Library of Congress Hosts Symposium on Scientific Legacy of 9th Century Baghdad May 12 Symposium
Presented in Cooperation with the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts at Brigham Young University
The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress and the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts at Brigham Young University present "First Renaissance: The Scientific Legacy of 9th Century Baghdad" from 2:30 to 5 p.m. on Monday, May 12, in LJ-119 of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public.
A distinguished panel of experts -- including Dimitri Gutas, Yale University; George Saliba, Columbia University; and Alfred Ivry, New York University -- will explore a number of topics related to the importance of primary texts and the history of Arabic science to help raise awareness of the important role that the city of Baghdad played in the history of world civilization. In 9th-century Baghdad, Greek science and philosophy were translated and transmitted to the Arabic- speaking world, a transmission that made possible the flowering of medieval Islamic civilization and, eventually, paved the way for the Renaissance in the West.
