Reviews

During the early Middle Ages, European science declined, but scientific activity continued to grow in Arabic-speaking nations. Renaissance scientists were heavily dependent on Arabic research, with most of their scientific works initially being wholly derived from Arabic studies. Because of its important influence on Western science and thought, a work like this encyclopedia is long overdue. Divided into three volumes (Astromy‘Theoretical and Applied; Mathematics and the Physical Sciences; and Technology, Alchemy, and Life Sciences), each with its own bibliography, the set covers the history of Arabic science in 30 long chapters, written by specialists well known and established in their fields. Each article discusses a specific subject area such as geometry or medicine and looks at the development of that science. This work would have been considerably improved by an article devoted to the Arabic philosophy of science and the significant role of religion in science. Still, it will be very valuable to larger public and research libraries wanting a broad-based collection in the history of science.‘Eric D. Albright, Galter Health Sciences Lib., Northwestern Univ., Chicago