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[scourge728]

you know, people (especially history teachers) like to say that the Islamic empire was so advanced for using paper when Europe didn't, bu I'm pretty sure it was mostly because the inventor of paper (China) was right near them...

[Tawa]

a) Which one? There were lots of Islamic empires. Off the top of my head: the Rashidun caliphate, the Umayyad caliphate, the Abbasid caliphate, the Seljuk empire, the il-Khanate, the empire of Timur, the Ottoman empire, the Safavid empire. The Abbasid caliphate was the first of these to have modern wood paper.
b) Paper, in my experience, is rarely mentioned as of the many, many, many technological innovations possessed or developed by the Islamic world in the medieval period. They invented algebra, made strides in astronomy, physics, and healthcare, and had the Baghdad House of Wisdom, one of the largest and most important libraries in history.

[Dunamisdeos]

Yeah I mean didn't Egypt have papyrus? It may not have been paper but it served the same purpose, just made out of different stuff.

I always heard of Arabic cultures emphasized making strides in mathematics and astronomy.

[ChairmanPoo]

What I've hears is that the Golden Age of Islam was closely linked to taking over Hellenic cultural centers eg Alexandria

[scourge728]

All I know is when someone uses paper as an example of the Golden Age of Islam era empire being smarter and better at science I'm just thinking "Seriously, there are dozens of valid data points for that, and you pick the thing they DIDN'T invent...."

[bloop_bleep]

I'm not that avid a student of history, but algebra existed LONG before the medieval period.

[redwallzyl]

I'm not that avid a student of history, but algebra existed LONG before the medieval period.

Well a lot of things existed before they became part of the general knowledge. Being the one guy doing something its great but until its ingrained into the society its not super helpful.

[Dunamisdeos]

I believe they were the first to invent/make widespread written use of single characters as representations of variables? Ergo, before that there was no x= y+1, it was a thing is equal to another object but one more. Other cultures has lots of longhanded ways of doing it, and it wasn't really "perfected" until then.

I also am no expert. I am probably less of an expert.

[Wysthric]

I just realized today that I am, essentially, suffering from crippling loneliness.

[bloop_bleep]

I believe they were the first to invent/make widespread written use of single characters as representations of variables? Ergo, before that there was no x= y+1, it was a thing is equal to another object but one more. Other cultures has lots of longhanded ways of doing it, and it wasn't really "perfected" until then.

I also am no expert. I am probably less of an expert.

Yes, that's what I thought -- the modern notation was developed much later, but it would be misleading to say that algebra itself was invented in the middle ages, given that solving quadratic equations (or their geometric representations) was known since at least 300 BC.

[scriver]

What I've hears is that the Golden Age of Islam was closely linked to taking over Hellenic cultural centers eg Alexandria

Or Persian. I can't remember off-hand but I think Baghdad was founded by the Abbadids though.

I'm not that avid a student of history, but algebra existed LONG before the medieval period.

Well a lot of things existed before they became part of the general knowledge. Being the one guy doing something its great but until its ingrained into the society its not super helpful.

A lot of the things the Arabic world are given credit for was in reality just thing they helped spread from the source to, and make common/known in, Europe. See "Arabic" numericals, for example, actually from India. And Alcohol, as we all know, was actually invented in Scotland.

[ChairmanPoo]

Everyone knows that Bagdagh was founded by Aladdin and Sinbad the Sailor (before they split due to creative differences)

[TamerVirus]

Aladdin went on to build a short lived casino in Vegas, while Sinbad became a comedian

[hector13]

Aladdin was Chinese though. Technically.

[Kagus]

What I've hears is that the Golden Age of Islam was closely linked to taking over Hellenic cultural centers eg Alexandria

Or Persian. I can't remember off-hand but I think Baghdad was founded by the Abbadids though.

Yeah, the version of the story that I'd read was that the ancient Persians were the ones who collected and worked on most of the science and worldly observations, and when their old holdings and libraries were conquered by a Muslim lord, he ordered all the texts translated to Arabic so that he'd be able to tell which ones were heretical and needed to be burned.

Several hundred years later, when they were finally finished translating and copying it all, the conqueror was long since dead and forgotten and the Arabic world had turned into the bustling center of trade and information that eventually got sacked during the crusades. And now they had centuries of advanced thinking and knowledge collected during Persia's far-reaching affairs suddenly at their fingertips, allowing the more erudite members of the merchant and noble classes to educate themselves and build upon the principles they found therein. And then, thanks to the commercial and religious networks of the Holy Land, their findings got plenty of exposure and became renowned.

So, it's a combination. They didn't think it all up on their own from scratch, nor did they just steal or claim credit for something. They got a powerful groundwork handed to them, and then were able to build upon it significantly thanks to the economic and cultural situation of their geographical location.

As to whether or not that's the real story, I have no idea. That's just the take on it that I was exposed to, and it made enough sense to me at the time.