Major New Book Refutes
‘Clash of Civilizations’
While some Americans
associate Islam with terrorism and strife in the Middle
East, author Michael Hamilton Morgan counters with a resounding
"no" -- by showing how much we all owe to forgotten
Muslim thinkers and inventors in his new book LOST HISTORY:
THE ENDURING LEGACY OF MUSLIM SCIENTISTS, THINKERS, AND
ARTISTS.
Lost History tells the story of a once-brilliant civilization
built on pure genius and innovation ... with a heavy dose
of tolerance thrown in. The book shows how early Muslim
breakthroughs in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, science,
culture and leadership not only laid the cornerstones of
the European Renaissance -- but how they reverberate even
today -- in computation, digital appliances, surgery and
pharmaceuticals, film and books, modern universities and
global commerce.
"Only 1000 years ago," says Morgan, "Baghdad
was the greatest and largest city on earth at 2 million
people, churning out futuristic math, science, medicine
and literature, while London and Paris were muddy towns
of 30,000 or less. Cairo and Cordoba were other Muslim thought-centers.
Rising cities in India, Persia, Central Asia and Turkey
would soon join them."
Lost History was spurred by Morgan's concern after 9/11
that for Americans, not understanding Muslim contributions
could intensify a sense of alienation, while for young Muslims,
it meant they did not know their full heritage of invention,
intellectual courage and tolerant societies.
Former President Jimmy Carter says, "Lost History delivers
a missing link to the story of an interconnected world,"
while King Abdullah II of Jordan writes in his foreword
that "many available works paint too stark a picture
of confrontation between civilizations, when the reality
was often one of exchange and mutual dependence."
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,123550.shtml
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