John H wrote:
On 21 May 2004 04:33:00 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:
**** 'em.
What have they contributed to society except for oil..
While Europe was going through the "dark ages" culture was flourishing
throughout Islamic countries.
A few contributions for which the Arabs are
widely acknowledged:
1. Invented a system of numerals we still use today. Far more intellectually
advanced and simpler to use than the clumsy Roman numerals they supplanted.
(Give thanks to the Muslims every time you bill a patient, they invented the
numbers that you use)
2. Developed advanced math. The Arab math system of Al Gebra is taught in
schools today as algebra. Discovered many of the fundamental principles of
geometry.
3. Advanced the concepts of credit and banking.
4. Made significant advances in astronomy, advancing knowledge in the fields of
eclipses and planetary rotation.
Developed a calculation of the circumference of the earth that proved to be
accurate within several thousand feet.
5. An Islamic pysician, Ibn Sina, authored a book called Canon of Medicine.
This was considered the standard textbook for medical students for over 500
years.
6. Developed cavalry techniques that were copied by armies throughout the
world.
7. Developed the first successful treatments for cataracts.
8. Made significant discoveries and advancements in the field of chemistry.
9. Advanced the concept of codified law.
You probably didn't *really* want to know, but since you asked, :-)
And they elevated terrorism to previously unheard of levels.
John H
Really, John? New levels? You obviously have not read any history of the
way the United States dealt with the American Indians during the 18th,
19th, and even 20th Centuries.
De you have any idea of how many native Americans were slaughtered in
our efforts to take away their lands and resettle them?
One way to define terrorism is the making of war on helpless civilians.
We were pretty damned expert at that.
In fact, even though we lost 3000+ souls on 9-11, and others since, the
total is a tiny fraction of the numbers our government killed in the
terrorism it perpetrated on native Americans.
And how about slavery, John? How many hundreds of thousands, millions of
blacks were terrorized by our policies of human bondage.
New level, indeed.