%0 Journal Article
%T Arab-Islamic Reception and Development of Hellenistic Science
%A Giovanna Lelli
%J Advances in Historical Studies
%P 29-42
%@ 2327-0446
%D 2015
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ahs.2015.41004
%X This article is an overview of the Arab-Islamic reception and development of Hellenistic science. It particularly refers to mathematics, physics and astronomy. It focuses on the following topics: 1) Two interpretative models of this reception in the 19th, 20th, and 21st century scholarship: the ¡°Indo-European model¡± (which supposes a cultural heterogeneity between Greece and Islam) and the ¡°cosmopolitan Hellenistic model¡± (which supposes homogeneity between the two). 2) The channels through which Hellenistic science was transmitted to the Islamic world: the philological channel, and the oral channel which implies the pre-existence of a common Greek-Semitic cultural ground that made this transmission possible. 3) Three features of the Arab-Islamic sciences that highlight their essential contribution to the emergence of modern science in 16th and 17th century Europe: 3.1. The ¡°democratising¡± character of the Arab-Islamic sciences resulting from a larger diffusion of literacy. 3.2. The higher precision of measurements and calculations. 3.3. The experimental approach of Muslim scientists. A positive role in the accomplishment of these advances has been played by the non-metaphysical character of orthodox Islamic monotheism. According to Muslim orthodoxy, there are no Neo-Platonic intermediaries between the almighty God and his creation. The whole universe is submitted to the same physical laws. I argue that today it is important to open an interdisciplinary debate on the Arab-Islamic sciences. It would certainly lead to a better appreciation of their historical contribution. It could also suggest answers to contemporary epistemological impasses deriving from the growing gap between the humanities and the sciences.
%K Sciences
%K Islam
%K Europe
%K History
%K Humanities
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=55157