Activity

I think zero was discovered in 3 different places around the East and Mideast. And yes, lots of math comes from the Arab region. In a nutshell, IMO, what’s needed is enough technology to support some people doing nothing but research. That requires a commitment from the leadership, whatever form that takes. The Islamic nation under the Abbasid Caliphate did that in the 9th century. They were sending ships and traders around the world, so they paid them to also come back with books or whatever they found. They already had some of the Greek manuscripts and they worked on translating them. Their downfall was that they were doing this for Allah, and they used an inheritance system for picking leaders. When the Mongols attacked, they were too weak stop them. That was right about the time Europe was coming out of its Dark Age and they were starting to value science and education. The Renaissance began and the Christians were not about to acknowledge the contributions of the Muslims.