DR. ABDUL AZEEZ YUSUF
BOOK REVIEW:
Book Review of “Lost History” by Michael Hamilton Morgan
(30th NOVEMBER 2012)
BY
MEHRAN QADRI (A11CS2005)
AHMAD AL RAZI (A11KP2008) MUHAMMAD SAYID SABIQ (AC102001)
1. Introduction
The book that we have chosen to review is titled “Lost History, the Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers and Artists”. The author of the book is Michael Hamilton Morgan. The book was published in the year 2007 and also holds the same copyright date. The book is a non-fiction. The main subject matter of the book is the history of the Islamic civilization from the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in 570 A.D. until the end of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.
The author has focused mainly on the achievements of early Muslim scholars in the fields of science, philosophy and arts. The book contains some pictures of early inventions of Muslim scientists such as the water pump which was invented by al-Jazari in the 13th century and Ibn Sina’s Canoe of Medicine, to mention a few.
2. Purpose of the Book:
The author has written this book to enlighten people, especially those of the west, about the Muslim intellectual achievement that was once the envy of the world. This book has been published in an era in which the relationship between Islam and the West is fraught with misunderstanding. The foreword of the book has been written by His Majesty King Abdullah (The Second) of Jordon. He mentions that the book is telling an often untold story about Islam’s cultural and intellectual history as well as its relationship with the West. He further goes on to say that too often the achievements of the Islamic civilization and its strong link to Western civilization are limited to scholarly works or to academic journals.
The author clearly wants to challenge other books written on this subject matter that paint too stark