I really don’t understand the ethnocentric zero-sum perspectives from some people responding in this thread. People seem to forget that knowledge is cumulative. While there is no doubt that plenty of knowledge predates the Arabic philosopher-scientists, and surely they inherited traditions from those who came before them, but it is also clear that they added to the universal body of knowledge. To pretend otherwise or to downplay those accomplishments in order to raise up others, is (to my mind) profoundly sad and anti-scientific. If we are giants, it’s because we stand on the shoulders of giants. And to paraphrase Terry Pratchet, it’s giants all the way down.
