Global leaders attending the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Forum at Exhibition World Bahrain were challenged to look beyond the usual narratives of scientific history and embrace a ‘missing link’ of a thousand years – the dazzling ‘Golden Age of Arabic Science’.
In a captivating keynote address titled ‘Pathfinders of Innovation,’ renowned Iraqi-British physicist and author Professor Jameel Sadik ‘Jim’ Al Khalili, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Physics at the University of Surrey, urged chief executives and policymakers to become pathfinders of the 21st century championing scientific thinking.
Drawing from his acclaimed book Pathfinders, Prof Al Khalili’s message was clear: the principles that fuelled Baghdad’s House of Wisdom – openness, diversity and cross-cultural collaboration – are the same strategic compasses needed for progress today.
Professor Al Khalili argued that by focusing solely on the ancient Greeks and the European renaissance, a ‘thousand years of history’ are being missed.
“Science is a continuum,” he explained. “It’s like the baton in a relay race, handed from one runner to the next... And many of these scholars in the medieval Islamic world fit into that continuum”.
He highlighted several figures whose work laid the very foundation for modern science, mathematics, and the scientific method itself. Among them was Ibn Al Haytham, whom Prof Al Khalili considers the theoretician to Galileo’s experimentalist, hailing him as the person who ‘mathematised astronomy’ and pioneered systematic experimentation centuries before Francis Bacon.
He also pointed to Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the ‘greatest philosopher and physician of the medieval world’, whose multi-volume textbook, The Canon of Medicine, remained the definitive medical authority in libraries across Europe for half a millennium.
In chemistry, Jābir ibn Hayyān is widely regarded as the ‘Father of Chemistry’. Working from Kufa in Iraq, he introduced the experimental method and pioneered crucial processes like crystallisation and distillation, while also preparing essential acids like hydrochloric and nitric acid.
Finally, in engineering, Al Jazari, a prolific inventor from modern-day Türkiye, wrote The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, which described nearly 100 mechanical inventions. Crucially, he invented the crankshaft – a device converting rotary to linear motion found in almost every modern engine – 300 years before it appeared in Europe.
The physicist showcased a 12th-century map by Al Idrisi, noting the geographical excellence despite the fact that North was placed at the bottom – a metaphor, perhaps, for how historical perspectives can sometimes be upside down.
For today’s leaders, the message is one of strategic investment and open-mindedness: The success of the Islamic Golden Age was powered by knowledge exchange across cultures, reinforcing the idea that diversity is a driver.
The enduring influence of works like The Canon of Medicine also underscores the long-term value of investing in science and learning.
Prof Al Khalili concluded by urging CEOs to become pathfinders of the 21st century, championing evidence-based policy and global collaboration.
The lecture served as a powerful reminder that much of the vocabulary and methodology we use in science today – from ‘alcohol’ and ‘alkali’ to systematic experimentation – derives from the era when the Arabic-speaking world led global scientific discovery.
A leading voice in science communication, Professor Al Khalili has published more than a dozen popular science books, translated into 26 languages. He is also a prominent broadcaster, known for presenting the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme The Life Scientific and numerous BBC television documentaries on science and the history of science.
He holds significant honours, including the Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Fellow of the Royal Society.
avinash@gdnmedia.bh
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