Rachid, and Al Ma’mun, who reigned from 754 to 833—embraced science as a state’s defining policy, ushering in a golden era of Arab- Islamic civilization. An avid movement of translation and studying of ancient books and of advancing new knowledge ensued on an unprecedented scale. Arab and Muslim schol- ars scored achievements in every field of sci- ence: mathematics, astronomy, medicine, optics, and philosophy. Al Razi’s (Rhazes) and Al-Khwarizmi’s seminal work in the 9th and 10th centuries laid the foundation for modern clinical medi- cine and mathe- matics (the word “algo- rithm” derives from the name Al Khwarizmi). This thirst for knowledge was soon transferred to other parts of the Islamic empire, and Al- Andalus soon competed with Baghdad as the cultural hub for Arabs and Muslims. Of equal importance to the influence of the Arab-Islamic scientific discoveries on the European Renaissance was the reintroduc- tion of ancient Greece’s natural philosophy to medieval Europe by way of translations by Islamic scholars. The historian James Burke identifies several knowledge shocks that ignited the Renaissance. One was delivered by Ibn-Sina (Avicenna, 980 to 1037), whose Kitab Al-Shifa (“The Book of Healing”) introduced medieval Europe to the principles of logic and their use to gain knowledge, and placed science and religion on equal terms as sources of knowledge and understanding of the universe. Another major shock was deliv- ered by Ibn-Rushd* (Averroes, 1126 to 1198), whose writings and commentaries reintroduced to medieval Europe the Aristotelian approach to studying nature by observation and reasoning. From that point on, the scientific para- digm of knowledge production advanced relentlessly throughout Europe. At the same time, the Arab-Islamic civilization and its contributions to science and knowledge started its long decline with Ibn-Khaldun (1332 to 1395), who established in his E SSAY Wasim Maziak is the director of the Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies in Aleppo, a pioneer collabo- rative research and research capacity–building center in the Arab world. He earned an MD in 1984 from the Aleppo School of Medicine, Syria, and in 1990 he received his Ph.D. in allergy immunology from Kiev Medical Institute, Ukraine. He built his research experience in epidemiology and clinical medicine at the Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine in Muenster, Germany, and the National Heart and Lung Institute in London, UK. Much of his research career has been devoted to the study of asthma as well as tobacco use and addiction, including the emerging public health threat of waterpipe smoking. Most recently he initiated the Research Assistance Matching (RAM) program aimed at helping researchers in developing countries get specialized assistance in their research projects. For this essay, he has synthesized his experience and observations as a working scientist in Syria to analyze the larger context of science in the Arab world. All essays and interactive features appearing in this series can be found at www.sciencemag.org/sciext/globalvoices/ 3 JUNE 2005 VOL 308 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org 1416 CREDIT:WASIM MAZIAK This yearlong essay series celebrates 125 years of Science by inviting researchers from around the world to provide a regional view of the scientific enterprise. Series editor, Ivan Amato Published by AAAS Downloaded from https://www.science.org on January 13, 2022