For centuries following the fall of Rome, Western Europe was backward and benighted, locked into the Dark Ages and barely able to tell the time of day. Augustine had decreed that belief, not reason, should be the guiding light of Christian thinking and partially as a result Europeans lived in a world of nominal literacy and subsistence farming, where blind faith, superstition and sorcery took the place of medicine, and the church harnessed nascent aggression among the kingdoms to its own ends in the pursuit of ...
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For centuries following the fall of Rome, Western Europe was backward and benighted, locked into the Dark Ages and barely able to tell the time of day. Augustine had decreed that belief, not reason, should be the guiding light of Christian thinking and partially as a result Europeans lived in a world of nominal literacy and subsistence farming, where blind faith, superstition and sorcery took the place of medicine, and the church harnessed nascent aggression among the kingdoms to its own ends in the pursuit of astonishingly violent and cruel holy wars - the Crusades. Arab culture, however, was thriving, and had become a powerhouse of intellectual exploration and discussion that dazzled the likes of Adelard of Bath who ventured to the Near East in search of the scientific riches pouring out of cities like Antioch or Baghdad, whose House of Wisdom held four hundred thousand books at a time when the best European libraries housed, at most, several dozen. The Arabs could measure the earth's circumference, a feat not matched in the West for eight hundred years; they discovered algebra; were adept at astronomy and navigation, developed the astrolabe, translated all the Greek scientific and philosophical texts including, importantly, those of Aristotle; they made paper lenses and mirrors. Without them, and the knowledge that travellers like Adelard brought back to the West, Europe would in all likelihood have been a very different place over the last millennium. In this fascinating and thoughtful book Jonathan Lyons restores credit to the Arab thinkers of the past, explores and reveals the extent of their learning and describes the intrepid adventures of those who went in search of it and who, in doing so, laid the foundations of what we now call the Renaissance.
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Add this copy of The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western to cart. $3.51, good condition, Sold by Goodwill Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hillsboro, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing.
Add this copy of The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western to cart. $3.51, good condition, Sold by GoodwillVSB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Oxnard, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing.
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Good. The book is nice and 100% readable, but the book has visible wear which may include stains, scuffs, scratches, folded edges, sticker glue, torn on front page, highlighting, notes, and worn corners.
Add this copy of The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western to cart. $3.51, good condition, Sold by Books From California rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Simi Valley, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Bloomsbury Press.
Add this copy of The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western to cart. $4.50, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Bloomsbury Press.
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Add this copy of The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western to cart. $4.99, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing.
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Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
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Good. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 272 p. May show signs of wear, highlighting, writing, and previous use. This item may be a former library book with typical markings. No guarantee on products that contain supplements Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. Twenty-five year bookseller with shipments to over fifty million happy customers.
Add this copy of The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western to cart. $7.95, very good condition, Sold by Patrico Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Apollo Beach, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing.
This is one of two books of the same title on the same subject. It is slightly the older, and is less scholarly and detailed, but it is more easily read. I am not an expert in this field and cannot compare the two critically. It would be interesting to read a critical comparison, This one is worthwhile reading and is not as expensive as the newer.
