One of the sessions I previously called out was one of the Meet the Author sessions at ISNA regarding the book Lost History; The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists, which I was able to attend this past weekend. In the session, author Michael Hamilton Morgan discussed the book at great length with the attentive audience.
The book itself is one that is much needed. Having just finished it today, I can attest that one may learn more about Muslim contributions in many fields, from science and astronomy to music.
One of the criticisms that Morgan has faced with this book is that the book is written in a narrative style without so much as footnotes after facts and quotes are provided to the reader. Morgan acknowledged this criticism to the audience without being asked by the moderator or audience (I admit, I wanted to ask him about that), saying that his goal was to write a book that was accessible to a mainstream audience, hence the narrative style. He didn’t set out to write an academic book. In fact, he initially wrote the book with a mainstream non-Muslim audience in mind. However, he has found that Muslims have been much more interested in this book than he anticipated but, unfortunately, hasn’t garnered too much interest with Non-Muslims as he would have thought.
This fact was one that intrigued the audience, which prompted one to ask why this book isn’t readily available at Borders and other bookstores. Morgan isn’t too sure why. He does not that many have been skeptic towards Muslim accomplishments and, although he would have assumed the public would want to know more about Muslims and their contributions, he has found that some would like to write off these contributions all together.
In the end, the ISNA audience members were sold on Morgan’s book. In it, the reader can learn about astronomer/poet Omar Khayyam, mathematician Al Khwarizmi, ibn Sinna, an innovator in medicine, and many more. Lost History is an important book and only scratches the surface, as Morgan himself admits. Insh’Allah, this book can be used as a starting point to delve further in the history of Muslim thinkers and innovators.
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