Science and Civilization in Islam

by Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Science and Civilization in Islam has remained unsurpassed as the authoritative statement on this subject. With his characteristic breadth of learning, clarity of exposition and insight, Seyyed Hossein Nasr presents here for the first time a full picture of Islamic science, not as a chapter in the history of Western science, but as an integral aspect of Islamic civilisation and the Islamic intellectual tradition. By means of an historical presentation, an analysis of its forms, including the use of passages from the writings of many Muslim scientists and philosophers, the author is able to convey not only a sense of the operative context of Islamic science but he also demonstrates its inter-relatedness with the sapiential wisdom on which it is based. An introductory chapter provides the reader with a necessary orientation to the subject according to the principles of Islam, while subsequent chapters survey the whole spectrum of the individual sciences from cosmology, philosophy, theology to alchemy, physics, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine concluding with a chapter on the gnostic tradition. For this edition, Dr Nasr has written a preface surveying the fields covered in the book since its first appearance in 1968, and has provided a supplement that brings the Bibliography up to date.

Genres: History, Islam, Philosophy, Religion, Nonfiction, Science, Theology

404 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Seyyed Hossein Nasr was born on April 7, 1933 (19 Farvadin 1312 A.H. solar) in Tehran into a family of distinguished scholars and physicians. His father, Seyyed Valiallah, a man of great learning and piety, was a physician to the Iranian royal family, as was his father before him. The name "Nasr" which means "victory" was conferred on Professor Nasr's grandfather by the King of Persia. Nasr also comes from a family of Sufis. One of his ancestors was Mulla Seyyed Muhammad Taqi Poshtmashhad, who was a famous saint of Kashan, and his mausoleum which is located next to the tomb of the Safavid king Shah Abbas, is still visited by pilgrims to this day.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr, currently University Professor of Islamic Studies at the George Washington University, Washington D.C. is one of the most important and foremost scholars of Islamic, Religious and Comparative Studies in the world today. Author of over fifty books and five hundred articles which have been translated into several major Islamic, European and Asian languages, Professor Nasr is a well known and highly respected intellectual figure both in the West and the Islamic world. An eloquent speaker with a charismatic presence, Nasr is a much sought after speaker at academic conferences and seminars, university and public lectures and also radio and television programs in his area of expertise. Possessor of an impressive academic and intellectual record, his career as a teacher and scholar spans over four decades.

Professor Nasr began his illustrious teaching career in 1955 when he was still a young and promising, doctoral student at Harvard University. Over the years, he has taught and trained an innumerable number of students who have come from the different parts of the world, and many of whom have become important and prominent scholars in their fields of study.

He has trained different generations of students over the years since 1958 when he was a professor at Tehran University and then, in America since the Iranian revolution in 1979, specifically at Temple University in Philadelphia from 1979 to 1984 and at the George Washington University since 1984 to the present day. The range of subjects and areas of study which Professor Nasr has involved and engaged himself with in his academic career and intellectual life are immense. As demonstrated by his numerous writings, lectures and speeches, Professor Nasr speaks and writes with great authority on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from philosophy to religion to spirituality, to music and art and architecture, to science and literature, to civilizational dialogues and the natural environment.

For Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr, the quest for knowledge, specifically knowledge which enables man to understand the true nature of things and which furthermore, "liberates and delivers him from the fetters and limitations of earthly existence," has been and continues to be the central concern and determinant of his intellectual life.

Reviews

[Alex Kartelias · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've recently become fascinated with the Islamic Renaissance afterwatching a BBC documentary. Having read Nasr's other books, I knew there was a profound depth in Islamic thought and spirituality. At first I was amazed- contrary to what most think- that Islamic society was central to the west's Renaissance, but then I became humble in my ignorance when I began reading this book. What really makes me an admirer of Islamic thought is how in their mind, all fields and subjects are one: not just faith and reason but medicine, astronomy, physics, maths, philosophy, art, music, poetry, geology, sociology, the list goes on. In the west, we have a tendency to become infatuated/forced into one subject matter to become an 'expert' to make a living, only to be knowledgeable of that subject for most of our lives. The problem is more embarrassingly obvious when you look at how science runs in the west: you have the biologist, the astro-physicist, evolutionary biologist, chemist and others in one conference room talking about their own field, trying to, 'connect the bridges' between each other's disciplines while politely tolerating each other's unnecessarily complicated jargon and inwardly feeling the lack of ability to communicate their own field to the other experts. Much like the Protestant reformation, science began to explode into a thousand different fields during the scientific revolution and the further and longer they became distant from other fields, the more distinct their terminology became. But in Islamic society, all fields are not dialects of each other: they all stem from the Logo's, The Divine Principle, the Intellect from which contains all multiplicities and archetypes. As a reckless polymath, I bow in humble agreement with the way they treat science as well as with other disciplines. The remedies in the scientific community in the west may be saved from complete segmentation, if they were to either return to their old Renassiance in the 16th/17th century, or even if they considered the benefits of organizing all fields of knowledge like Islamic society does. We'll have to see.

[Zeinab · Rating 5 out of 5]

توصیه میکنم همه ی بچه مسلمونا بخونن و افتخار کنن .حتی اگر کسی دوست نداشت همه شو بخونه قسمت مربوط به تخصص خودش رو بخونه....مثلا فیزیک، شیمی ،ریاضی،معماری و...اما کسی نمیتونه یه بخش رو بخونه و بقیه ش رو نخونه
درود بر دکتر سید حسین نصر

[Saif · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's no better word to describe this book than 'enlightening'.

The book discusses the Islamic sciences from a different framework than other histories of science books. Whereby others studied it through the framework of the modern science of which whatever is closest to it is brilliance. This book follows the framework of "Unity of all beings" or tawhid, which most Islamic sciences affirmed. "The gnostic thus views the cosmos in its dual aspect of positive symbol and negative illusion. In so far as any manifestation is real, it is a symbol of a higher order of reality; in so far as it is separated from, and other than the Principle, it is merely an illusion and non-being." The book goes through extensive literature, sometimes diving into technicalities of geography, cosmology, physics, mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, medicine etc. All the different sciences were seen as a reaffirmation of gods, of tawhid, the sciences were not a river that infinitely flows straight but rather an agent rotating around al-Kaʿbah al-Musharraf. A brief paragraph cannot summarise how good this book is. Hopefully gets translated into Arabic.

Here are some quotes

{Creation's book I studied from my youth,
And every page examined, but in sooth
I never found therein aught save the "truth,"
And attributes that appertain to "Truth."

What mean Dimension, Body, Species,
In Mineral, Plant, Animal degrees?
The "Truth" is single, but His modes beget
All these imaginary entities.}

"Instead of dealing [Alchemy] with physical entities in themselves, it dealt with them as manifestations of the subtle domain. The alchemical work sought to establish equilibrium in the cosmos, an equilibrium symbolised by gold in the metallic state. It brought about this-the Elixir-equilibrium by the aid of the spiritual principle--the Elixir-which, like the Divine Act, is transcendent concerning the world of the natures and qualities. The alchemist united with the cosmos and participated in its dream to awaken ultimately from all dreaming, thereby bringing deliverance to his soul and "salvation" to cosmic matter."

[Ahmad Abdul Rahim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ini adalah sebuah buku sejarah yg sangat berunsur partisan; maksud aku, penulis mempunyai konsepsi sains yg unik yang penulis mahukan untuk pembaca merasakan sendiri cara pandang yg dipilihnya tersebut.

Banyak daripada konsep tentang sains dan sejarah sains yg digunakan Prof Syed Hossein Nasr adalah counter-intuitive. Salah satu sebab adalah kerana idea "Sains Islam" yg dibawakan Prof Nasr bukan sekadar satu jenama, tetapi adalah satu paradigma baru di dalam merenung kembali sejarah perkembangan dan pengamalan sains di Tanah Islam. By default, idea seperti ke-progresifan-an sains yg biasa didapati di dalam mana2 buku sejarah sains yg arus perdana adalah ditolak mentah-mentah oleh penulis.

Terlalu banyak poin di mana aku mendapati kepala aku menggeleng membaca pernyataan2 yg dibawakan penulis, bukan kerana ketempangan fakta atau hujah penulis (hal sebegitu adalah tidak terbayangkan di dalam mana2 karya Prof Nasr), tetapi kerana implikasi yg terkandung di sebalik usul2 tersebut.

Buku ini sangat sukar untuk dibaca. Di dalam setiap bab penulis akan membawakan petikan daripada adikarya2 tulisan ilmuan Islam yg telah mendefinisikan subjek tersebut -perubatan, kajian hayat, geografi, kaji manusia, fizik, alkemi. Justeru di dalam setiap bab tersebut pembaca akan terserempak dengan tulisan2 yg meriwayatkan kisah2 dan maklumat2 milik suatu tempoh yg telah dilupakan zaman. Perlu diingatkan petikan tersebut bukan pendek; pada hemat aku secara purata ia akan mengambil sebanyak 4ms. Tibanya ke helaian2 terakhir, pembaca akan mendapati bahawa lebih banyak persoalan yg ditimbulkan berbanding jawapan.

Buku ini paling baik dibaca oleh mental temperament yg tidak membawa sebarang bentuk harapan atau jangkaan dan andaian.

[Mark Bowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION IN ISLAM
SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR

AND

"THE APPROPRIATION AND SUBSEQUENT NATURALIZATION
OF GREEK SCIENCE IN MEDIEVAL ISLAM:
A PRELIMINARY STATEMENT"
A.I SABRA
The period between late antiquity and the scientific revolu¬tion had previously been thought of as one of mere transmission of Greek thought via Islamic translations. As Seyyed Hossein Nasr argued in his Science and Civilization in Islam, Muslims not only translated vast amounts of ancient Greek work, but, also de¬veloped their own independent thought. The purpose of this book was to describe the science of Islam, from the eighth to the seventeenth centuries A.D., in the fields of the sciences, theol¬ogy, and philosophy. To enhance these descriptions, Nasr provided numerous and lengthy primary writings throughout the book. The goal of Islamic science was to attain spiritual perfec¬tion and to show the unity of all things. The concept of unity resulted in few speciaized studies as the great thinkers were concerned with all manner of knowledge. This knowledge was sought to help them defend their faith when confronted with religious debates by Christians or Jews. They used the logic and reasoning of the ancient Greeks to help them win these debates while also bringing them closer to spiritual perfection and God.
This idea was both a strength and a weakness. The connection of knowledge and spirituality allowed them to study and write numerous scholarly works, within the boundaries of their reli¬gion. This view of knowledge was not held by the Christians; and as a result, progress was slowed in the west by the belief in the divine truths of revelation. The sacred nature of knowledge was also a weakness because Islamic science was still guided by a supernatural or spiritual force. This would ultimately limit their capability to further develop science.
The book began with a chronological listing of the universal figures of Islamic science. The Hakims (wise men) began in the eigth century with Jabir Ibn Hayyan, who was the founder of Islamic Alchemy. He was followed in the ninth century by Al- Kindi, who was the first philosopher-scientist. Al-Khwarazmi was an outstanding mathematician and produced the first Muslim work in algebra. Al-Razi, in the tenth century, was the greatest clinical physician and was the "Galen" of his people. Ibn Sina (Latin Avicenna) arose in the eleventh century to be the most influential Islamic scientist. In the twelfth century, Ibn Rushad (Latin Averroes) became an influential commentator on Aristotle. The chronology ended in the seventeenth century with Al-Amili, who was a famous religious scholar.
The first learning center where the Hakims taught was the Bait al-Hikmah, which was built in Baghdad as a meeting place for scholars, scientists, and translators. In the tenth century, the Majlis was the main gathering place for learning. This was fol¬lowed one century later by the Madaris, which was a chain of colleges. The hospitals were also learning centers that taught clinical medicine to its students.
Nasr then discussed the individual scientific disciplines, topically, with chronological subdivisions by century. I will give an overview of some of his main topics. Islamic cosmology was derived from the Quran. Its main principles were the concept of unity and the graduation of being. There were five circles which represented the states of being; these were the divine essence, divine names, the world of psychic manifestation, the terrestrial domain, and the intelligible world. God represented the center of these circles, and the angels moved and guarded the planets.
Geography was the most studied of the Islamic sciences and was linked to astronomy which allowed the Muslim sailors to navigate by the stars. These sea voyages were described by geog¬raphers, such as Abu Abdallah al-Idrisi, who made an elaborate medieval description of the world. After the fourteenth century, geography began to decline.
Three qualitative scientists arose in the field of physics. The first was Alhazen in the eleventh century. He was the great¬est student of optics between Ptolemy and Witelo. His study of optics included experimentation, observation, and physical mod¬els. The second physicist was Al-Biruni, a compiler and scholar, who wrote letters to Avicenna and questioned the Peripatetic physics. The third was Al-Khazini, who made a twelfth-century study of mechanics and hydrostatics and created a science of balance which he used to measure the absolute and specific weights of objects.
Islamic mathematics, which reached its height in the four¬teenth to fifteenth centuries, was not only responsible for translating Greek mathematical ideas, but also for advancing new ones. The Muslims generalized the concept of number beyond what was understood by the Greeks and also developed methods of numer¬ical computation. They used a decimal fraction and developed trigonometry.
The main interest of the Muslims in astronomy was the nature of the heavenly bodies, and the motions, sizes, and distances of the planets. On the nature of the spheres, the Muslims felt that the planets were physical entities instead of abstract ideas as the Greeks thought. Al-Biruni's study of the planetary motion was much like Ptolemy's with a complex arrangement of eccentric and ecliptic circles. Al-Farghani, in the ninth century, made a table of the distances of the planets. Nasr provided a chart (183) which compared Al-Farghani's figures with those of today's.
Philosophy began, in Islam, in the ninth century, with translations of Greek works. Al-Kindi was the first of these philosophers, but Avicenna became the greatest. There were two schools of Islamic philosophy. The first, to which Avicenna be¬longed, was the Peripatetics which relied on the syllogistic method and reached truth by reason. The second was the twelfth- century Illuminationists who felt that intellectual intuition and reason coexisted within the path of discovery and insight.
The philosophy of Islamic medicine, according to Avicenna, was to restore the "state of equilibrium called health." He described the four humors and treated the body as a whole in keeping with the unitary theory. Avicenna was also the greatest physician in Islam. He was the first to give a description of drugs and diseases and to describe meningitis correctly. The cannon that he wrote became the final word on the treatment for all patients.
The book ended with a discussion of the Gnostic tradition. The pinnacle of knowledge in Islam was gnosis. Muslims felt that there was a microcosmic universe in every man. By a process of spiritual purification, man can know his own universe. By appli¬cation of this inner, self-knowledge, he can thereby know all things. Nasr gave no concluding statement or response to his initial thesis in this, his final chapter.
Nasr examined Islamic science on its own merits and made few comparisons with modern science. This diachronistic writing made it difficult to judge the success and achievements of the Islamic thinkers; for example, Nasr stated that Al-Zahrawi of Cordova wrote a great surgical treatise, but he did not qualify the statement.
Anachronistic explanations were insightful, but a rarity. Nasr discussed how the three great Islamic physicists would have fit into the twentieth century. This was an interesting compari¬son of the primarily qualitative, Islamic study as compared to the modern quantitative ideology of today. Nasr stated that his intention was not a modern but an Islamic point of view and said that was the reason more parallels were not drawn to modern science.
Reviews on the book were not favorable. Martin Levey in Middle East Journal (Vol. 74, Winter 69, p. 101) felt that Nasr neglected Arabic botany and medicine. F.E. Peters in American Historical Journal (Vol. 74, Feb 69, p. 1049) stated, as did Levey, that the omission of a discussion of an Arab Islam was "fundamentally misleading." Bruce S. Eastwood's review in Specu¬lum (Vol. 45, Jan 70, p. 150) was sympathetic to Nasr's attempt, but felt that chapters three through nine failed to satisfactori¬ly analyze his thesis. Eastwood thought the book should be read for the uncommon thesis, but felt the proof was yet to come.
My main criticism of the book was that it seemed to be more a compendium of facts and primary writings rather than a descrip¬tion of Islamic science. The primary writings were interesting but were not accompanied by a summary or description by the author. Nasr did not include any statement on the decline of Islamic science which should have been covered given the scope of the book.
Turning to A.I Sabra's article "The Appropriation and Subse¬quent Naturalization of Greek Science in Medieval Islam: A Pre¬liminary Statement," I found a more illuminating discussion on the civilization of Islam than any part of Nasr's book. Sabra's intent was to discount the kinematic account of the transmission of Greek thought which leads to a reductionism that portrays Islamic science as a mere reflection of the Greeks. The intent of Sabra and Nasr was the same- to explain Islamic science from an Islamic point of view of culture and civilization. It was Sabra who accomplished this and explained the forces behind the cross- cultural exchange of information.
Sabra began with a discussion of two descriptive terms- reception and appropriation, of eighth and ninth century Islamic translation. The idea of reception was a common one and indicated that Islam passively received or was given the knowledge of the Greeks. This was discounted in favor of the word appropriation because of a more aggressive connotation. The Muslims actively sought out knowledge from the Greeks and founded their own scien¬tific legacy with it.
The question of what caused this force of aggressive appro¬priation by the Muslims is generally ignored by historians of science. Instead, the medieval Islamic era is explained by the marginality thesis which treats Islamic science as a separate, noninfluential entity from Islamic culture and civilization. The marginality thesis was supported by three points. The first was that the sciences met opposition from Arabic culture and reli¬gion. The second was that the majority of the educated people were not taught science. Thirdly, the sciences were not useful to mainstream society.
Sabra refuted these points and disagreed with the marginali¬ty thesis. He said that the question of religious opposition to science was a complex issue. It is unknown whether or not reli¬gion was the downfall of Islamic science. There could be truth in the fact that science was kept out of normal educational curricu¬lum; but, individual teachers were able to add science to lesson plans, and many of them did. Finally, there were many practical uses of science. Physicians helped the sick, astrologers had positions as advisors, mathematicians held jobs as engineers and town planners, and astronomers helped to decide the five times for prayer during the day.
In place of the marginality thesis, Sabra suggested an assimilation of science that resulted in an Islamic naturaliza¬tion. He described a three-stage development period of the natu¬ralization process. The first was an acquisition of Greek thought through translation. The second was the emergence of a large number of philosophers in the Hellenistic tradition, and the third was the actual practice of the new philosophical and scien¬tific ideas by those of the Muslim faith.
The decline of Islamic science is a topic that is not fully understood. Many have asked the question as to why the seven¬teenth-century European scientific revolution did not effect Islam. There is no solution to this problem, yet Sabra offers a suggestion as to part of the reason why. He said that science was accepted and given a permanent place in society, but, it was only allowed to be studied on a level that was accepted by the instru¬mentalist's view. This view restrained scientific study to narrow and unprogressive areas. It was not allowed to expand to be a complete utilitarian interpretation of science and thus, was destined to be contained and uninfluenced by the European revolu¬tion.

[Nuruddin Azri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buku ini bukanlah buku terbaik karangan SH Nasr. Buku Islam in The Modern World dan A Young Muslim’s Guide to the Modern World jauh lebih enak jika dibandingkan dengan karya ini. Namun, buku ini menjanjikan kupasan sejarah ketamadunan Islam yang agak meluas dari sistem pendidikan sehinggalah kepada ilmu kosmologi, geografi, fizik, matematik, astronomi, perubatan, kimia dan falsafah.

Sebaik sahaja melakarkan topografi sistem pendidikan Islam berserta sarjana-sarjana yang mempeloporinya seperti al-Farabi, Ibn Khaldun dan Ibn Sina, penulis berganjak kepada perbahasan dan cuplikan teks-teks setiap sarjana dalam setiap bab bermula dengan Ibn al-Haitham, al-Biruni dan al-Khazini dalam bidang fizik, al-Khawarizmi dan Umar Khayyam dalam matematik, Ibn Sina dan al-Razi dalam perubatan, Jabir Ibn Hayyan dan al-Iraqi dalam bidang kimia sehinggalah al-Ghazali, Ibn Sina, al-Tusi, Suhrawardi dan Mulla Sadra dalam falsafah.

Pembaca boleh juga menelaah karya Jim al-Khalili dalam The House of Wisdom/Pathfinders beserta dokumentarinya yang menarik di BBC berjudul “Science and Islam” untuk menikmati buku ini dengan lebih baik selain menelaah karya Dimitri Gutas, George Makdisi, Majid Fakhry, Peter Pormann dan Howard Turner yang membahas dalam trajektori yang sama.

[Sandra Sopian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buku yang menguraikan dari awal perjalanan ilmu sains islam dan perkembangannya yang mendapatkan momentum dari penerjemahan besar-besaran karya filosop dan ilmuwan yunani (atau orang grika), persia, romawi dan india. setiap karya ilmuwan dan filosop tersebut mendapatkan perhatian yang besar dari cendekiawan muslim. penelaahan
dan pengembangan pun dilakukan, termasuk memodifikasi teori-teori sebelumnya yang kurang sempurna dan guna untuk menyelaraskan dengan pandangan alam (worldview) islam.

Bidang ilmu yang dibahas disini adalah bidang kosmologi, kosmografi, geografi, sejarah alam, fisika, al-khemi (harap dibedakan dengan kimia ya, karena keduanya memang berbeda secara prinsipil, meskipun terdapat beberapa kesamaan), bidang medis atau kedokteran, matematika, filsapat dan tradisi makrifat atau sufisme.

Meski banyak sekali pandangan syiah (karena penulisnya merupakan seorang yang beraliran syiah), tapi tetap bisa dinikmati guna mengetahui sains dan perkembangannya dulu di dunia islam. selain karya-karyanya, tokoh-tokohnya pun disebut, kebanyakan tokoh-tokohnya mempunyai keilmuan yang general sekaligus spesifik ; saling berintegrasi, tanpa ada dualistik atau fragmentasi dari setiap bidang keilmuannya.

di buku ini bertebaran kutipan-kutipan dari karya-karya tokoh dulu, sehingga dengan satu buku ini saja, isinya lebih dari banyak buku. Bahkan Elements-nya Euclid dan Almagestnya Ptolemeus pun banyak di kutip.

Cuman sayangnya, karena terlalu sering menggunakan bahasa yang tidak familiar, untuk bahasan-bahasan tertentu yang seharusnya mengasyikan malah jadi terkesan membosankan dan cenderung bikin ngantuk. hehe, ..

[S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was, undoubtedly, one of the best books I have ever read. It is so rich of historical details related to the evolution of science in Islam, even some insights on such science in Christianity or any other religion, and demonstrating each time the added value by the Muslim ulemas. SHN accompanied his study with excerpts and translations of the major works of some of the eminent scientists and scholars in Islam, and their very detailed biographies. Starting with the educational systems through the history of the Muslim civilization and its peculiarities, to mathematics, astronomy, medicine, alchemy, philosophy, theology…, in parallel to a thorough study of the symbolism of each discipline and its importance for the Muslim civilization. SHN tried to explain how each science is perceived in Islam based on sacred texts, and doctrines. The chapter Science of Man, is by far the most interesting one ( and the one about alchemy is right after it :D ), because it was first discovered by Muslim scholars such as Al Kindi ( who was the first to go to India and try to understand their religious views and values ), not to neglect Ibn Khaldun’s precious contribution ( Prolegomena ) to this science.
I ran out of bookmarks after reading this book :p
This is definitely a must-read!

[Agustus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pertama, buku ini dalam bentuknya yang deskriptif introduktif terhadap berbagai cabang2 keilmuan dyang dikembangkan para pakar muslim masa lampau, perlu dilihat sebagai ekstensi atau perpanjangan dari gagasan utama professor Nasr mengenai Sains Sakral. Salah satu karya pertama beliau yang membahas mengenai Sains Sakral adl Knowlege and The Sacred, kuliah2 beliau di Gifford Lectures. Dalam karya ini, beliau bermaksud utk melegitimasi klaimnya bahwa dalam khazanah tradisional, sains yang dirintis dan dikembangkan para pakar tradisionalis tak pernah benar2 terpisah, selalu bertaut dengan metafisika sakral. Dan kl sdh menangkap garis besar gagasan besar beliau soal Sains Sakral, bagian2 buku ini terbaca dg begitu "hidup" ketimbang membacanya ketika belum mengenali gagasan beliau mengenai Sains Sakral dalam khazanah alam fikir tradisionalis, yg mjdkan Tuhan, theos, sbg episentrum utama dari seluruh Sains yang didalami dan dikembangkan.

Kedua, buku ini bersifat rujukan ensiklopedis-akademis. Sehingga karya ini tdk sepenuhnya bisa begitu saja "dinikmati" dg membaca teratur dari awal hingga akhir oleh pembaca umum. Buku ini lebih kepada semacam buku rujukan induk yg mjd landasan argumentatif berkenaan dg terapan Sains Sakral dlm berbagai bidang keilmuan, baik natural-empiris maupun sosial humaniora. Akan tetapi tentu saja krn kekuatan rujukan akademis dan kepiawaiannya dalam meracik narasi dr berbagai khazanah tradisional, para penikmat bacaan serius masih mungkin utk bisa menikmatinya dg membaca scr runtut dr awal hingga akhir. Sekali lagi terutama jika sejak awal pembaca sdh punya gambaran mengenai karya ini sbg perpanjangan gagasan prof Nasr mengenai Sains Sakral dlm terapannya di berbagai bidang keilmuan. Sekian review

[Dewi Nufus · Rating 5 out of 5]

alhamdulillah, having read this book, i do believe in my faith Islam. Islam has the treasure of knowledge, spiritual needs, & the greatest civilization. what exactly happen (the Phenomenon and evidences) is they are burried by some people who dont like Islam. Islam and its pearls of 'ilm (the fundamental knowledge and science inside them) has been guarded by Allah Ta'ala.

[Khan Hammaad · Rating 5 out of 5]

The aims determine the methods.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an informative yet aggravating book, and I had a hard time deciding how to rate it. Seyyed Hossein Nasr is a very knowledgeable man with what I consider to be some bizarre views, and here he is constantly at work to force said views upon the reader. I found the size and scope of the book to be ideal, and the balance between analysis and translations of primary texts was perfect (although his selection criteria occasionally baffled me). This is a good text to read along with another (hopefully more sane) introduction to Islamicate science, or one could use the bibliography as a helpful jumping off point: the references are dated but helpful.

[Tom Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh my god, but was this book dry and boring. Maybe I wasn't reading it for the right reasons, or appreciating it for what it was. But 90% of it consisted of "Man named X made contributions in Y and Z, wrote W." The parts I was really interested in were how the philosophy behind Islamic science differed from western science, and why. And there was some of that in there, but in order to get to it one has to stumble through a mire of dry, uninspired litany of men and their publication records. In the end, I couldn't even finish the book I was so frustrated with it.

[Marya · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai lu le livre en français en 2012 et je l'ai relu encore ce mois et tellement je suis émerveillée par le contenu et les informations qu'il contient, je compte le lire encore une fois en Anglais ! C'était pour moi une lecture spirituelle plus que historique !! Je pense que ce livre doit être enseigné dans les écoles !