Films with: Morelon, Régis

Embrasser tous les savoirs. Embracing all knowledge.

Picking up mathematics and astronomy from where the ancient Greeks left off, Arab scholars paved the way for the Copernican revolution and the rebirth of science in Europe. This program reveals the development in the Islamic Empire of the Indo-Arabic decimal system, algebra, algorithms and the refinement of the science of optics and the Ptolemaic model of the solar system. The application of astronomy to sacred ends, such as accurately fixing the time for prayers, the direction of Mecca, and the start of Ramadan, is also considered.

DVD 2869

Empire surgi des sables. An empire rises from the sands.

"The victory of the Abbisids over the Umayyads signified much more than the replacement of one dynasty with another. With it, Islam saw the birth of a multiethnic concept of power, in which both Arab and non-Arab Muslims could share authority. This program presents the Abbasid Caliphate at its peak, enthroned in its prestigious capital city: Baghdad. The defining project of Caliph al-Ma'amun, the translation by an army of clerks of all the ancient writings his emissaries could procure, is spotlighted--an achievement that set the stage for an eventual showdown between religious and secular scholars."--Container.

DVD 2863