Tuesday, December 20, 2005

The Arab Drift Into Scientific Obscurity

From Arab News.

For far too long we have rested on the laurels of past achievements. The Arab contribution to civilization is perpetually held hostage by thousand-year old achievements like the innovation of algebra by Al-Khwarizmi; the articulation of the Canon of Medicine by Ibn Sina; the extensive study in astronomy by Al-Farghani, or by the mathematical and astronomical genius of Omar Al-Khayyam. And since then our contribution to science has decayed and produced almost next to nothing.
[My emphasis]
I signal this article not because it says anything new, but because it is written by a Saudi, a physician working at the Armed Forces Hospital in Riyadh. The full article is here.

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