
eBook - ePub
Light from the East
How the Science of Medieval Islam helped to shape the Western World
- 264 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
Long before the European Renaissance, while the western world was languishing in what was once called the 'Dark Ages', the Arab world was ablaze with the knowledge, invention and creativity of its Golden Age. This is the story of how Islamic science, which began with the translation of Greek manuscripts into Arabic in eighth-century Baghdad, preserved and enhanced the knowledge acquired from Greece, Mesopotamia, India and China. Through the astrologers, physicians, philosophers, mathematicians and alchemists of the Muslim world, this knowledge was carried from Samarkand and Baghdad to Cordoba and beyond, influencing western thinkers from Thomas Aquinas and Copernicus and helping to inspire the cultural phenomenon of the Renaissance. John Freely tells this spellbinding story against a background of the melting pot of cultures involved and concludes with the decline of Islam's Golden Age, which led the West to forget the debt it owed to the Muslim world and the influence of medieval Islamic civilisation in forging the beginnings of modern science.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Light from the East by John Freely in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Science History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Author biography
- Dedication page
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Contents
- List of Plates
- Prologue: The Scriptorium at the Süleymaniye
- 1 Science Before Science: Mesopotamia and Egypt
- 2 The Land of the Greeks
- 3 The Roads to Baghdad
- 4 ‘Abbasid Baghdad: The House of Wisdom
- 5 ‘Spiritual Physick’
- 6 From Baghdad to Central Asia
- 7 The Cure of Ignorance
- 8 Fatimid Cairo: The Science of Light
- 9 Ayyubid and Mamluk Cairo: Healing Body and Soul
- 10 Ingenious Mechanical Devices
- 11 Islamic Technology
- 12 Al-Andalus
- 13 From the Maghrib to the Two Sicilies: Arabic into Latin
- 14 Incoherent Philosophers
- 15 Maragha and Samarkand: Spheres Within Spheres
- 16 Arabic Science and the European Renaissance
- 17 Copernicus and his Arabic Predecessors
- 18 The Scientific Revolution
- 19 The Heritage of Islamic Science
- Notes
- Bibliography