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ccallan's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those rare books when every few pages you stop and say to yourself wow I didn't know that! It's a very accessible review of the advances of arts and sciences in the Islamic world when Western Europeans were burning people at the stake. Well worth the read.
doel7's review against another edition
4.0
I quite enjoyed this book actually. Although sometimes it can get a little heavy with the science terms, it opened my eyes more to the contributions the Muslim world has made to Western civilization. The author also mentions that Islam and its practices like finding the direction of Mecca actually contributed to their pursuit of math and algebra. I always knew that the Muslims had made great strides in science but this book made it much more clear. I especially liked the section on Islamic philosophy which I've become very interested in. If you're looking for introductory book to this subject I'm not sure if I would suggest this one but I enjoyed it.
sixthescapist's review against another edition
4.0
It is a great feeling when you find out that your ancestors are the reason why you and your engineering friends struggled with trigonometry at school.
karenangela_1's review
2.0
Not so much read as listened to, it's not bad but it never really held my attention. [b:The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance|11445915|The House of Wisdom How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance|Jim Al-Khalili|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328339430s/11445915.jpg|15282851] by [a:Jim Al-Khalili|1716|Jim Al-Khalili|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1348483267p2/1716.jpg] is a much better book.
tomistro's review against another edition
3.0
Olisin halunnut pitää tästä enemmän ja varmaan olisinkin, jos Audiblen äänikirja olisi ollut parempi. Jay Snyderilla on miellyttävä ääni, mutta robottimainen lukemistapa, jonka takia välillä oli hankalaa tajuta että loppuiko vai jatkuuko lause.
Itse sisältö oli kiinnostavaa ja perusteellista, mutta jotenkin ehkä olisin toivonut selkeämpää kerrontaa, ehkä vähän tarinallisempaa otetta. Tai voi olla että koska luen niin paljon nopeammin kuin kuuntelen niin kirjan kaaren seuraaminen on hankalampaa. En tiedä.
Joka tapauksessa hyvä esitys siitä, miten paljon "länsi" on velkaa muslimeille. Tämän pitäisi olla yleissivistystä.
Itse sisältö oli kiinnostavaa ja perusteellista, mutta jotenkin ehkä olisin toivonut selkeämpää kerrontaa, ehkä vähän tarinallisempaa otetta. Tai voi olla että koska luen niin paljon nopeammin kuin kuuntelen niin kirjan kaaren seuraaminen on hankalampaa. En tiedä.
Joka tapauksessa hyvä esitys siitä, miten paljon "länsi" on velkaa muslimeille. Tämän pitäisi olla yleissivistystä.
julleht's review against another edition
2.0
Breaking the myth of Renaissance origins being directly directly derivative from Classical Athens, Jonathan Lyons convincingly traces in his House of Wisdom how the intellectual heritage was enthusiastically embraced, rigorously studied and magnificently developed by Muslims in the Arab world. At the time when the Christendom in Europe turned a blind eye for Athenian metaphysics, logic, astrology, cartography and mathematics, their neighbours in the Islamic world prospered while developing and enhancing such insights as the number zero, cosin, tangent, analytical geometry, Hindu star charts, medicine, philosophy, alchemy and gastronomy.
Luckily for Europe, even amidst the the religious fervour and opportunistic crusades of Pope Urban II, some scholars were deeply interested in the philosophical development in the Arab world and felt that the continental teachings had long ago succumbed to the orthodox sloth of Church teachings. Such figures as Adelard of Bath traveled far and wide to study what the Arabs had to offer within their vast empire from Córdoba to Antioch to Baghdad to Kabul, ultimately introducing their gained knowledge to Europe. Such advances formed the backbone and preliminary building blocks of what was to be the Renaissance movement a few hundred years after Adelard.
Perhaps we today, with our religious terrorism, islamophobia and aggressive rhetoric from an aisle to another, could do as Adelard of Bath did and small group of other inquirers sought to do amidst the dark Middle Ages. To learn from the Arabic w0rld and let them learn from us. Pope Urban II saw 'Saracens' and 'Mohammedans' as nothing else than heathen scapegoats to direct a war against to opportunistically tighten his grip and that of the Catholic Church on the moral power within Europe. As savages from which the Christendom could and should learn nothing. Surely we are wiser than Pope Urban II was.
Luckily for Europe, even amidst the the religious fervour and opportunistic crusades of Pope Urban II, some scholars were deeply interested in the philosophical development in the Arab world and felt that the continental teachings had long ago succumbed to the orthodox sloth of Church teachings. Such figures as Adelard of Bath traveled far and wide to study what the Arabs had to offer within their vast empire from Córdoba to Antioch to Baghdad to Kabul, ultimately introducing their gained knowledge to Europe. Such advances formed the backbone and preliminary building blocks of what was to be the Renaissance movement a few hundred years after Adelard.
Perhaps we today, with our religious terrorism, islamophobia and aggressive rhetoric from an aisle to another, could do as Adelard of Bath did and small group of other inquirers sought to do amidst the dark Middle Ages. To learn from the Arabic w0rld and let them learn from us. Pope Urban II saw 'Saracens' and 'Mohammedans' as nothing else than heathen scapegoats to direct a war against to opportunistically tighten his grip and that of the Catholic Church on the moral power within Europe. As savages from which the Christendom could and should learn nothing. Surely we are wiser than Pope Urban II was.
kathleenitpdx's review
3.0
Lyons presents a lot of very interesting information about the development of science and philosophy in the Arab/Muslim world and its transfer to Europe. But I maybe I was looking for something else. The development of astronomy and math sparked both by arrival of knowledge from India, translation of Greek texts and religious needs (how do you know the times for the five prayers and the way to Mecca to complete your religious duties correctly?) was part of what I was looking for. The stories of the intrepid and curious men who located Arab information and translated it and employed learned Arabs was interesting but I was also looking for why the centers of Arab/Muslim learning seemed to fade and stultify.
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