New York: Islam once produced the world's most scientifically advanced and intellectually productive civilization as reported by the American daily newspaper "The Times Union", whilst many Americans might find far-fetched the idea that Islam spawned the most advanced and sophisticated civilization of its time.
That is the truth and you will probably hear more about it when this and more will be spotlighted during the United Nations International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies fair.
Islamic science will be showcased in the fair, which will open on January 19 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
Islam's Golden Age, extending from the 7th century to the 13th century, flourished while Europe and Christendom wallowed in the Dark Ages. Western society was considered a backwater, if considered at all.
Islam generated impressive advances in medicine, chemistry, physics, mathematics, astronomy, optics and philosophy. It created cities, observatories and libraries, and it engaged in far-flung commerce well before Christopher Columbus set sail.
Credit goes to Islamic genius for the discovery of magnetic compass and navigational innovation, for algebra and the refinement of the numbering system that originated in India, for papermaking and the scientific method.
While Greek and Roman learning faded in the medieval West, Islamic scholars were preserving and enlarging it long before the European Renaissance or Age of Enlightenment.
The event, which is going to happen in Paris, will aim to raise awareness of light science and its importance to humankind and by doing that, it necessarily will have to highlight the Islamic achievements.
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