74 CHAPTER 3: The World Origins of American Education
FOCUS How have recent events brought renewed interest in Islam and Muslim peoples? What do you know about the Islamic religion and culture, and how have you learned it?
Islamic scholars translated the texts of ancient Greek authors such as Aristotle, Euclid, Archimedes, and Hippocrates into Arabic. These translated works became important in Islamic education and, through contacts between Arabs and Europeans, were reintroduced into Western education.56 In some cases, these ancient texts had been lost in the early Middle Ages. In particular, Ibn-Rushd, or Averroës (1126–1198), wrote important commentaries on Aristotle that influenced scholastic educators. Islamic scholars contributed to astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. In mathematics, Arab scholars adopted the number system from the Indians but added the crucial number zero. This innovation made it possible to replace the cumbersome Latin system. In the twenty-first century’s global economy, there is increasing interaction between the Arabic and Islamic and European and American societies. The numbers of Muslims have increased in many European countries such as France, the United Kingdom, and Italy, as well as in the United States. Some of these interactions have been clouded by suspicion and hostility because of terrorist attacks, such as that of 9/11, and persistent tensions in the Middle East. However, abroad and in the United States, there have been positive efforts at dialogue and mutual understanding, especially through multicultural education. Today, more Americans are learning more about Arabic civilization and Islam. Many American schools and colleges now include units and courses on the Arabic language and culture.
3-9 The Renaissance and Education The Renaissance, a transitional period between the medieval and modern ages, which began in the fourteenth century, reached its zenith in the fifteenth century. It signaled a revival of the humanist aspects of the Greek and Latin classics. Like the John Tolan, Gilles Veinstein, and Henry Laurens, Europe and the Islamic World: A History (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013).
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TIMELINE
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Middle Ages (Medieval Period)
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910 CE Founding of Abbey at Cluny
500 600 700 800 900
529–534 CE Justinian I publishes Code of Civil Law
529 CE Benedict establishes monastery at Monte Casino
800 CE Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor
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