Re: OT: needed: witty facts re: positive aspects of Islamic culture

Hanuman Zhang wrote:
>
>     Yes, but still it is a good summation, giving credit to the Spanish
>Moors who did "give" the Europeans the Hindu number system as they modified
>it
Along with much else. Via Spain they/Islam passed on the heritage of the
Greek (and to some extent Roman) world, which they'd acquired after taking
over the bulk of the Byzantine empire (the Middle East, Persia and North
Africa). Some hold that the knowledge transmitted through Spain was the
initial spark of the Renaissance-- though a lot also came thanks to a) the
_Christian_ 4th Crusaders, mainly a gang of Franks, who sacked
Constantinople in 1204, causing a lot of scholars to pack up their scrolls
and go west and b) the Turks conquest of same in 1453, which caused even
more scholars to pack up and head west.

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