Themes are intended to provide in-depth coverage of certain
topics, using selected items in the World Digital Library. These sections
provide historical and cultural context and explain the connections between
books, manuscripts, maps, and other documents that may be from different places
and time periods but that all relate to a single topic. Themes are intended for
use in schools and by the general public. Arabic and Islamic
Science and Its Influence on the Western Scientific Tradition illuminates the achievements
of the Arab and Islamic world in four areas―mathematics, astronomy, medicine,
and technology―and discusses the influence on the Western scientific tradition
of Arabic and Islamic achievements in these fields. The narrative of this
section was written by Dr. George Saliba, Professor of the History of Islamic
Science, Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies,
Columbia University, New York, while he was a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at
the John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress. The items used to illustrate the
narrative were contributed by WDL partners and were chosen by the WDL staff at
the Library of Congress. Development of this section was made possible by the
financial support of the Qatar National Library.
