Kaushal wrote the below elsewhere. Pasting it here, since he provided some interesting data:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In all fairness DR. Susheeelan, I have to say one thing about the Arab
savants. It was a very rare occurrence that the Arabs and other savants
would claim credit for something they did not do . They consistently
called the number system they propagated as Hindsa. At the Bayt al
Hikmah in baghdad (House of wisdom)the had a translation house as well
as many well known scientists under Haroun AL Rashid. At Toledo in
Moorish Spain they had the worlds greatest library at the time when
it was reconquered by Spain in 1085. But the creative spark died
outbecause consrvative elements in Islam took over from the MUtazili( do
a google on this)
I quote from my forthcoming book
Anno Domini Nostri Iesu (Jesu) Christi ("In the Year of the Lord Jesus
Christ") 1268 in a little village called Cambridge north west of
London, a group of workmen began constructing structures to house what
would become in time one of the great learning centers of Europe and the
world. But in 1268 Europe was largely a backwater. It would be well over
300 years before Cambridge could boast a world renowned scientist on its
roster. The writings of the ancient Greeks were largely lost, and it
was only after Toledo and its world famous library was reconquered from
the Moorish rulers of Andalusia and Southern Spain in 1085 CE that
Europe was able to make strides in the various branches of knowledge
thanks to the large number of Arab documents that now fell into the
hands of the Spaniards at one of the greatest libraries of the middle
ages. For example, Ptolemyââ¬â¢s Almagest (from the Arabic Al Majisti
) was translated into Latin from Arabic reputedly by a Gerard of Cremona
in 1175 CE. This was the sole text in Astronomy for the majority of the
people in Europe during the ensuing centuries, till the 17th century.
But throughout history, and especially thanks to the Arabs, the work of
the Hindus was increasingly available to the Europeans. In 1068 CE Said
Al-Andalusi, as far as we are aware, the first historian of Science and
as his name indicates from Moorish Spain, wrote Kitab Tabaqut al-Umam in
Arabic(Book of Categories of Nations, Livres des Categorie des Nations).
The book was translated into French in 1835 by Regis Blachere and
into English by Alok Kumar in 1992. The text was produced in Spain in
the 11th century in which Said was reported to have made the observation
that only eight nations were interested in and comprehended Science .
These eight people were the Hindus, the Persians, the Chaldeans, the
Jews, the Greeks, the Romans , the Egyptians, and the Arabs. In this
list, he placed the Hindus at the head because ââ¬ËLes Indous,
entre tout les nations, a traverse le siècle et depuis
lââ¬â¢antiquité, furent la source de la sagesse, de la justice et
de la modération. Ils furent un peuple, donne de vertus
pondératrices, créature de pensées sublimes,
dââ¬â¢apologues universel dââ¬â¢inventions rares et de traits
dââ¬â¢esprit remarquablesââ¬â¢,
ââ¬ÅAmong all nations, during the course of centuries and since
antiquity the Indics were the source of wisdom, justice and moderation.
We credit the Indic nation and its people with excellent intellect,
exalted ideas, universal maxims, rare inventions and wonderful talents.
They are indeed gifted with a trait characterized by a remarkable spirit
Said al Andalusi goes on to say ââ¬ÅTo their credit, the Indics have
made great strides in the study of numbers and of geometry. They have
acquired immense information and reached the zenith in their knowledge
of the movements of the stars (astronomy) and the secrets of the skies
(astrology) as well as other mathematical studies. After all that, they
have surpassed all the other peoples in their knowledge of medical
science and the strengths of various drugs, the characteristics of
compounds and the peculiarities of substances. "<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Kaushal, Good luck with your new book!
I have a small comment about this aspect, of Moslems in general and Arabs in particular being honest about giving credit to Hindus (and others) for their inventions.
For this, one has to look deeper in the moslem psychology. For a musalman, even more for an arab, the Supreme Knowledge, the ilm-haqIqI, was after all relealed only to one of theirs. All other human knowledge, in moslem psychology, is mundane and bears no comparision to the Revealed Knowledge, therefore giving its credit to others is no big deal. In his 'Problem with Secularism, 2007' Elst has written a very informative essay on the psychological aspects of the alleged Arab intellectual generosity of giving due credit to others.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In all fairness DR. Susheeelan, I have to say one thing about the Arab
savants. It was a very rare occurrence that the Arabs and other savants
would claim credit for something they did not do . They consistently
called the number system they propagated as Hindsa. At the Bayt al
Hikmah in baghdad (House of wisdom)the had a translation house as well
as many well known scientists under Haroun AL Rashid. At Toledo in
Moorish Spain they had the worlds greatest library at the time when
it was reconquered by Spain in 1085. But the creative spark died
outbecause consrvative elements in Islam took over from the MUtazili( do
a google on this)
I quote from my forthcoming book
Anno Domini Nostri Iesu (Jesu) Christi ("In the Year of the Lord Jesus
Christ") 1268 in a little village called Cambridge north west of
London, a group of workmen began constructing structures to house what
would become in time one of the great learning centers of Europe and the
world. But in 1268 Europe was largely a backwater. It would be well over
300 years before Cambridge could boast a world renowned scientist on its
roster. The writings of the ancient Greeks were largely lost, and it
was only after Toledo and its world famous library was reconquered from
the Moorish rulers of Andalusia and Southern Spain in 1085 CE that
Europe was able to make strides in the various branches of knowledge
thanks to the large number of Arab documents that now fell into the
hands of the Spaniards at one of the greatest libraries of the middle
ages. For example, Ptolemyââ¬â¢s Almagest (from the Arabic Al Majisti
) was translated into Latin from Arabic reputedly by a Gerard of Cremona
in 1175 CE. This was the sole text in Astronomy for the majority of the
people in Europe during the ensuing centuries, till the 17th century.
But throughout history, and especially thanks to the Arabs, the work of
the Hindus was increasingly available to the Europeans. In 1068 CE Said
Al-Andalusi, as far as we are aware, the first historian of Science and
as his name indicates from Moorish Spain, wrote Kitab Tabaqut al-Umam in
Arabic(Book of Categories of Nations, Livres des Categorie des Nations).
The book was translated into French in 1835 by Regis Blachere and
into English by Alok Kumar in 1992. The text was produced in Spain in
the 11th century in which Said was reported to have made the observation
that only eight nations were interested in and comprehended Science .
These eight people were the Hindus, the Persians, the Chaldeans, the
Jews, the Greeks, the Romans , the Egyptians, and the Arabs. In this
list, he placed the Hindus at the head because ââ¬ËLes Indous,
entre tout les nations, a traverse le siècle et depuis
lââ¬â¢antiquité, furent la source de la sagesse, de la justice et
de la modération. Ils furent un peuple, donne de vertus
pondératrices, créature de pensées sublimes,
dââ¬â¢apologues universel dââ¬â¢inventions rares et de traits
dââ¬â¢esprit remarquablesââ¬â¢,
ââ¬ÅAmong all nations, during the course of centuries and since
antiquity the Indics were the source of wisdom, justice and moderation.
We credit the Indic nation and its people with excellent intellect,
exalted ideas, universal maxims, rare inventions and wonderful talents.
They are indeed gifted with a trait characterized by a remarkable spirit
Said al Andalusi goes on to say ââ¬ÅTo their credit, the Indics have
made great strides in the study of numbers and of geometry. They have
acquired immense information and reached the zenith in their knowledge
of the movements of the stars (astronomy) and the secrets of the skies
(astrology) as well as other mathematical studies. After all that, they
have surpassed all the other peoples in their knowledge of medical
science and the strengths of various drugs, the characteristics of
compounds and the peculiarities of substances. "<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Kaushal, Good luck with your new book!
I have a small comment about this aspect, of Moslems in general and Arabs in particular being honest about giving credit to Hindus (and others) for their inventions.
For this, one has to look deeper in the moslem psychology. For a musalman, even more for an arab, the Supreme Knowledge, the ilm-haqIqI, was after all relealed only to one of theirs. All other human knowledge, in moslem psychology, is mundane and bears no comparision to the Revealed Knowledge, therefore giving its credit to others is no big deal. In his 'Problem with Secularism, 2007' Elst has written a very informative essay on the psychological aspects of the alleged Arab intellectual generosity of giving due credit to others.