Sociology Research Seminar Abstracts
How the Arabs Invented the West
Jonathan Lyons
UNESCO PROSEMINAR
Synopsis:
The sudden arrival in the Christian West of Arab science and philosophy transmuted the backward West into a technological superpower. Like the elusive "elixir" – from al-aksir of the Arab alchemists – for changing lead into gold, Muslim science altered Europe beyond recognition. Suddenly, the eyes of Christendom opened to the world around it. It even regained the lost art of telling time. Without control over clock and calendar, the rational organization of society had been unthinkable. And so was the development of science and industry, as well as the liberation of man from the thrall of nature. Muslim science rescued the Christians from ignorance; without it, the very idea of the West would have been impossible.
Yet, today, the dominant narrative sees Islam and the Muslim world very much at odds with Western notions of "progress," "modernity", and "science." Drawing on research from his forthcoming new book, House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Invented the West (Bloomsbury), Jonathan seeks to restore the Arabs, rightful place in the history of Western science, philosophy, and theology. In doing so, he casts doubt on the notion of inevitable civilisational clash and proposes that we shift the problem of Islam and the West from the traditional view of inter-cultural rivalry to one of intra-cultural contest.
Jonathan Lyons is a researcher at the Global Terrorism Research Center and a PhD candidate in sociology. He is also co-author, with Geneive Abdo, of Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in 21st-Century Iran (New York: Henry Holt 2002). Before coming to Monash, Jonathan spent more than 20 years as a correspondent and editor at Reuters, with posts in Moscow, New York, Ankara, Istanbul, Tehran, Washington, and Jakarta.