Uncovering a thousand years of science and technology

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A colorful, fascinating and insightful exhibition –

“1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage

in our World”1– which ran in London’s Science

Museum from January to June 2010, has re-

cently opened in Istanbul, Turkey. This unique

overview of the dynamism of Muslim civiliza-

tion, its ingenuity and diverse scientific and

technological achievements, is set to visit 30

major cities

across five con-

tinents in the

next four years.

The exhibition

traces the “for-

gotten story of

a thousand

years of sci-

ence in the

Muslim world from the 7th century onwards.” It

reveals some of the extraordinary social, sci-

entific and technical achievements credited to

the Muslim world and shows how many mod-

ern inventions in fields as wide-ranging as en-

gineering, medicine and design can trace

their roots back to Muslim civilization.

Shedding new light on a relatively little known

period of history, the exhibition demonstrates

how “medieval Muslims were trailblazers in

fields as diverse as medicine and mechanics,

cartography and chemistry, education and en-

gineering, architecture and astronomy.”

The exhibition features over 60 interactive ex-

hibits and displays that showcase impressive

feats of engineering. Electronic games and

multimedia platforms bring to life a “Golden

Age of Discovery” that had a vast but hidden

and, until recently, unrecognized influence on

the modern world.

Seven zones, each representing a different sphere

of scientific and cultural achievement, are fea-

tured, including:

home (the 1,000-year-old inventions that

continue to influence everyday life);

market (how influential ideas spread through

trade and travel);

school (pioneering developments in educa-

tion);

hospital (how ancient approaches to health

care continue to influence modern-day

medical practice);

town (the influence of eastern thought on

contemporary architecture);

world (pioneering explorers who tested the

limits of knowledge); and

universe (how medieval astronomers influ-

enced our understanding of the cosmos).

One of the key aims of the exhibition is to high-

light how the people of many different faiths

and backgrounds working within Muslim civi-

lization, which stretched from southern Spain

to China, made exceptional advances and

greatly improved the world’s understanding of

science, technology and engineering. It under-

scores how ideas from many different cultures

and societies have contributed to and influ-

UNCOVERING

A THOUSAND

YEARS OF SCIENCE

AND TECHNOLOGY

1 The “1001 Inventions”

exhibition is an

initiative of the British-

based FSTC (see box),

in association with the

Jameel Foundation.

Photo: 1001 Inventions © Copyright 2010

Artistic impressions of Abbas Ibn Firnas and his successful

9th century flight.