The 1001 Inventions exhibition opened in Manchester last year (correction: in 2006), and has therefore been running for a while. But it moved last week to the London Science Museum, and I suspect may be worth a look. (If you live in or around London, obviously.)
The exhibition purports to celebrate the scientific advances made by Islamic scholars and inventors during the Middle Ages. The promotional hoopla on the website is a bit nauseating, since the whole thing seems to be less about the exhibition per se and more about implicitly defending modern Islam’s reputation as a learned and humanistic faith… erm, I’ll get back to you on that one…
But as I say, it’s probably worth a look, since a) it’s free, and b) if it’s rubbish you can nip down the road to the V&A Medieval and Renaissance Galleries, which I promised myself I would stop banging on about, but seem incapable of doing so…
PS For a good book about medieval science with emphasis on the Christian tradition, check out James Hannam’s God’s Philosophers, which was published last year.
PPS also seen today: check out the Telegraph’s video tour of the V&A galleries here, and a puff-piece about Islamic science and the 1001 Inventions show, at the Guardian, here.
Hello Dan
Thank you for mentioning the 1001 Inventions exhibition on your blog. A few corrections are require, however, to the information you’ve posted.
1) The original 1001 Inventions exhibition opened in Manchester in 2006.
2) This is a different exhibition. It is larger (1000 sqm) and more sophisticated that the old one. It features a lot of electronic games, interactive elements and audio-visual tools to educate the audience.
3) The term “Islamic Science” is never used in the exhibition. It makes no sense to use such a term as science does not (and cannot) belong to any particular religion. You wouldn’t talk about Hindu Physics, Jewish Medicine or Voodoo Chemistry. Sadly, for some unknown reason, many media still talk about “Muslim Science” or “Islamic Science”.
4) The exhibition is not about religion (as you imply). It is about the history of science during the medieval era. It features scientists (men and women) of many different faiths and ethnicities, and recognises the journey of scienctific discovery from the ancient world to modern times.
5) The “puff-piece about Islamic science (sic)” that you refer to was written by the world renowned (and non-Muslim) astrophysicist Prof. Jim Khalili, who has also produced some excellent documentaries for the BBC about the history of medieval science.
I would recommend you do take some time out to visit it at London’s Science Museum. And as you already know, the V&A across the road is a joy to explore, so there’s always the option of heading over there afterwards.
Sincerely
Junaid Bhatti
1001 Inventions