Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today

Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today Matthew E. Falagas,*,†,1 Effie A. Zarkadoulia,* and George Samonis‡ *Alfa Institute of Biomedical Sciences (AIBS), Athens, Greece; †Department of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; and ‡Department of Medicine, University of Crete School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece The Arab world covers a vast geographic area, comprising many different countries in Asia and Africa. The contemporary world owes much of its progress in all fields of human intellectual activity, including med icine, to Arabic culture, especially the advancements made during the Golden Age of Arabic-Islamic science (8th to 13th centuries C.E.). The glorious historic background of the Arabic world permits us to identify the debt that humanity owes to the Golden Age of Arabic science and to evaluate the research contribu tions made by Arab countries to biomedical sciences in our own day. THE GOLDEN AGE OF ARAB SCIENCE The biomedical sciences of the Arabic-Islamic world underwent remarkable development during the 8th to 13th centuries C.E., a flowering of knowledge and intellect that later spread throughout Europe and greatly influenced both medical practice and educa tion. The scientific glory of the Arabic nation origi nated on the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century C.E., where the preaching of the prophet Mohammed united the Arab tribes and inaugurated the Muslim religion (1). The Islamic state was formed in 622 C.E., when the Prophet moved from Mecca to Medina. Within a century after his death (632 C.E.) a large part of the planet, from southern Europe throughout North Africa to Central Asia and on to India, was controlled by and/or influenced by the new Arabic-Muslim Empire (1, 2). In 711 C.E., Arab Muslims invaded southern Spain and a center of flourishing civilization (al-Anda lus) was created (1). Another center emerged in Bagh dad from the Abbasids, who ruled part of the Islamic world during a historic period later characterized as the “Golden Age” ( 750 to 1258 C.E.) (3). Arguably, many of the achievements of the Islamic Arabic Golden Age were based on previous initiatives taken by the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, Persians, Greeks, and Romans (1, 2, 4). Hence, translators were invited to Baghdad, where scientists and researchers studied the past and created the future. The result of their work was impressive progress in all sectors of science. The rulers of Islamic Spain, in an attempt to surpass Baghdad, recruited scholars who made contri /06/ © FASEB Figure 1. Pottery cup depicting a leopard. Fatimid period, Egypt (11th century C.E.). Diameter: 20.4 cm. From the Islamic collection of the Benakis Museum, Athens, Greece (printed with permission). butions of paramount importance to science, medicine, technology, philosophy, and art. WHAT LED TO THE GOLDEN AGE? “The Golden Age” was based on several factors (5). Muslims following the guidelines of the Prophet stud ied and searched for knowledge (1, 5, 6). The Quran is clear: “The scholar’s ink is more sacred than the blood of martyrs”, while the Prophet promoted medical re search preaching that “For every disease, Allah has given a cure.” (5) Communication became easier be cause the Muslim Empire united extensive geographic areas. Scholars travelled to teach or share ideas. Fur thermore, the Arabic language became a unifying factor (4, 5). Translations from Greek, Latin, and Chinese into Arabic were innumerable, thus removing language barriers for scholars. During the same period, 1 Correspondence: Institute of Biomedical Sciences (AIBS), 9 Neapoleos St., Marousi 15123, Greece. E-mail: doi: 10.1096/fj.06-0803ufm 1581 Downloaded from by (204.126.11.227) on February 26, 2018. The FASEB Journal Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. . ArabslearnedfromtheChinesehowtoproducepaper andbooksbecamemoreavailable(5).Librarieswere established inCairo, Aleppo, Baghdad, and urban centers inIran, centralAsia, andSpain, whilebook shopswiththousandsof titlesopenedinseveral cities (4, 5). Finally, TheHouseofWisdom, anacademic institution serving as auniversity, was established in Baghdadin1004C.E.(5). ISLAMICMEDICINE During that period, Islamicmedicinewent through impressivedevelopments,whichlaterinfluencedmed ical educationandpractice inEurope(1, 2). Intense efforts for translation and analysis of the works of Hippocrates,RufusofEphesus,Dioscurides,andGalen tookplace(1,2).Arabscholarssynthesizedandfurther Figure2.Glasscup.Egypt,Syria,orIraq(9th–10th centuryC.E.).Height: 10 cm. Fromthe Islamic collectionoftheBenakisMuseum,Athens,Greece (printedwithpermission). TABLE1.Rawandadjustedindicators forbiomedical researchproductivityofArabcountries Population (inmillions— average 1994–2003) GDP(inbillion USDs—average 1994–2003) PubMed Papers (1994–2003) ESI—Papers (1995–2004) Algeria 29.7 42.8 281 370 Bahrain 0.6 6.6 200 ND Comoros 0.5 0.2 3 ND Djibouti 0.6 0.3 14 ND Egypt 62.2 65.6 5,352 5,532 Eritrea 4.0 0.7 17 ND Iraq 22.5 ND 259 ND Jordan 4.7 7.5 1,293 1,167 Kuwait 2.1 26.6 1,554 2,068 Lebanon 4.2 12.1 1,322 1,364 Libya 5.1 ND 172 ND Mauritania 2.5 1.2 35 ND Morocco 28.0 38.9 2,008 2,281 Oman 2.3 12.2 620 ND Qatar 0.6 ND 168 ND SaudiArabia 20.0 139.5 5,588 7,461 Somalia 8.4 ND 21 ND Sudan 30.5 8.0 384 421 Syria 14.3 12.6 140 14 Tunisia 9.4 21.9 1,753 1,994 Unit.ArabEmirates 3.0 41.0 1,102 1,368 WestBankandGaza 2.8 3.3 102 ND Yemen 16.9 3.9 97 ND Total 274.9 444.9 22,485 24,040 %ofGlobal 4.6% 1