If they still exist, do they still remain a threat to ships? Has any effort been made to find and remove them all?

I understand the question might seem vague.

But in the context of Islamic sciences and to a lesser extent, Chinese and Indian sciences, have there been instances where an objective scientific method is upheld as a means to valid knowledge? Is the enterprise of scientific understanding a Eurocentric one or something universal which just happened to be accepted on a wide-scale in Europe due to historical circumstance?

I'm looking at 'scientific method' in the broad sense of the term. It could also apply to the social sciences. Al-Biruni's work on India for example has a distant, sober, scholarly approach in which the object of knowledge is the thing-in-itself, i.e. the knowledge is not (explicitly) instrumental. To what extent had this approach been influenced by the Ancient Greek's love of theory (for itself) or to what extent was it an indigenous Islamic 'method'?

I know there are a lot of questions jumbled up in there. But, if it helps, I'm thinking of this question in the context of Heidegger's declaration of 'Europeanization of the Earth.'

thanks a lot.

All this Ebola talk has got me thinking about the Black Death.

My first question is that I've heard of the ancient Greeks using the xiphos sword (inward curve, cutting edge on the inside of the curve). Was that the most popular style (around the time of Thermopylae or the delian league)? Also, I just watched the new 300 movie. It was entertaining, but I found it to be incredibly inaccurate. To try and keep the list short, what, if anything, did the movies get right?

Hi there. I read The Outlaw Josey Wales as a boy, and since then I've been interested in this particular part of the Civil War. I'm aware that the book is fiction, but I'd still like to learn about this part of the war. Basically I'd like to know about guys like Bill Qauntril, the men who rode with him, the people they fought against, what led them to ride to war, and what effect (if any) they had on the war as a whole. Especially looking for book recommendations. Thanks for your time :)

I happened across a reference to the Saltpeter War earlier today, and after attempting to do some follow up I haven't found much information beyond some brief, confusing references to Tangaxuan II (was he the cazonci at the time or not?) wanting to control sources of saltpeter in Colima and Jalisco. Why would the Tarascans start a war over access to the saltpeter? What were they and other Mesoamericans using it for?

I'm not a native speaker, so I'm not aware if there is a more politically correct term to refer to midgets. Sorry if it was offensive.

I've been reading for an Anthropology class about the rise of complex societies and this question came to mind. Poking around on the internet didn't reveal much more than theories about Atlantis and other "lost civilizations." Follow-up question: If the record is sufficiently fleshed out to preclude the existence of undiscovered societies, what was the most recent big discovery in the area of ancient civilizations?

Apologies in advance if this is outside the scope of /r/AskHistorians, or otherwise violates the subreddit guidelines.

For example, Ghana was mainly political diplomacy and almost no violence and on the other hand, Kenya, where there was a lot of bloodshed.

Why do we continue to use toilet paper or more recently flushable wet wipes?

In 1919 Turkish Grand National Assembly (Kemal Attaturk) versus the Ottomans . But you had them on one side and U.S.A , Greece , Armenia , France , UK. Now back to my point why did they sided with the Ottomans and not the G.N.A (Attaturk) . Like Greece was part of Ottoman in the past why did they enter with the Ottomans and not against. ?? It's illogical to my brain .

Whether it's Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, or the short-lived Latin Empire, I'm interested in how they treated the Jews. This question has always lingered on the edge of my mind, considering for a long time these three empires, not sure about Latin however, controlled the Holy Land. How were the Jews there treated? Was it more like they were treated under Muslim control or European control?

Thank you to anyone who responds.

I know mystery cults were popular during the Roman Empire. Were there any type of religious cults popular in the modern era? We still have them, so I assume they've existed in some form through modernization and the age of science.

Was there any widely observed prohibition on the killing of clergymen and looting of churches when a city was being sacked? To make things simple, I will limit the question to pre-reformation Europe when most kingdoms were catholic (or at least I assume so).