Between the 8th and 15th centuries, scholars and researchers working from Samarkand in modern-day Uzbekistan to Cordoba in Spain advanced our knowledge of astronomy, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, medicine and philosophy to new heights. This book takes the reader through the Islamic empires of the middle ages.

Science journalist Ehsan Masood provides an enlightening and in-depth exploration into an empire's golden age, its downfall and the numerous debates that surround it. SCIENCE AND ISLAM explores the extraordinary circumstances which created this revolution in scientific thinking, the places where they occurred as well as the scientists themselves and their awe-inspiring achievements. It unpacks the debates between scientists, philosophers and theologians on the nature of physical reality and the limits of human reason, and explores the reasons for the decline of advanced science and learning in the Arabic-speaking world.

'Refreshingly different ....Masood's [book] emphasis on context, combined with his easy prose, measured self-confident tone, and an effort to inject compelling human drama into the narrative, makes the present book - for the most part - wonderfully captivating.'