Libraries
The House of Wisdom was a library before it was a legend
Long before the stories, Bayt al-Hikma was a working place: shelves, translators and patrons who paid by the page.
The Nur journal
Light on the history of science.
Short, carefully sourced essays on the scholars, instruments and libraries of the Islamic Golden Age.
Latest posts
6 posts
- Mathematics
Al-Khwarizmi and the book that named algebra
A practical handbook on inheritance and trade gave mathematics a new word, and a new way to solve for the unknown.
- Mathematics
Ibn al-Haytham put the eye in the dark room
In Cairo, a scholar asked how we see, then tested his answer with light, shutters and a darkened chamber.
- Medicine
The surgeon of Córdoba drew his instruments
Al-Zahrawi’s great medical work ends with surgery, and with drawings of the tools a surgeon should own.
Series
Stories told in parts. Start at the first and follow the thread.
3 parts
Measuring the world
2 parts
Two books of medicine
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A story from the archive, written to be read slowly. No ads, no tracking pixels.