The Islamic world from the
9th to the 13th centuries was
the pre-eminant civilization of
its time. Science, Art and
Philosophy flourished in what
has been called a Golden Age,
whilst much of Europe was
relatively backward. It is
actually through Arabic texts
transcribed in this period that
much of our knowledge of
Ancient Greek wisdom
survives. Thinkers such as
Ibn Seena (Avicenna) were
looking back to Greek original
texts and creating new works
of their own. Avicenna's
Canon of Medicine is
one of
the most significant works in
medical history and was used
in European universities until
at least 1650!
