Celestial Pen: The Rise of Scientific Culture in Medieval and Early Modern Islam

Presentation by Amin Tejpar

Date: Saturday December 6, 2008

Time: 2:00 p.m.

Location: Lower level, Noor Cultural Centre

Admission: $5

Between the 8^th and 16^th centuries, the Muslim world cultivated a pluralistic scientific culture that had enormous impact on several disciplines. Frameworks and methodologies for knowing the natural world were deliberated by Muslim, Christian, and Jewish philosophers and practitioners of science, some of whom sparked a renewed commitment to empiricism, experimentation, and the exact sciences gleaned from the ancient worlds of Babylon, Greece, Alexandria, Persia, and India. Fascinating debates raged in many areas of human thought and endeavor: What is the structure of the universe? What proof is there that the earth does not move? What is the nature of light? What is matter? How does human vision arise? What are the best treatments for diseases? Ultimately, what can the human mind really know? These and many other avenues of thought led to significant – sometimes radical – transformations in a number of disciplines including mathematics, optics, medicine, and physics.

While science was nurtured at several important Muslim courts, new and influential ideas arose that shaped the trajectory of scientific enterprise in the Mediterranean world, the Near East, Europe, Central Asia, India and the Far East. This remarkable, often shifting, landscape of thought and patronage over eight centuries gave rise to a unique understanding of the universe and its workings, as well as a nuanced, but not always cordial, relationship between science and religion. The impact of these ideas both inside and outside the Muslim world will be explored. The presentation will conclude with the current status and future aspirations of science in contemporary Muslim societies.

During the breakout discussion session, participants will have an opportunity to explore the nature of medieval, early modern and contemporary sciences and their potential for rapport or disaccord with religions of the Abrahamic tradition.

Program

2:00-3:00 p.m. | Presentation by Amin Tejpar
3:00-3:45 p.m. | Q & A
3:45-4:00 p.m. | Refreshments and Break
4:00-5:30 p.m. | Breakout sessions and discussions

Amin Tejpar is a science and technology education consultant. He is an advocate for the popularization and public understanding of science, with a passion for promoting cross-cultural dialogue through the history of ideas. He is a frequent speaker on the global history of science and philosophy at campuses, schools, conferences, and public forums.

Amin has worked with Cornell University, National Geographic Society, New Foundations for Peace, InterWorldview for Stronger Peacebuilders, United Movement to End Child Soldiering, Merit Academy, and the Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley, CA). He was the primary consultant on National Geographic’s publication Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists (2007). With General Assembly Production Centre (Ottawa), Amin is developing a 6-part television series that investigates the production of science in Muslim societies from the 9^th to 16^th centuries. He is also currently developing youth development and teacher education programs that promote global perspectives, pluralism, and civil society in Canadian and international communities and classrooms.

Amin is a graduate of Columbia University’s Teachers College (MA, Science Education) and University of Toronto (BSc, Molecular Genetics and Biology; with graduate research at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology).