THE DECLINE OF ANCIENT LEARNING 57 



frequent commission of the superintendence of these schools 

 to Nestorian Christians or to Jews. "It mattered not in' 

 what country a man was born, nor what were his religious 

 opinions; his attainment in learning was the only thing to be 

 considered." 1!) The medical colleges at Cairo in Egypt and 

 at Salerno in Italy, and the astronomical observatories in 

 Spain were centers from which a quickening influence ex- 

 tended to Europe. The Arabs for a time succeeded, where 

 the Greeks had failed, by recognizing the sure ground of 

 generalization based upon observation and experiment as 

 opposed to speculation. Their work in many lines exhibits a 

 surprising aptitude for scientific investigation. While not 

 making revolutionary discoveries, they performed inestim- 

 able service in preserving and consolidating the ancient 

 knowledge in scientific lines. The ancient learning, in- 

 herited at Alexandria and elsewhere, was passed over to 

 Europe in far better condition than when the Arabs re- 

 ceived it at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. 



The Arab predilection for experimentation appears in the 

 fact that his conclusions were almost invariably based upon 

 an experiment or an instrumental observation. Thus the 

 foundations of modern chemistry were laid; while in astron- 

 omy and physical science instruments and apparatus were 

 developed. The adoption of the Indian numeration in 

 arithmetic greatly facilitated calculation and surprising 

 progress was made in the mathematical sciences, particularly 

 in algebra, which was received from the Hindus but was 

 elaborated by the Arabs into its present form. Astronomical 

 tables of eclipses and the like were extensively developed. 

 The forerunners of modern surveying instruments were in- 

 vented. The specific weights of many chemical elements 



19 The Khalif Al-Mamun declared that scholars were "the elect of God, his 

 best and most useful servants, whose lives were devoted to the improvement 

 of their rational faculties; that the teachers of wisdom are the true luminaries 

 and legislators of the world, which, without their aid, would again sink into 

 ignorance and barbarism." Quoted from: Draper, J. W., "History of the 

 Conflict between Religion and Science." 



