Mudarri Initiative Hosts Talk on Arabic Scientific Thought
The Corinne Mudarri Arab Civilization Initiative at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University hosted a March 26, 2018 lecture with George Saliba, Professor Emeritus of Arabic and Islamic Science at Columbia University, on how scientific thought developed by Arab and Islamic societies was later adopted by European Renaissance scientists.
The Mudarri Initiative is designed to support thoughtful and wide-reaching programming and curricular innovation that explores and promotes the many contributions of Arab civilization, culture and society, including, but not limited to, innovations such as mathematics, science, medicine, philosophy, language, art, architecture and horticulture. The permanently endowed fund will provide support for annual student-focused activities, lectures and curricular innovation by faculty and is open to the entire BU community and alumni.
The panel, entitled “”First Copernicus and Then Galileo: Adoption of Arabic/Islamic Scientific Thought by Renaissance Scientists,” featured Saliba, a historian of Arabic and Islamic Science who studies the development of scientific ideas from late antiquity to early modern times, with a special focus on the transmission of astronomical and mathematical ideas from the Islamic world to Renaissance Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The discussion follows other events hosted by the Mudarri Initiative on positive trends in modern Arab societies and the Arab golden age.
Saliba discussed the Arabic legacy in theoretical mathematical astronomy and its impact on the European Renaissance. He then demonstrated how Arabic themes in other areas of science were embedded within the works of European scientists such as Copernicus and Galileo who used them for the production of their own science.
Following his lecture, Saliba opened the discussion up for a question-and-answer session with faculty, students and members of the Boston University community in attendance.
Corinne Mudarri (DGE ’51), who attended the discussion, is a retired American Airlines official, where she worked for 25 years. Since retiring, she has published a Massachusetts Almanac of Arab Americans and retains a deep interest in developing better understanding of Arab civilization, especially amongst the young. Earlier, she had also endowed the Nicholas and Eugenie Mudarri Family Student Exchange Fund at Boston University, in memory of her parents.