The Golden Age of Islam
Wednesdays, March 4, 11 and 18, 6:00-8:00 pm
We’ll explore what was happening in the Near and Middle East while Europe was moving through the Dark Middle Ages, with a brief, engaging survey of Islamic contributions to modern Western civilization. Together, we’ll look at how scholars in the Arab and Muslim world preserved, revived, and built upon major fields of knowledge—chemistry, medicine, mathematics, optics, and astronomy—laying foundations we still rely on today.
Part 1 will introduce the founding of Baghdad and the rise of the House of Wisdom and its libraries. We’ll meet some of the translators whose work was crucial in carrying knowledge from Greek, Latin, Aramaic, and other languages into Arabic—and eventually back into Latin, helping this wisdom travel across cultures and centuries.
Part 2 will focus on chemistry and medicine, including how physicians were trained and how some of the world’s first hospitals were established.
Part 3 will explore mathematics, optics, and astronomy, and trace how knowledge traveled from Baghdad and the eastern Muslim world to Al-Andalus (Spain), helping spark the Renaissance in Europe.
Many of the scientists we’ll meet were polymaths, working across multiple fields—so you’ll see some familiar names appear more than once. Each session stands on its own, so you’re welcome to join for one part or come for the whole series. If you’re curious about where so much of our shared knowledge began—and how cultures shaped one another along the way—we hope you’ll join us for this adventure.
For information about our instructor, visit this blog post for her biography.
