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A Golden Age of Harmony? Misrepresenting Science and History in the 1001 Inventions Exhibit

Its intentions may be good, but a major new exhibit disregards serious differences between medieval and modern science and warps history to serve a present-day agenda of perfect harmony between science and Islam.

TANER EDIS AND SONJA BRENTJES

isitors to The National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC, between August 2012 and Febru- Vary 2013 will encounter a touring exhibition called 1001 Inventions: Discover the Golden Age of Muslim Civi- lization. The exhibit is impressive and has won various awards and gathered endorsements from figures such as Charles, the Prince of Wales. The exhibit and accompa- nying catalog and website (www.1001inventions.com) are lavishly illustrated and richly produced. With past appear- ances in London’s Science Museum, Istanbul, the New York Hall of Science, Abu Dhabi, and the California Sci- ence Center in Los Angeles, 1001 Inventions tells a story of how, between the seventh and seventeenth centuries, Muslim scientists made groundbreaking discoveries that eventually shaped the modern world.

According to the exhibit and catalog tinued earlier scholarly projects they But 1001 Inventions is a missed oppor- (Al-Hassani 2012), Muslims laid the often revolutionized their treatment. tunity to raise awareness about the his- foundations of modern science and Much of this story, however, is not tory of science. The exhibit presents a technology. Great Muslims of the accurate. Certainly, it does not hurt to series of heroic tales of medieval Mus- past—mathematicians, astronomers, be aware that modern science and tech- lim discoveries from out of nowhere, chemists, physicians, architects, engi- nology did not appear out of the blue with no context, and with a disregard neers, economists, sociologists, artists, in Western Europe, and that scholars in for accuracy that shades into pure fic- artisans, and educators—expressed their medieval Muslim societies did not tion. The term “Golden Age” is occa- religiosity through beneficial contribu- merely preserve and transmit the sionally used by historians of science to tions to society and humanity. They knowledge of antiquity. There were describe the vibrant intellectual life in were the first to discover or invent much times when the richest intellectual life a number of predominantly Muslim so- in the sciences, technologies, industries, on the planet was to be found in places cieties between the eighth and four- and daily life; and when Muslims con- where Islam was the dominant religion. teenth centuries. The exhibit 1001 In-

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ventions, however, draws on a more feathers, no less—is based mainly on a omers, bureaucrats, and architects long popular, mythic conception of a Golden few sentences in a Moroc can chronicle before Ibn al-Haytham analyzed the Age. It disregards serious differences from seven hundred years later. 1001 working principles of the camera obscura, between medieval and modern science Inventions also endorses and expands wrote about it, and described some of its and warps history to serve a present- on the similar Turkish legend of properties: not only Aristotle or Theon day agenda of perfect harmony between Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi, who allegedly of Alexandria, but allegedly also MoTzi science and Islam. It promotes serious used eagle feathers to fly over Istanbul in fifth-century BCE China, Anthemius misunderstandings of science and his- in the seventeenth century, according to of Tralles, or al-Kindi. Ibn al-Haytham tory. another few sentences by a chronicler. did not invent the device nor did he de- Egregious mistakes and disregard (A small airport in Istanbul is named velop it to any higher level of complexity for professional standards are very com- after Hezarfen.) The sparseness of the or accuracy. Ibn al-Haytham’s main con- mon throughout the exhibit catalog. A historical evidence for these feats is ev- tributions consisted of the theoretical in- few examples give the flavor. ident even with a simple Wikipedia terpretation of what he saw and in the Flight. 1001 Inventions portrays the check, and at face value, flight with systematic character of some of his ex- ninth-century Andalusian Ibn Firnas as muscle-powered wings is physically im- periments. The catalog says Ibn al- the first person to build a flying ma- possible. And yet, 1001 Inventions not Haytham was “the first to totally reject chine. The catalog goes on for many only endorses notoriously unreliable ac- the theory of the Greeks.” However, his pages, describing his success at flight, counts but indulges in lengthy and theory of vision combines concepts, his design improvements, an injury he purely fictional elaborations. methods, and questions from ancient sustained in a flight attempt, and so Optics. A section on “Vision and Greek philosophy, optics, and mathe- forth (pp. 296–98). It gives artistic im- Cameras” highlights Ibn al-Haytham in matics, which he critically sorted, taking pressions of Ibn Firnas strapped with the tenth century and the first half of important concepts like the Aristotelian what looks like a frame resembling bird the eleventh. Indeed, Ibn al-Haytham’s form or the Euclidean geometrical ray or bat wings. The legend of Ibn Firnas’s work is recognizably in the tradition of aboard his new theory, as well as flight is popular among many Muslims what became physics in today’s sense, Ptolemy’s experiments on reflection and today; there is an airport north of and it should be better known. But 1001 Euclidean geometry. Baghdad named after him. And yet, Inventions presents his optics in a vac- The misplaced emphasis of 1001 In- this claim of successful powered uum. Its major illustration is the camera ventions on “the first inventor or discov- flight—with wings made out of eagle obscura, but other philosophers, astron- erer” leads the catalog to declare that

A scale model of al-Jazari’s elephant clock (left). Despite the exhibit’s claims, the clock was not the “frst robotics with moving, time-telling features. The supposed ninth-century fight of Ibn Firnas, pictured in an artist’s impression (right), would have been actually impossible.

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the “ninth-century polymath al-Kindi sophical debates about how we see, de- Clocks. The section on clocks fea- first laid down the foundations of mod- bates that were clearly anchored in the tures al-Jazari, who “was a pious Mus- ern day optics by questioning the Greek intellectual and instrumental contexts lim and highly skilled engineer who gave theories of vision. He said that how we of Late Antiquity (Adamson 2006, birth to the concept of automatic ma- see, our visual cone, is not formed of 213-4). The almost complete erasure of chines.” Whether he was a pious Mus- discrete rays as Euclid had said, but ap- such ancient contexts as well as the lim is as unknown as almost everything peared as a volume, in three dimen- contexts of Muslim scholars themselves else about him, except for his works, ex- sions, of continuous radiation” (p. 54). makes it impossible to understand the tant in manuscripts, and possibly a few Peter Adamson has studied some of the achievements of those scholars, their new material objects like clocks. Reading his modifications of the texts known as contributions, and their conceptual pe- work on ingenious mechanical devices teaches us, however, that al-Jazari did not see himself as the birth giver of au- Al-Jazari’s so-called “elephant clock” was not tomatic machines or their conceptual- ization or as an engineer, but as the head “the first robotics with moving time-telling figures.” of what perhaps signifies constructions Reports about analogous automata are well attested (ra’s al-‘amal), as which he was appar- for pre-Islamic cultures. ently highly appreciated. Al-Jazari’s so-called “elephant clock” was not “the first robotics with moving time-telling figures.” Reports about analogous automata are well attested Euclid’s Optics and those derived from culiarities, limitations, and errors. Claims for pre-Islamic cultures. It is highly un- them in Arabic and Latin. He places al- of al-Kindi laying the foundations of likely that al-Jazari’s clock “celebrated Kindi in the tradition of the Pseudo- modern-day optics are gross exaggera- the diversity of human kind” (p. 44; in Euclidian De Speculis and Johannes tions resulting from a lack of knowledge the second edition, this claim had a Philoponus (sixth century) who are about ancient Greek and medieval Ara- stronger religious connotation, ascrib- among the many mostly anonymous bic as well as Latin texts on optics and ing to al-Jazari the intention “to cele- teachers and students who modified the differences between these theories brate the diversity of mankind and the older positions in the light of philo- and today’s geometrical optics. universal nature of Islam”). These were

A map drawn in the twelfth century by al-Idrisi on display at the 1000 Inventions exhibit.

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not concerns of his time and culture, for sities at the time, madrasas as institu- for much of modernity. The exhibit is which the diversity of humankind and tions teaching some parts of mathemat- blind to differences between today’s sci- its celebration are completely anachro- ics and astronomy are later creations ence and its medieval precursors, and nistic ideas. Historical chronicles of the only vaguely similar to universities. In sets up its myth of a Golden Age pre- period aggressively stand against those general, there were no primary-level cisely in order to overcome present cul- that are diverse—those that deviate mosque schools in all Islamic societies tural difficulties involving science. Nat- from the writers’ own beliefs and cul- that provided basic education to all urally, the exhibit presses many tural affiliations. 1001 Inventions de- boys. There were a limited number of elements of popular Muslim apologet- fends the idea that al-Jazari celebrated such schools that usually had one teacher ics into service, such as the common humankind’s diversity by pointing to and a patron. The situation differed from notion that historical tensions between the various animals decorating the city to city, town to town, village to vil- science and religion are artifacts of the clock. This interpretation ignores the lage, or even quarter to quarter. Identify- Western Christian experience that do difficulties that art historians have in ing the direct precursors of today’s re- not apply to Islam (Aydın 2000, 86). To identifying the origins of the forms and search and educational institutions in further this view, 1001 Inventions pres- figures. Caution is needed to find prob- medieval Muslim societies is the work of ents an absurd picture of science— able meanings of symbols at a concrete ideology, not scholarship. equated to modern science—taught in place and in a specific time. These gross errors are just a sam- medieval mosques, in an environment ple—similar problems repeatedly show of complete harmony between revealed up throughout the exhibition catalog. religion and knowledge about nature: Such errors are not attributable to the There was little distinction between Identifying the direct inevitable simplifications necessary to religion and knowledge as the present complex historical matters to mosque was both the place of prayer precursors of today’s the general public, including school- and the place of learning. Subjects research and educational children. Curators are typically experts included science, so science and reli- themselves and also work closely with gion sat side by side comfortably, institutions in medieval which was not the case in other parts other academic experts to produce ex- of the world. (Al-Hassani 2012, 64) Muslim societies is the hibits that are both accurate and acces- work of ideology, sible while paying attention to appro- Such an apologetic agenda is not priate contexts. 1001 Inventions claims just an innocent device to boost the not scholarship. to have relied upon reputable academic confidence of Muslim students. Myths resources, and includes some notable of a Golden Age and a frictionless har- historians of science in its list of con- mony between Islam and science are sultants. Nonetheless, the result is still major aspects of today’s popular Mus- a mass of distortions that serve a pres- lim conceptions of science—and these Education. The chapter on “school” ent-day agenda. myths are closely connected to the ex- begins with two fundamentally wrong Indeed, the agenda behind 1001 In- tensive and popular religiously colored claims in its introductory summary (p. ventions is explicit—to boost respect pseudoscientific beliefs found in Mus- 63), namely that: (1) “the medieval Mus- for a Muslim civilizational heritage, lim populations (Edis 2007). Perhaps lims excelled in learning, from the pri- and to prevent Muslims, especially beliefs such as a Golden Age of har- mary-level mosque schools through to young Muslims, from feeling as if they mony between science and religion may universities and the illustrious House of are outsiders to modern scientific and make science less alien to Muslim stu- Wisdom, an intellectual academy in technological enterprises. These are le- dents, overcoming culturally defensive ninth-century Baghdad”; and (2) “the gitimate aims. It is also legitimate to attitudes. There is no good evidence to ethos of learning was a culture where en- oppose Eurocentric conceptions of his- this effect. However, there is plenty to quiring minds searched for truth based tory, which, though not very influential indicate that when traditional beliefs on scientific rigour and experimentation, among the present generation of schol- such as a divine design in nature con- where opinion and speculation were cast ars, may still have some effect on pop- front naturalistic scientific theories out as unworthy pupils. This system of ular views of science and the history of such as Darwinian evolution, the no- learning embodied by medieval Islam science. tion of harmony shields traditional be- formed the backbone and foundation But 1001 Inventions pursues these liefs from criticism. Both in terms of from which came forth the exceptional legitimate aims by setting up a crude public support and penetration into inventions and discoveries.” counter-myth. In its version of history, public education systems, the strongest, Not a single word in these two sen- a heroic, conventionally devout set of most successful versions of creationism tences can be backed by medieval Muslims act as civilizing agents for the today are rooted in Islamic apologetics sources. Not only were there no univer- rest of the world, laying the foundations (Edis 2007; Hameed 2008).

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The myth of a Golden Age is un- methods, or devices named in the book improve the present contributions of derstandable, maybe even predictable. and the exhibit were conceived of by Muslim populations to science and After all, after the Industrial Revolu- their medieval authors or producers dif- technology. tion, many societies confronted the ferently, or that disciplines like physics, 1001 Inventions misrepresents sci- suddenly overwhelming military and biology, and chemistry did not exist yet, ence and the history of science. It is es- commercial advantage enjoyed by but came into being much later and in pecially unfortunate that the exhibit is Euro pean empires. This advantage was other contexts. By selectively presenting being hosted by the National Geo - clearly based on science and technology. only what they believe can be linked to graphic Museum, given the influence Therefore the cultural elites of many modern knowledge, those responsible National Geographic has in populariz- suddenly subordinated societies were for the exhibit misrepresent a medieval ing science in the United States. By un- motivated to appropriate science for intellectual environment where astrol- critically presenting a myth of a Golden themselves. Buddhists and Hindus, as ogy or various medical superstitions Age of harmony, they are performing a well as Muslims, looked to their own were as re spectable as innovations in serious disservice to the public under- n pre-modern traditions for traces of sci- standing of science and history. ence. They sometimes claimed that References they had set the stage for modern sci- ence, always asserting harmony be- Adamson, P. 2006. Vision, light, and color in al- Kindī, Ptolemy and the ancient commenta- tween true science and religion—often The exhibit is blind to tors. Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 16: 207–36. leading to difficulties with evolution by Al-Hassani, S.T.S. (ed.). 2012. 1001 Inventions. natural selection (Lopez 2008; Brown differences between The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization. 3rd Edition, Washington, DC: National Ge- 2012). Chinese and Japanese elites, like today’s science and its ographic. many Muslims, decided to adopt mod- Aydın, M.S. 2000. İslâmın Evrenselliği, İstanbul: ern technology but also to guard against medieval precursors, Ufuk Kitapları. Brown, C.M. 2012. Hindu Perspectives on Evolu- those aspects of Western thinking that and sets up its myth of tion: Darwin, Dharma, and Design. New York: might corrupt spiritual and moral be- a Golden Age precisely Routledge. liefs (Buruma and Margalit 2004). Re- Buruma, I., and A. Margolit. 2004. Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies. New York: cently, the United States had an episode in order to overcome The Penguin Press. of “Afrocentric” pseudoscience, at- present cultural difficul- Edis, T. 2007. An Illusion of Harmony: Science and tributing the foundations of modern Religion in Islam. Amherst, New York: Pro - me theus Books. science to Africans and promoting a ties involving science. Hameed, S. 2008. Bracing for Islamic Crea - distorted view of science in harmony tionism. Science 322: 1637–38. Lopez Jr., D.S. 2008. Buddhism and Science: A with spiritual and paranormal beliefs Guide for the Perplexed. Chicago: University (Ortiz de Montellano 1991; 1992). of Chicago Press. One of the motivations ex pressed for Ortiz de Montellano, B. 1991. Multicultural pseu- Afrocentrism was its alleged value for doscience: Spreading scientific illiteracy among minorities. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 16(1): 46–50. African American students who felt planetary models or medical theory. ———. 1992. Magic melanin: Spreading scien- culturally excluded from educational 1001 Inventions implies that medieval tific illiteracy among minorities. SKEPTICAL narratives about the advance ment of intellectual and material achievements INQUIRER 16(2): 163–66. science. are the same as the modern forms the Imagining a Golden Age of har- writers, editors, and curators gave them mony between science and Islam, how- when using modern labels, formulas, ever, is problematic beyond falsifica- materials, and visual identifications. Taner Edis is professor of tions or decontextualizations of history. This identification of medieval and physics at Truman State Uni- Perhaps its most important mistake is modern science has negative conse- versity and author of An Illu- sion of Harmony: Science and what 1001 Inventions exemplifies so quences. A Golden Age myth suggests Religion in Islam. well: overlooking the major differences that instead of adopting a significantly between medieval and modern science. different way of thinking about nature, 1001 Inventions translates medieval sci- Muslims need only to reinstate medieval ence and technology into the scientific conceptions of nature and medieval Sonja Brentjes is researcher and technological idiom of today, sug- habits of thought in order to become cre- at the Max Planck Institute gesting closeness, similarity, or even atively engaged in cutting-edge science for the History of Science, identity between medieval scientific re- and technology. That is exactly the Berlin, and author of Trav- sults and technological products and wrong thing to do. To the extent that a ellers from Europe in the Ot- today’s sciences and technologies. It Golden Age myth influences science toman and Safavid Empires, 16th–17th Centuries: Seek- does not warn readers and visitors that and education policy, it is likely to un- ing, Transforming, Discarding Knowledge. many of the disciplines, concepts, dermine rather than support efforts to

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