false 6006458 1 <DIV><B>The remarkable story of how medieval Arab scholars made dazzling advances in science and philosophy—and of the itinerant Europeans who brought this knowledge back to the West. <P></P></B>For centuries following the fall of Rome, western Europe was a benighted backwater, a world of subsistence farming, minimal literacy, and violent conflict. Meanwhile Arab culture was thriving, dazzling those Europeans fortunate enough to catch even a glimpse of the scientific advances coming from Baghdad, Antioch, or the cities of Persia, Central Asia, and Muslim Spain. T here, philosophers, mathematicians, and astronomers were steadily advancing the frontiers of knowledge and revitalizing the works of Plato and Aristotle. I n the royal library of Baghdad, known as the House of Wisdom, an army of scholars worked at the behest of the Abbasid caliphs. At a time when the best book collections in Europe held several dozen volumes, the House of Wisdom boasted as many as four hundred thousand.  Even while their countrymen waged bloody Crusades against Muslims, a handful of intrepid Christian scholars, thirsty for knowledge, traveled to Arab lands and returned with priceless jewels of science, medicine, and philosophy that laid the foundation for the Renaissance. I n this brilliant, evocative book, Lyons shows just how much “Western” culture owes to the glories of medieval Arab civilization, and reveals the untold story of how Europe drank from the well of Muslim learning.</DIV> 6181547 23 12 2008 The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization total:7|5:2|4:4|2:1| 7 28 37 1 5 0 false false Wed Feb 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 06:04:49 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 06:05:02 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Nov 11 11:37:08 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 11 11:37:08 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 05 18:42:47 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 18:42:47 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 03 16:58:35 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 16:58:54 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 07 17:31:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 17:31:00 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Sep 13 20:57:39 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 20:57:39 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Sep 04 19:13:50 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 19:13:50 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Aug 25 07:04:02 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 07:04:26 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 17 20:28:33 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 20:28:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Aug 08 11:54:19 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 08 11:54:21 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Mon Jul 27 11:53:26 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 16:58:28 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 11:53:26 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jul 15 12:47:45 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 12:47:45 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jul 08 14:42:04 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 14:42:04 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jun 29 11:32:23 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 15 15:41:29 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jun 24 14:47:01 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 14:47:01 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jun 19 09:08:05 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 19:50:50 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 09:08:05 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jun 15 12:56:41 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 12:56:41 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Jul 04 10:39:59 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 09:39:13 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 04 10:39:59 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Aug 23 15:15:35 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 03:39:05 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 15:15:35 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat May 23 10:23:16 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 10:23:16 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=6006458