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Table of Contents
1. Islam, Science, and the Challenge of History.................................................................................................. 1

31 May 2012

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Document 1 of 1

Islam, Science, and the Challenge of History

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Author: Siegfried, Tom.

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Publication info: Science News 178. 7 (Sep 25, 2010): 30.

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ProQuest document link

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Abstract: Siegfried reviews Islam, Science, and the Challenge of History by Ahmad Dallal.
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Full Text: Islam, Science, and the Challenge of History Yale University Press, 2010, 239 p., $27.50. Ahmad Dallai A millennium ago, the Islamic world was civilization's Science Central, the primary haven for contemplating the cosmos and discerning the natural laws governing physical existence. While the Arabo-Islamic scientists of this period have on occasion been portrayed as mere preservers and translators of ancient Greek science, they in fact engaged in extensive creative scientific activity, exploring both the natural world and the philosophical underpinnings of the scientific endeavor. Animating much of the scientific activity ofthat time was a question that continues to haunt science and society alike - the overlapping authority of science and religion. As Dallai, a historian at American University of Beirut, recounts, Muslim scholars have long engaged in nuanced discussion of this issue. Among Islam's notable commentators was the 14th century historian Ibn Khaldn, who articulated the cultural neutrality of science. "The intellectual sciences ... are not restricted to any particular religious group," he wrote. "They are studied by the people of all religious groups, who are all equally qualified to learn them and to do research in them." Ibn Khaldn drew on the earlier observations of Abu Hmid al-Ghazai, who distinguished between the possible existence of spirit (something that cannot be established by rational proof) and knowledge of the natural world (derived from human perceptions). Ibn Khaldn identified in the views of al-Ghazl and other predecessors an important lesson for science. "By determining those parts of the world that are subject to natural reflection," Dallai writes, "Ibn Khaldn liberated scientists from the burden of attempting to explore what is not knowable." Dallal's account of Islamic scientific introspection is fascinating to read as history, and instructive in its exploration of issues that remain familiar today in various formulations of conflict between science and religion. -Tom Siegfried
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Subject: Book reviews; Nonfiction; Religious history; Science history; Islam;

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People: Dallal, Ahmad

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Publication title: Science News

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Volume: 178
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Issue: 7
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Pages: 30
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Number of pages: 1
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Publication year: 2010

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Publication date: Sep 25, 2010

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Year: 2010

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Section: BOOKSHELF
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Publisher: Society for Science&the Public

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Place of publication: Washington

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Country of publication: United States

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Journal subject: Sciences: Comprehensive Works

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ISSN: 00368423
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CODEN: SCNEBK
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Source type: Magazines

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Language of publication: English

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Document type: Book Review-Favorable

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Document feature: Photographs

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ProQuest document ID: 755662603

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Document URL: http://210.48.222.80/proxy.pac/docview/755662603?accountid=44024

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Copyright: Copyright Society for Science&the Public Sep 25, 2010

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Last updated: 2012-02-21

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Database: ProQuest Education Journals

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