The Decline of Islamic Science
34:52
18 Sep 2012
History of Science
George Saliba
George Saliba explains in this lecture presented in October 2011 in Doha, Qatar that the “decline” of Islamic science was not caused by al-Ghazālī (d. 1111) or the Mongol invasion of Baghdad (1258), but rather by the development of patents and a legal support for capitalizing from scientific discoveries, which he locates in 16th century Venice.
The lecture first surveys the counter-evidence for al-Ghazālī or the Mongol invasion’s causing science to decline. This evidence is largely the continuing success of Islamic science past these dates. But with the rise of the Ottoman Empire’s success in Europe, Europeans sought trade routes bypassing the Ottomans. Not only did they find trade routes, but a slave economy as well as gold in the New World.
Topics discussed include trade routes, Galileo, Copernicus and his Islamic intellectual predecessors, royal societies and their genesis and expansion, moral value of science, commercial value of scientific discoveries.
Evaluation:
Although Islam as a religious practice is not touched upon, Dr. Saliba does bring in the juridical problem faced by Islamic law regarding patents and their use, which may be interpreted to be prohibited by a ḥadīth from the Prophet Muḥammad. This material is within the bounds of what Muslims have historically understood as acceptable.
The material on science is also about history; to follow the discussion well one needs to know the major Muslim scientists that are discussed. In that sense this is not a lecture for beginners, but a more advanced level. The material on both science and history is accurate.
About George Saliba
George Saliba received a Bachelors of Science in mathematics in 1963 and a Masters of Arts in 1965 from the American University of Beirut. He went on to pursue a Masters of Science degree and a doctorate in Islamic Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1978, Saliba started his teaching career at Columbia University in New York as a professor of Arabic and Islamic Sciences. He has received many awards, most notably the History of Science Prize in 1993 and the History of Astronomy Prize in 1996. Saliba was a Distinguished Senior Scholar at the Kluge Center of the Library of Congress (2005-2006) and at the Carnegie Scholars Program (2009-2010).
Saliba’s studies are described on his website as “the development of scientific ideas from late antiquity till early modern times, with a special focus on the various planetary theories that were developed within the Islamic civilization and the impact of such theories on early European astronomy.” His website provides a link to his most recent research in addition to a listing of his publications. A portion of his public lectures may also be found online at the 1001 Inventions website.
George Saliba does not appear to operate any social media pages as of 2015. He served as an advisor for the Science and Islam Video Portal project.
Selected Bibliography:
“George Saliba.” MESAAS. Columbia, n.d. Accessed 21 May 2015.
“George Saliba.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Accessed 21 May 2015.
“Professor George Saliba Lectures | 1001 Inventions.” Professor George Saliba Lectures | 1001 Inventions. 1001 Inventions, n.d. Accessed 21 May 2015.
Saliba, George. “Saliba’s Page.” Saliba’s Page. Columbia, n.d. Accessed 21 May 2015.