Duration: 59 minutes
Physicist
Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell
the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in
the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries.
Its legacy
is tangible, with terms like algebra, algorithm and alkali all being
Arabic in origin and at the very heart of modern science - there would
be no modern mathematics or physics without algebra, no computers
without algorithms and no chemistry without alkalis.
For
Baghdad-born Al-Khalili this is also a personal journey and on his
travels he uncovers a diverse and outward-looking culture, fascinated by
learning and obsessed with science. From the great mathematician
Al-Khwarizmi, who did much to establish the mathematical tradition we
now know as algebra, to Ibn Sina, a pioneer of early medicine whose
Canon of Medicine was still in use as recently as the 19th century, he
pieces together a remarkable story of the often-overlooked achievements
of the early medieval Islamic scientists.
First broadcast: 05 Jan 2009