Manuscript of Ismail al-Jazarī's Ingenious Mechanical Devices (ca. 17th century)

> He stood on the shoulders of Persian, Greek, Indian, and Chinese precursors, while Renaissance inventors, in turn, stood on his.

This is the first time in my life where a western outlet doesn't try and obfuscate the fact that many of the "discoveries" made by europeans in the the renaissance period have taken inspiration from the close to 800 years of Islamic scientific research (who themselves never failed to credit their predecessors).

Typically, when you study the history of science in the west, it starts at ancient greece (who have no contemporaries) then there's a massive blackout of 800 years and poof ! The "light" is magically turned on.

Fair play to the author for not being biased.

I learned recently that Algebra comes from Al-Jabr named by its Arabic inventor Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi.

When will Al-Jahiz finally get credit for his early ideas about evolution, long before Darwin? His book Kitab al-Hayawan is still in print.

Apparently from before the invention of ellipses :)