The House of Wisdom

How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance

By: Jim Al-Khalili

Narrated by: Simon Vance

The Arabic legacy of science and philosophy has long been hidden from the West. British-Iraqi physicist Jim Al-Khalili unveils that legacy to fascinating effect by returning to its roots in the hubs of Arab innovation that would advance science and jump-start the European Renaissance.

Many of the innovations that we think of as hallmarks of Western science were actually the result of Arab ingenuity: Astronomers laid the foundations for the heliocentric model of the solar system long before Copernicus; physicians accurately described blood circulation and the inner workings of the eye ages before Europeans solved those mysteries; physicists made discoveries that laid the foundation for Newton's theories of optics. But the most significant legacy of Middle Eastern science was its evidence-based approach - the lack of which kept Europeans in the dark throughout the Dark Ages.

With transporting detail, Al-Khalili places the listener in the intellectual and cultural hothouses of the Arab Enlightenment and tackles two tantalizing questions: Why did the Arab world enter its own Dark Age after such a dazzling enlightenment? And how much did Arabic learning contribute to making the Western world as we know it? Given his singular combination of expertise in both the Western and Middle Eastern scientific traditions, Al-Khalili is uniquely qualified to solve those riddles.

©2019 Jim Al-Khalili (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

I absolutely loved this book.

The authors did a stellar job from a scientific stand point. There are some concepts and events that I have a predisposed view on but I appreciate the intellectual scientific account.

Great teaching resource

This is a great resource for teaching Islamic Civilization at the first year undergraduate level. Students appreciate having an audio version of the book.

on the shoulders of giants

This is the fascinating tale of the Islamic philosophers and scientist that paved the way for many of the westerners of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. We owe a great deal of gratitude and appreciation to our Muslim forefathers. Whitout them we would no have our current scientific, philosophical, and theological knowledge.

Fascinating

A perspective on science that is illuminating and fascinating! The narrator has a lilting British accent that makes the material flow nicely.

A mostly needed cold shower

A very neat compilation, that must be taught in schools and political chambers.. I don’t believe science progress should be linked to a specific religious, racial or political entity, nor let the peculiarity of any of them force or justify its stagnation.
Well done Jim !