Odd History

So, I spot a mention of 1001 Inventions that's focused on the Islamic world. There's a reader's digest version called How Islamic inventors changed the world that lists a top twenty. It's an interesting read. Sadly, it's flagrant propaganda in both tone and presentation.

The first warning sign to me was the mention of chess. The origin of chess is one of those things that's in constant dispute and claiming a definitive answer is probably impossible. The surgical equipment didn't sound any more innovative than some of the Roman stuff I know about. Muslims knew the Earth was flat in the 9th century; that the Greek Eratosthenes proposed this in 240BC wasn't mentioned.

One curiosity of this list is it mentions many things as Muslim that were acquired through conquest infidel countries, e.g. Persia. Indeed, the great age of Islamic innovations seems to end in the 12th century when people stop getting conquered.

I spotted this rather scathing article, but haven't had time to read it yet.

I thought to debunk most of the top twenty, but that would probably make me look like someone with an agenda. On the contrary, I found the history fascinating for it's starting points. I just really don't like propaganda; i.e. history with an agenda.