Quote:wrong and wrong. We do know what it was (if we are going to believe the account of William of Malmesbury - which I don't see anyone disputing) - and it absolutely does appear to be the same mechanism - which according to the secondary sources for both men - was attaching wings to the arms and feet.
Are you aware of anyone, ever, being able to fly with this method?
Quote:But why would we accept one story based on its secondary source, but not the other?
I accept them for what they are. It was you who attempted to claim that Firnas invented a hang glider.
Quote:Its quite a luxury to get, in Firnas's case, both primary and multiple secondary sources corroborating the same story.
Except that the primary source doesn't actually say anything. You harp on about primary and secondary sources, but completely ignore the elephant in the room. The only thing the 'primary' source proves is that the guy existed.
Quote:I don't see a huge islamic propaganda machine making up stories about Firnas either. The "hang glider" error came from me, and me alone.
So you made the same error that swamps the google results when you google 'Firnas hang Glider'?
Quote:Not that thats the great "gotcha" you are making it out to be though - fact is it was a glider (by all accounts)
Except of course the 'primary source' which only talks about vulture feathers and phoenixs.
Quote:and to all intents and purposes was basically the forerunner to the hang glider
Quote:But as for the "propaganda" muslims will correctly proclaim Ibn Firnas's flight story as the first documented evidence of a successful flight.
So because it is written, it must be true?
Quote:He "tops" the list, because it is in chronological order, not order of importance.
Can you suggest a Muslim scientist who you think deserves to be on the top 100 list?
Quote:And you are selective. The historians I quoted in my last post aren't questioning his contributions.
So because someone else wrote it, it must be true?
Quote:ok - shall I go with a physicist?, astronomer? Chemist? Psychologist? And then you can explain to me how "greatest" in that field trumps the "greatest" in any of the other fields.
I would go with a physicist or chemist.
Quote:Thats how idiotic your idea of "who's the 'greatest' scientist" is. It is meaningless, because as I keep trying to say, great scientists in different fields are incomparable
It is easy to compare them. That is why Einstein and Newton for example are regarded as some of the greatest scientists in History, whereas we have never even heard of these Muslim scientists and would not have been talking about them if not for Muslims propping up midgets.
Quote:and ultimately such a ranking will be purely subjective
I am not asking you for a quantitative measure.
Quote:How would you, for example, compare Einstein against Freud, or Newton against Darwin? You can't.
They were all great scientists. I would put Einstein first. This is of course subjective. If you come up with who you think is the greatest Muslim scientist of all time, I will do another comparison for you.
Quote:The best you can do is say they were all great, and should be mentioned as such
Why are you afraid to suggest who you think is the greatest Muslim scientist of all time? These scientists on the list you provide are rpetty much unkown, and deservedly so.
Quote:As for islamic science, there are many obvious contenders to include amongst "the greatest": al Haytham (as previously mentioned)
A man who was kept under house arrest by the Caliph after he was summoned to complete a hairbrained scheme, and who then felt the need to pretend to be insane to protect himself from Muslims? Do you really think this is a good counterargument against Islam stifling basic science?