IT still comes as a surprise to discover how many children (and their parents) think that modern science is a European event, starting with the Enlightenment. Perhaps those inclined to such Eurocentrism should be packed off to the north of England to see an ambitious exhibition. Teasingly called 1001 Inventions, it may go some way towards filling in what the curators call “1000 years of missing history” by showing the role of Islamic-era science in shaping the modern world.
It might also help see off easy talk of “civilisations in collision”.The fact is that by the 12th century the Islamic…
