Exhibition Explores Scientific Breakthroughs of a Remarkable Era
TORONTO, Feb. 3 /CNW/ – Step back in time to the Golden Age of Islamic Science, when the decimal point revolutionized mathematics, when the principles of optics were first discovered, and when a man took to the skies on a feather-clad glider. The Ontario Science Centre is proud to present “Sultans of Science: 1000 Years of Knowledge Rediscovered”, making its Canadian debut Feb. 5 and running to May 10, 2009.
Developed by Cape Town and Dubai-based MTE Studios, this informative and thought-provoking exhibition shows visitors how a great civilization created prosperity across large areas of the known world, from Spain to China. This exhibition highlights important scientific and technological advances made during the Golden Age of Islamic Science (circa eighth to 18th centuries), drawing attention to the multi-cultural roots of modern science and technology. “This exhibition introduces us to a fundamental truth about science today – namely that science has a past,” said Dr. Hooley McLaughlin, Director, Visitor Experience.
“Modern science, from astronomy to medicine to physics and chemistry, owes an enormous debt to the discoveries of scientists working during the Golden Age of Islamic Science. The knowledge displayed in this exhibition is important to everyone in our society.”
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“There is a spirit of invention, innovation and creativity in the Islamic world which led society in the past and can lead us to an even more prosperous future. We hope that the exhibition triggers constructive debate on the importance of building bridges between civilizations, keeping knowledge alive and ensuring that it is passed on to others,” said Ludo Verheyen, CEO, MTE Studios.
Complete Source: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2009/03/c4934.html
Ismailimail 
“First, the globalisation of the knowledge of the cultures of the Umma is critical. We have to make known the cultural inheritance of the Muslims to the non-Muslim as well as the Muslim parts of the world because we will never succeed in building the respect and recognition that the Umma deserves unless we present the Umma as a remarkable carrier of civilisation.The misconceptions about Islam and Muslims in the West exist because we are, even today, absent from the global civilisation. We should encourage the Western education system to bring in knowledge of the civilisation of Islam into the secondary education system.I am thrilled with the initiative that Dubai and other states in the Gulf are taking by creating museums. Retracing our historical legacies and bringing them back in the modern world is extremely important.”(Aga Khan IV, Interview with Gulf News, Dubai, UAE, April 2008)
“That quest for a better life, among Muslims and non-Muslims alike, must lead inevitably to the Knowledge Society which is developing in our time. The great and central question facing the Ummah of today is how it will relate to the Knowledge Society of tomorrow.The fundamental reason for the pre-eminence of Islamic civilizations lay neither in accidents of history nor in acts of war, but rather in their ability to discover new knowledge, to make it their own, and to build constructively upon it. They became the Knowledge Societies of their time.”(Aga Khan IV, Speech, 2nd December 2006, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan)
“For century after century, the Arabs, the Persians, the Turks and many other Islamic societies achieved powerful leadership roles in the world—not only politically and economically but also intellectually. Some ill-informed historians and biased commentators have tried to argue that these successes were essentially produced by military power, but this view is profoundly incorrect”(Aga Khan IV, 2nd December 2006, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan)
“From the seventh century to the thirteenth century, the Muslim civilizations dominated world culture, accepting, adopting, using and preserving all preceding study of mathematics, philosophy, medicine and astronomy, among other areas of learning. The Islamic field of thought and knowledge included and added to much of the information on which all civilisations are founded. And yet this fact is seldom acknowledged today, be it in the West or in the Muslim world, and this amnesia has left a six hundred year gap in the history of human thought”(Aga Khan IV, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, 1996)
The above are 4 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of about 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/01/439ontario-science-center-toronto.html
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Planning on going to this exhibition. It’s about time that people hear some positive contributions that Muslims have made to civilization.
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Easy Nash.
You are always awesome.Keep up the excellent work.
Thank you very much.
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