Mr Wizzard wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

Mr Wizzard wrote:
Coupla Q's:

What have muslims done to :
contrubute to the medical industry?
contribute to the Spaces Sciences ?
contribute to Environmental conservation?
contribute to agrricultural research ?
contribure to Internalional Food aid ?
contribute to Computer Science research ?
comtribute to religious tollerance ?
(i.e., can *I*, a white Amarican take
a vacation and visit Mecca?)

...'Nuff said.


Contributed to medical industry?

How about invented the concept of modern medicine in the first place?
An Arab medical text was *the* standard practice manual throughout
Europe and Asia for about 150 years and helped pull European doctors
out of the voo-doo heebie-jeebie blame it on evil-spirits dark ages.

Thats good. Thanks. See? - yer doing your part
in breaking down these stigma's flating around.





Contributed to Space Science?

How about invented the concept of modern astronomy? Invented advanced
math?

Who, when, and what exactally?



If you're actually curious, not just trolling for an argument, you
might find some of the following comments helpful:

(from www.enhg.org)


Development of Arab Scientific Interest
The Arabs once ruled an empire that stretched from central Asia to
Spain. This empire reached its zenith between the eighth and
thirteenth centuries AD. Arab scholars of that period knew more about
science and the arts than any other contemporary peoples. They also
translated many classical (Greco-Roman) works of literature and
science.

In fact generally speaking the Muslims were very interested in books
and learning. Rhazes (al Razi-C. ninth century), Vienna (Ibn Sina-c.
tenth century) and Averroes (1126-1198) were among the best known of
Muslim philosophers. They studied the great Greek writers, particularly
Plato and Aristotle. Their goal seems to have been (perhaps rather
surprisingly) to try to find ways to reconcile the ideas of the ancient
Greeks with the teachings of Islam.

Consequently, universities were established in the leading Muslim
cities of Baghdad, Damascus, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Cairo and Cordoba.
Further, the book business flourished. In universities, palaces and the
homes of wealthy merchants could be found large and impressive
libraries. By 1250 AD the most valuable material in Islamic libraries
had become available to European scholars in translation.

The latter point was of great historical importance; eventually much of
the scientific knowledge that the Muslims had gathered from the ancient
classical world and from India was passed to the west, through Spain
and southern Italy, around the time of the Crusades. At that time most
European scholars realized the tremendous scientific and technological
superiority of the Islamic world. And eagerly sought translations of
Muslim works.

Thus these Greek and Arab writings that flowed into Europe, especially
after the beginning of the twelfth century, made up a rich legacy of
scientific and philosophical knowledge. For example, Arabic (Hindi)
numerals and the zero symbol made possible a decimal system of
computation. Also, Euclidean geometry, together with algebra and
trigonometry from the Arab world, greatly increased the scope and
accuracy of mathematics, especially useful for later astronomical
applications during and after the Renaissance.

This transfer of information occurred just in time, for from about 1350
onwards, the Mongols in the east and the Christians in Spain began
systematically to destroy Islamic books in a wholesale manner, as part
of their anti-Muslim wave of feeling at that time

Fortunately, a large number of Islamic books survived in Egypt, Persia
and India, from where most of our knowledge of Muslim civilization has
originated. As a result, every present-day intellectual disciple owes
a debt to the scientific heritage of Islam

Arab Astronomy and Navigation
Astronomy
Muslim scholars made significant contributions towards the development
of many 'modern' sciences, such as physics, chemistry, medicine,
mathematics and astronomy. They were particularly interested in the
latter.

Using the work of the second century Greek astronomer Ptolemy as a
basis, Muslim thinkers greatly increased man's knowledge of
astronomy. Indeed, during the Middle Ages, when European science
underwent a decline, it was the Arabs who preserved the astronomical
heritage.

In some respects this achievement may have been inevitable, since
knowledge of the stars was essential for navigational purposes and for
telling the times of prayers and religious festivals. In other words,
being adventurous traders and mariners and temporally precise
worshippers, the Arabs needed to study astronomy other than for its
purely scientific interest, though undoubtedly such an interest
existed. Consequently they constructed many observatories and
improved certain measuring instruments such as the astrolabe for
determining and recording the positions and movements of celestial
bodies.

Foremost amongst early Arab scientists was al Khawarzimi, who lived in
Baghdad during the ninth century. His work was mainly concerned with
astronomy and mathematics. In fact, his mathematical treatise was the
first to employ what westerners term 'Arabic numerals' (which were
really borrowed from the Indians, as explained earlier. Although it
seems most likely that the Indians invented the zero symbol or cipher
('sifr' means empty in Arabic), al Khwarzimi is attributed with
greatly developing its use n mathematics to simplify multiplication and
division. He also gave a systematic account of algebra and geometry,
for use in solving practical astronomical and navigational problems.

Other notable Arab astronomers were al Battam (d. 929), al Zarquli (d.
1087) and Omar al Khayyami (d. 1123). The latter was a Persian
mathematician who devised a very accurate calendar based on
astronomical observations. It was reputed to have been more accurate
than the Gregorian one we use today, with an error factor of only one
day in 3770, rather than the Gregorian's one in 33303.

Incidentally, the mathematics used for astronomical calculations by the
Arabs involved the use of degrees and minutes of arc-first developed by
the Sumerians, and later developed extensively by the Babylonians,
millennia earlier. The direct expansion and inclusion of this system
into Euclidean geometry is the main reason why we measure angles in
degrees, minutes and seconds nowadays (not to mention basing our system
of measuring time upon it also).

Arab interest in astronomy was also continued in Moghul India, where
massive observatories were built in Jaipur, for example. It is
interesting to consider that some modern historians think that the
writings of the great Copernicus (who was the first westerner to
propose an heliocentric planetary system) show much that could be
attributable to these early Muslim astronomers.

Navigation
When the first Portuguese navigators, like Vasco da Gama, sailed along
the East African coast and around the Arabian Peninsula they
encountered a well-established Arab seafaring tradition, utilizing an
advanced navigational science dating from the eighth century.
Techniques used were basically simple, but never the less by the
eleventh century Arab mariners had adapted the Chinese discovery of the
magnetic properties of lodestone for use as a compass at sea. Earlier
methods had relied on steering by Polaris, the 'North' star, and
'Kamal', a kind of simple astrolabe used to reckon relative
latitude. In fact, it is believed that Europeans first acquired a
knowledge of the magnetic compass and the astrolabe (later to become
the sextant) from Muslim sailors.

The renowned Arab navigator Shihab al Ahmed bin Majid al Najdi
(c.1500), at the height of Arab navigational prowess, wrote a
masterpiece entitled "the Book of Profitable Things concerning the
First Principles and Rules of Navigation" which featured much
astronomical observational data, amongst other things nautical.

Part of the legacy of this period include the fact that many of the
brightest stars still bear Arabic names, allocated to them by Arab
astronomers and navigators, for example Betelgeuse, Deneb, Aldebaran
and Altair. These names, along with numerous other facets of Arab
scientific nomenclature and mathematics, passed into Europe during the
Renaissance.

However, this period, marked by the 'collision' of two great
maritime powers - the European and the Arabian - was the beginning
of the era of European ascendancy and the decline of Arab commercial
dominance in Middle Eastern and Oriental seas.