![[Al-Aman-Bookstore-Arabic-Islamic-Bookstore-in-USA-Great-Muslim-Scholars-Set-مكتبة-الأمان.webp]] The development of science in Europe during the Renaissance would not have been possible without the contributions made by Muslim scholars during the medieval era. Although the term may have been overused, while Europe was suffering an intellectual “Dark Age” in the centuries following the fall of Rome, the successes of Islam in North Africa, the Middle East, and beyond created stability that encouraged the establishment of trade routes to India and China. This trade was accompanied by an exchange of ideas and technology. While medieval monks in Europe were busy copying illuminated Latin Bibles and hymnals, scholars like Al-Khwarizmi (780-850, the inventor of algebra), Al-Kindi (801-873, philosopher and musician), Al-Zahrawi (936-1013, the father of surgery), Ibn Al-Haytham (965-1040, physicist and father of optics), Al-Biruni (973-1050, historian and scientist), Ibn Sina (980-1037, astronomer and physician), and Ibn Rushd (1126-1198, philosopher and scientist), not only preserved classical Greek philosophy and science that was lost in much of Europe but made important original contributions to knowledge and culture.   Arab mathematicians were also impressed with the Indian number system, which included the concept of zero, and in the 1200s, western Europeans began to change from Roman numerals (which did not have a zero) to "Arabic" numerals. There would be no computers without this revolutionary change in mathematics; try dividing using Roman numerals. Arab scholars helped trigger the Renaissance which led to both the European Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution that produced the modern world we live in today. ![[Maqamat_hariri.jpg]] *The "House of Wisdom" in Baghdad* In most of their kingdoms and caliphates, Muslim sovereigns respected Jews and Christians as “people of the book.”  This was especially important in the Iberian Peninsula (present-day Portugal and Spain), which was controlled by Muslim rulers from 711 to 1492. The introduction of ideas in astronomy, navigation, and mathematics in Iberia soon spread to other parts of Europe. Portuguese navigators explored the African coast and in 1492 Christopher Columbus was able to sail to the New World partly because of Arab naval and navigation technology. ----- Next: [[3.12 - Aufklärung]] Back: [[3.10 - Counter-Enlightenment]]