La casa della saggezza

Jim Al-Khalili has managed to take a fascinating subject--and make it seem boring. The book floods the reader with facts, names, places, with the hope that the reader will make sense of it all. There are interesting insights in this book, but they are scattered throughout the book, and not easy to f Leggi tutto

An interesting feature of al-Idrisi's map, as with all medieval Arabic maps, is that it is drawn upside down, with the north at the bottom. I've read a couple of other books on this subject, and in terms of thoroughness and synthesis, it's definitely the best one. It seemed extensively and carefully Leggi tutto

A well written, insightfull and smart read. Jim Al-Khalili is obviusly proud of his roots. And i like that. Without being to missionary about it, he makes a good point in the fact that the Mideastern knowledge that started in Mesopotamian times and evolved all the way through our dark ages until the r Leggi tutto

'The House of Wisdom' is a thorough history of science in the Arabic countries up to the fifteenth century. Besides including biographies of early Arabic scientists, British-Iraqi physicist and author Jim al-Khalili shows how individual Arabic geniuses and polymaths eagerly sought Ancient Greek texts Leggi tutto

I'm a long-time reader of books on the history of science. I'm fascinated with non-European cultures and have been reading heavily in that topic area. So this book should have been perfect for me, but instead it bored me. Too often it read like a string of names and places with very little substanti Leggi tutto

Excellent book filling in the gap of Western Civ. history. Answering how we left the Dark Ages and entered the Renaissance with shared knowledge, not our own invention. A strong case for world peace, understanding and tolerance. While chemistry, algebra, medicine and so much more are written about, m Leggi tutto

Jim Al Khalili is a physicist whose family has deep roots in one of the culturally leading families of Iraq. His mother and first name are British and he was born and raised in Britain making him ideal to mediate between Islamic and European cultures in describing the wonders of this House. The foun Leggi tutto

(This review is originally published at www.eventgate.net ) At school, one only gets to learn what he is taught. In the case of students in the Arab World, we only got to learn about Western scientists like Galileo and Einstein. It would be unfair though to claim that our curriculums left us entirely Leggi tutto

This book was excellent, beginning with the massive translation effort of known texts from Greek and Roman scientists into Arabic during the Abbāsid Caliphate and the subsequent pursuit of and development of chemistry, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics by Arabic-literate peoples (al-Khalili chara Leggi tutto