Hello,
A friend of mine and I have been debating about the various scientific, mathematical, and philosophical contributions made by both Christian and Islamic civilizations and thinkers historically. The Middle-Ages are of particular interest but broader viewpoints would also be welcome.
We’d appreciate any thoughts/perspectives that anyone may have concerning the various contributions made by both and the impact they may have had upon contemporary society in general.
As a scientist, these questions annoy me to a certain extent since they rely on the assumption that each discovery is somehow individual rather than built upon a foundation of previous work which humans have contributed to since the dawn of time. But that's an academic point.
Another issue is what metric does one use to really quantify what you are describing? The number of papers released? Books translated? Novel insights into science? There's nuances (historical, academic, cultural) in each of those questions mentioned which still can't lead you to equivalent figures.
Either way, you're unlikely to come to a conclusion other than both Europe and the Middle East contributed to science and what was of importance was that they built upon each other's work rather than dismiss it.
Making these sorts of comparisons is not an easy one, as it assumes that there is some objective metric to measure with, while in reality such things aren't as clear cut as a game of Civilization.
However, I would highly recommend that you check out Aristotle's Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the Middle Ages by Richard E. Rubenstein. Its been some years since I read it, to be sure, but I found it to be very insightful, and it is generally well reviewed. More importantly, it is quite engaged with this topic, and a lot of it is about covering the interplay between the Muslim and Christian worlds in medieval times.