What is Digg?220 Comments
- wesamel, on 10/12/2007, -19/+96Inventions are the products of individual creativity, not religion. I don't think the fact that these people were Muslim had much of an influence on their ability to invent. For some reason this only happens with Muslim scientists.
Coffee, soup, gardens, and carpets have nothing to do with science.
And, I wouldn't attribute the concept that the Earth is spherical to Muslim scholars. Aristotle provided observational evidence for it (~300 BC) and Eratosthenes estimated the Earth's circumference (~200 BC). That's a full millenium earlier. Look it up in Wikipedia. - devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -13/+86Fair enough, but this isn't a list of inventions "by Islam" - it's more of a list for fools who are skeptical of Muslims' contributions to the world.
That said, half the list is nonsense. Gardens, are you kidding me? They're telling me the Greeks and Chinese didn't have gardens as places for thought and reflection before that?
And should "Zero" be on this list, or am I tripping? - coolian, on 10/12/2007, -16/+71This is a feel-good article for Muslims and nothing more. Unfortunately for them, half the article is written in crap.
- zephc, on 10/12/2007, -4/+54the concept of zero came to the middle east via India
- anitab83, on 10/12/2007, -6/+43Theoretically, we'd expect far more inventions from the Muslim population as a whole. With 20% of the world's population, and approximately 10% of the world's wealth (if governments and the royals are included), one would hope that the islamic world would contribute to at least 10% of all modern scientific breakthroughs. Unfortunately, the actual #s are nowhere near 10%, as the vast majority of muslims (those in the Middle East) are held back by religious fundamentalism and oppressive governments.
- masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -5/+39So thus far we have the following debunked:
Pinhole Camera: According to comments, the science behind it was formally documented by the Chinese philosopher Mo-Ti in the 5th century BC.
Metal Armor: Okay, this is stupid.
Surgery: They had this in ancient Rome, not to mention much earlier, as well.
Vaccination: "Vaccination" and "inoculation" are NOT the same thing. Similar in principle, but not the same. Moreover, this is straight from Wikipedia -- "The earliest use of inoculation is unknown."
Soup: What? This is also absurd.
Carpets: There have been many, many types of carpets invented throughout history. If by, "carpet," you meant, "Persian rug," you might be right.
Spherical Earth: Muslims invented the concept in the 9th century? Nonsense. The earliest known records of the concept of a spherical Earth came from Pythagoras, during the 6th century BC.
Rockets: The Chinese invented rockets in the 3rd century BC. The notion that it was invented in the 15th century is laughable.
Gardens: Are you kidding me? GARDENS? How can any sane person trace the history of the garden to the ELEVENTH century? That's outrageous.
I can see the argument trying to be made, but this article is full of fallacies and is ignorant of history at best. Moreover, half of this has nothing to do with science, and the fact that a scientist believes in Islam, or not, has nothing to do with his (or her) intellect and genius. - JohnCalvinII, on 10/12/2007, -2/+34The pin-hole camera: only about 5 centuries too late. The Chinese philosopher Mo-Ti (5th century BC) formally recorded the creation of an inverted image formed by light rays passing through a pinhole into a darkened room. He called this darkened room a "collecting place" or the "locked treasure room." In addition, Camera Obscura is from Latin, not Arabic.
- bigtrouble77, on 10/12/2007, -11/+42This list is COMPLETE BS. I just glanced through it quickly and noticed several that were completely untrue. Some of these things are true for the ancient Egyptians, but they were most definitely NOT muslems. Islam would come thousands of years after Egyptian civilization was established.
- jdb252, on 10/12/2007, -18/+41@ coolian:
Don't be hatin, Islam was way more progressive than Christianity in the 1400's. It wasn't until recently that they started *****' ***** up. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -10/+32EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of these inventions was invented at a time when the Middle East was an intellectual powerhouse and center of the civilized world (from Greece and Egypt into the middle ages). As the Middle East faded and Western Europe became the "center" of the world, the majority of all noteworthy inventions would come out of Europe.
This has absolutely NOTHING to do with religion and EVERYTHING to do with the Roman Empire, it's subsequent evolution into the Byzantine Empire (AKA the Western Roman Empire), and finally the downfall of a once-great society.
Indeed, the Roman Empire was such a powerful force that the policies of its *individual* emperors still, to this day, influence every-day political decisions of many nations. To me, that's what's so awe-inspiring about this. The Roman Empire forever changed the course of history, and it will continue to impact worldwide human societies for thousands of years into the future.
It's one of the greatest catastrophes of human civilization that virtually all Muslim nations today are ruled by corrupt madmen, and their citizens are so heavily influenced by insane cult leaders (in case you've never thought of it this way, Osama is the Middle East's version of Charles Manson). - cliffzdude, on 10/12/2007, -6/+27The the most interesting idea is that somebody invented coffee. It think its pretty obvious that humans throughout time have figured out how to smoke, injest, or in the case of coffee extract anything that may prove interesting that exists in the plant world. To "invent" coffee, one would have to invent the coffee bean.
- deskboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20Chess came to Persia at approx 600 CE when Persia was part of the Sassanid Empire (226–651) and the religion was Zoroastrianism - not Islam
- 4NDr01D, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20The Tower of Babel had hanging gardens
and the Babylonian religion was a continuation of Sumerian religion, with the major change being that their god Marduk was placed on top of the Sumerian pantheon. The older gods of Enki and Enlil remained important gods.
this article is as retarded as calling pre-columbian native americans, christian - headzoo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+23Here's the problem with the list, and the state of Islamic nations today: Nothing on this list is current. Nothing on this list happened within the past 100 years.
Moral of the story? Many Islamic nations today are stuck in the dark ages. - devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17I didn't know that... Thanks for enlightening me. Another wrinkle!
- pipdip, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16I'm sorry but a couple of these are just plain wrong, or at least "creatively worded".
- ChildeRoland420, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16 "To "invent" coffee, one would have to invent the coffee bean."
Not true. To invent the drink "coffee", one must know how to roast and brew the coffee beans. - TheSavageNation, on 10/12/2007, -6/+20@anicejew
I doubt you are a Jew judging from your blatant attempt at making comments to make a Jew look like a bigot. - devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18Your comment is inaccurate. The towel has been used as a head-wrap by people for thousands of years to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal.
- whalefarmerjohn, on 10/12/2007, -7/+21Why is it that when "Muslim" appears in a digg article the retards come out en masse?
- hoppdawg, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18They forgot C4 and ball bearing undergarments
- atrain, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16AniceJew:
WTF is wrong with you? People like you are the fuel of religious hate.
I am also a Jew, and I realize that there are some radical Muslims, but then again, there are also raical Jews.
By generalizing against these people, you are sending the image that Jews hate Muslims. We do not hate Muslims or Islamics. We may have political differences, but we still manage to live side by side with them in Israel. - mitrovarr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Buried as inaccurate. Arabs and Muslims made substantial contributions to science (there's a reason half the stars have Arabic names) but this list is at least 50% blatant error.
- LarianLeQuella, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Even Damascus Steel was originally a product of India. There are a lot of ideas that came from India and China that are attributed to the middle east due to that being the sort of "central trading ground". The Far East didn't bother going further west, and the Europeans didn't bother going further east, so they figured that the place the found the stuff is where ti came from, which as many folks have pointed out is patently false. National Geographic has a really cool documentary that I watched that cleatred up some misconceptions that I even had about the origins of many things.
I do agree that this article is just a weak feelgood attempt by someone who probably didn't do a lot of extensive research. And it's an incredibly weak list as well... I'm sure that there are better inventions by people who just happen to be muslim. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11 I lifted the following from a Malaysian Muslim's blog. This guy has it right. It is NOT our fault that Muslim nations are mired in poverty and violence, it is theirs. I will not hattip because, despite his flash of common sense, most of his rhetoric is still clearly nutty and anti-Semetic, and I don't give credit to hate sites.
"We use trains and planes, but they are not our trains or planes. They (Westerners) manufacture them and export them to us. True, we can buy the most magnificent things in the world -- products for our homes and for ourselves. Our people can buy the most luxurious cars -- Rolls-Royce or Mercedes 500 or 700, models S, M, and L with all the luxuries. We own them, but we don't manufacture them. We don't even produce a single screw in any of these cars. Others do this for us.
"The income of the entire Arab world, including the oil-producing countries, does not reach that of a European country such as Spain. Spain – let alone Germany, France, Britain, or Italy. Just Spain, which is at the bottom of the list of industrial countries... The income of the entire Arab world does not reach it. How come? Because we don't work, and if we do work, we don't do it professionally.
"They conducted a survey of the average time that a government employee spends working in a certain Arab country. The average was 27 minutes a day. 27 minutes! The rest of the time he drinks coffee, reads newspapers, and goes on errands here and there. Only a small number of people work. The rest do not.
"In the mid 1970s I went to Germany. We arrived in the morning. I asked the guy who took me from the airport to the convention hall… As I was passing through the empty streets, I asked him how come the streets were not busy, like in our countries. He said: "People are at work." After 7 p.m. he took me back to the hotel, and the streets were empty. I said to him: "What's going on, the streets are empty again." He said: people are back home from work, and they are exhausted. All they want is to eat their dinner, watch the news, and then go to bed, because early next morning they have to wake up for hard work. They commute more than an hour to work and back, and spend an hour at lunch. They work non-stop.
"We are a nation that doesn't work. How can we develop if we don't work? When we do work, we don't do it professionally. We keep saying "Don't worry, later, later…" Islam teaches us to do things professionally. Doing things professionally is a religious duty. The Prophet said that Allah ordered to excel in everything. He imposed excellence and professionalism. Professionalism must be followed in everything. "If you kill, do it properly, and if you slaughter, do it properly." Even when killing, you must do well.
"Unfortunately, we do not excel in either military or civil industries. We import everything from needles to missiles. This is our nation. We still haven't manufactured an engine in our Arab countries. We assemble parts, but have no manufacturing industries. India has manufactured a car, and even a plane, while we still go around in circles like a bull in who turns a grinding mill or a water wheel until it reaches exactly where it started.
"How come the Zionist gang has managed to be superior to us, despite being so few? It has become superior through knowledge, through technology, and through strength. It has become superior to us through work. We had the desert before our eyes but we didn't do anything with it. When they took over, they turned it into a green oasis. How can a nation that does not work progress? How can it grow?"
This guy is speaking mostly about Malaysia, but he is right about the Islamic world as a whole. Muslim countries sit atop 75% of the world's oil reserves. Yet COMBINED, they have a GDP (gross domestic product) that is less than the country of Spain.
That is not the fault of the United States nor any other non-Muslim country. That is the fault of a religious, political and economic system that is mired in the 7th century and refuses to modernize. That is the fault of Muslim leaders (i.e. royalty, clerics, fanatics.) who refuse to give up wealth and power to feed the poor. That is the fault of corruption that is endemic in every single one of these countries.
That is the fault of Islam. - theone3, on 10/12/2007, -8/+19Actually, Jihad is not an invention, it's a philosophy that has been completely hijacked by western hysteria. (Ironic, no?)
Jihad is the concept that in fighting a war, your number one enemy is yourself. Basically it goes something like this - in the Lord's eyes, there is very occasionally war worth fighting, but most of that war is the internal struggle to find the truth and the best course of action, and only a minor component is fighting with an enemy, or winning. This is negated by the fact that if you don't carry out the 'internal struggle' and see that there is no other option but to fight, even if there was no other option, you are a murderer in the sight of god.
That is the concept of Jihad. Funnily enough, if understood in its entirety, it is a component of a concept almost identical to democracy. The only difference between the two is that democracy places more focus on the group, whilst the Islamic understanding is almost entirely focused on the individual. - pandaro, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13anicejew:
I would obviously not think much of the people that bombed my family, but our problems lie deeper than race or religion. If that's all you're willing to see, you are part of the problem.
Why do you have to "be a Jew" on digg anyway? - Geekbeard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Bah to #15. Soup has been around longer than the 9th century. Moreover, worked crystal was around since at least the time of Alexander the Great.
#20 Gardens. WTF? What about the Hanging Gardens of Nebuchadnezzar II.
Whatever. All inventions are done by human things and we shouldn't be inanely categorizing based on something as trivial as religion. - arunforce, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13I think you are mistaken, they are talking about Earch, Earth's twin in another universe.
- devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Thanks for correcting me, Zeph. I wasn't sure about the zero thing.
- strictnein, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11"wait, how exactly are the goverments/fundamentalists holding back from scientific research?"
What, do you really need the simplest of things spelled out for you? - taxman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10This is funny....
" form of chess was played in ancient India but the game was developed into the form we know it today in Persia."
Isnt there a difference between inventing and tweaking the rules a little? - Dested, on 10/12/2007, -7/+16Kind of off topic but does anyone know a website where people can submit the names of people they think are trolls on digg? I think that would greatly reduce the amount of ***** that i see while still allowing the people that post stuff just to piss others off a hardon. Yeah, anicejew, I'm looking at you, you ***** moron.
- Paroparo, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15I appreciate the idea behind this article (so much that I dugg it without reading...), but a lot of these are just plain inaccurate. In addition to the ones already mentioned, a few are just plain odd. The first garden? Come on, those had been around for thousands of years around the Middle East and elsewhere.
Metal armour is also a bit silly, since armour had been made from metal for at least several thousand years. The earliest ones I can think about are the earliest Greek hoplites with their bronze breastplates, but I'm sure it goes back even further than that. - deskboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9actually you can find the translation here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mein_Kampf
which mean's My Struggle, My Battle or My Fight - the commonly accepted view is that my struggle is the best translation of the title. the fact that jihad also means struggle is particularly strange when you look at the tie's between militant islam and fascism which gan be found here:
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/449
which is quite ironic today when people speak jihad and are looking to eliminate jews and christians - taxman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Some of the things like Chess,Math,soup were "invented" even before Islam was "invented"
- psygnisfive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The modern "Arabic" number system was invented by the Indians. Noone gives the Indians credit for this. Nevermind that they had calculus before the west, or that they had astronomy down to a fine art, or that they were the first guys to analyze a language in ways that the west wouldn't do for 2000 years, or that..
- pencilneck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9This is a rehashed story:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article350594.ece
Looks to be copied word for work. That link was put up on Digg 281 days ago and here are the 296 comments from back then:
http://digg.com/general_sciences/20_Islamic_inventors_inventions_that_changed_the_world
As noted from the first time this story was posted the first time, Digg user "theone3" sums it up nicely with:
"As regards the article. I'm not sure why this article was written. Every empire, every country, every person has some innovation to contribute to the world. But religion is not usually a part of the process. If these events didn't happen in a Muslim society, they probably would have happened anyway. And this is a Muslim talking, FWIW."
No Digg. - pintomp3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8savagenation, are you saying jews can't be bigots? i would think being jewish would make you no more nor no less likely to be a bigot.
- miken32, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12Ours is not to wonder why, ours is but to digg them down
- devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Good point - hope you don't get dugg down, your statement is easy to misinterpret as an aspersion against Islam.
- Corrosionx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Under tyrannies, any human's potential for creation becomes potential for destruction (and rightly so).
- grooviekenn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Who would of thought that soup was once invented.
- EochaidRiata, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_Nobel_Prize_winners
Two Muslims have earned Nobel Prizes in the sciences. One at Caltech and the other at Oxford in the UK.
There are a total of 571 Nobel Laureates in the sciences to date.
"What have you done for us lately" comes to mind. - AngryRepublican, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12Sure, but what have Islamic states done for us LATELY...
Their education system is in total shambles. If an Islamic person made a great scientific discovery today, it was likely that he (hardly ever 'she') was educated at a Western center of higher education. You can't learn jack-***** at an Islamic school. Oh yeah, except that Jews created dinosaurs to eat little muslim babies.
What a crock of *****. Islamic civilization has declined, and they won't make that climb again until they have an enlightening or something first. - MrViklund, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8@ devindotcom
A religion does not invent things. The scientist may have believed in Islam but that doesn't make it an invention by Islam or Islamic-invention. I don't really like to separate inventions and scientists into different religions. Lets keep religions out of this. I think that's the best. - tatterdemaliot, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14@anicejew
and you are a filthy racist. - uttles, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8derka derka derka!
- RedViper1999, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Yeah kind of odd there isn't an invention on there from the past 300 years. And only one in the last 1000 years.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Too bad many of the items were wrong or attributed to people living in the middle east WAY before Islam.
And Metal Armor... ONLY after 700 AD? COME ON... -
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