Science and culture. Western science could learn a thing or two from the way science is done in other cultures

Abstract

Western science could learn a thing or two from the way science is done in other cultures

This globe, based on a world map from the early ninth century, was commissioned by Calif al-Ma'mûn in Baghdad. Image courtesy of Fuat Sezgin, Institute for the History of Arab–Islamic Sciences, University of Frankfurt, Germany.

Replica of an astrolab built in 984 AD by the great Persian astronomer and mathematician al-Khujandî. The original is displayed in the National Museum of Qatar. Image courtesy of Fuat Sezgin, Institute for the History of Arab–Islamic Sciences, University of Frankfurt, Germany.

This extremely exact 'Balance of Wisdom' was built at the Institute for the History of Arab–Islamic Sciences according to the description by Abdarrahmânal-Khâzinî from Khorasan in Northeast Persia, who perfected and described it in the first half of the twelfth century. Image courtesy of Fuat Sezgin, Institute for the History of Arab–Islamic Sciences, University of Frankfurt, Germany.

Apparatus for distilling rose water. Replica built by the Institute for the History of Arab–Islamic Sciences, according to a description by the physician az-Zahrâwî from the late tenth century in Muslim Spain. Image courtesy of Fuat Sezgin, Institute for the History of Arab–Islamic Sciences, University of Frankfurt, Germany.