Prince Charles, Heir to the British Monarchy in a recent public speech at Oxford University stated:
"If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilisation owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straight-jacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and system of belief, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history."
When Europe was going through dark ages, in the Muslim world, the period from circa 600-1600 CE was a prolific era of creative enquiry into science, technology and engineering and a time of advancement in civilisation, which would later act as a catalyst for the Western Renaissance.
To learn more about Muslim contributions to Science please watch the following documentaries:
What the Ancients Did For Us - The Islamic World
[BBC Documentary: Running Time 57min]
http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=9151565736298805805
Ancient Discoveries: Machines of the East
[History Channel Documentary: Running Time 50min]
Part 1
http://www.tubeislam.com/video/4066/Ancient-Discoveries-Islamic-Science-Part1
Part 2
http://www.tubeislam.com/video/4067/Ancient-Discoveries-Islamic-Science-Part2
Part 3
http://www.tubeislam.com/video/4068/Ancient-Discoveries-Islamic-Science-Part3
Part 4
http://www.tubeislam.com/video/4069/Ancient-Discoveries-Islamic-Science-Part4
Part 5
http://www.tubeislam.com/video/4070/Ancient-Discoveries-Islamic-Science-Part5
For more documentaries please visit:
http://www.1001inventions.com/media/documentaries
If you would like more information on this subject then I would recommend visiting the following websites:
http://www.muslimheritage.com/Default.aspx
http://www.1001inventions.com/
http://www.islamicmedicine.org/history.htm
http://www.al-bab.com/arab/science.htm
http://www.answering-christianity.com/ac20.htm
http://www.twf.org/News/Y2006/0310-Exhibition.html
