The Appreciation of Arabic Science and Technology in the Middle
Ages Prof. Charles Burnett* | ||Figure 1. Prof. Charles Burnett
during his speech in 1001 Inventions Conference.| The article is
originally a talk presented at the international conference 1001
Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in our World held at
the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester on the 8th of
March 2006, on the occasion of the launch of the exhibition 1001
inventions. The conference proceedings are edited by Dr. Salim
Ayduz and Dr. Saleema Kauser. I would like to start with a
passage written by an Englishman in the early 12th century, in
his introduction to a rather popular book on natural science
(the 12th-century equivalent of cosmology, physics, human and
animal biology, botany and psychology all rolled into one). This
author, Adelard of Bath, was brought up at a time when young
noblemen and otherwise talented youngsters received their first
education from private tutors, or in schools attached to the
cathedrals in Eng