Quote:Again, this is something totally unique to the muslim world, and absolutely never would have happened in "non-science-stifling" societies.
Not unique, but apparently common.
Quote:Who? Where? Show me.
Sorry not sure where I read that. This is what I found in the wikipedia article on Hayyan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C4%81bir_ibn_Hayy%C4%81n
In total, nearly 3,000 treatises and articles are credited to Jabir ibn Hayyan.[19] Following the pioneering work of Paul Kraus, who demonstrated that a corpus of some several hundred works ascribed to Jabir were probably a medley from different hands,[10][20] mostly dating to the late 9th and early 10th centuries, many scholars believe that many of these works consist of commentaries and additions by his followers,[citation needed] particularly of an Ismaili persuasion.[21] Quote:I asked for a scientific consensus disputing the idea that islamic science had a significant influence on modern science.
Isn't this like asking for a mathematical proof of God's existence? You have a strange habit of setting the bar absurdly high for anyone who disagrees with you, and doing the opposite for yourself.
Quote:But you won't find one, because none exists.
Of course it does not exist. Now for the difficult question: what does that mean?
Quote:But of course there is no real debate about the contribution of the likes of Al Haytham in contributing the knowledge we now have of optics, as well as developing the scientific method
Except of course on the wikipedia page about him:
G. J. Toomer expressed some skepticism regarding Schramm's view, arguing that caution is needed to avoid reading anachronistically particular passages in Alhazen's very large body of work Quote:Everyone except Freediver acknowledges these great contributions. I wonder why you never want to talk about these guys.
What do you think we have been doing Gandalf? Chatting about the weather?
Quote:Much more fun to nitpick the obscurities rather than to acknowledge the big picture I guess Undecided
The big picture is that Islam contributed very little to science, despite the otherwise fertile environment it created. I am not surprised that the two examples you now focus on are of scientists who were placed under house arrest by the all powerful caliph. Ironically enough this house arrest is credited with enabling some of the work. In addition to this, there is a lot of evidence that a lot of what is attribued to him actually came from several other people.
Quote:I must be. Please bear with me and remind me again - how does the existence of the greatest cultural and learning centres the world had ever seen equate to "stifling" science?
This is one of the great ironies.
Quote:I really hope I don't miss this again, because it will be most interesting to solve this seeming paradox.
I never missed it. In fact I raised it. You must have missed that.
Quote:Who says its not possible? Another imaginary scientific "consensus" is it? I'm calling bullshit on that one.
Can you give a single example of someone achieving flight by attaching wings to their arms? Have you seen how large a hang glider is? Think about it.
Quote:I guess I have. But you keep concentrating on these little details FD, don't you worry yourself with the important things like the consensus regarding islam's contribution to modern science.
What consensus? The 'scientific' consensus you were demanding of me?
Quote:No, I have shown you all the sources that clearly state his flight was successful.
You also claimed that you made up the bit about the hang glider, even though this little fantasy is all over the internet. You have never maintained a consistent and coherent story on what he invented and what he achieved. Of course, no one would expect you to given that the only evidence over a period of 7 centuries is the one line reference to a phoenix in a poem from a guy who liked to mock him. Muslims could invent any story they wanted to around that. They did. They invented many stories. You seem happy to pick and choose which one is most convenient to you, while demanding the highest standards of anyone who disagrees with you.
Quote:The idea that he jumped off a roof and fell straight to the ground is entirely your invention
No Gandalf, I do not take credit for the fabrications of other people. There are all sorts of stories about what actually happened. That is because there is no real evidence for what happened.