Agreed, but don't confuse "Arabic" with "Muslim". An awful lot of those Arabic translations of ancient works were made by Christians.
Plus, I think one can exaggerate the importance today of the Arabic transmission of ancient texts. They were historically important in terms of (re-)introducing Europeans to ancient texts, the obvious example being those works of Aristotle that were forgotten in the west and then rediscovered in Latin translations of Arabic translations of the Greek. But of course we do now have the original Greek and aren't reliant on Arabic translations. The same goes for most Greek texts that we still have at all. This is why classicists today learn Greek, not Arabic, if they want to study ancient Greek literature.
Also agree about Galileo. It's a mystery to me how he can plausibly be presented as a case of a heroic scientist standing up to religion, when (a) Galileo was himself religious, (b) most of the people disagreeing with him were scientists, and (c) Galileo was wrong anyway about the actual point of disagreement, which was whether or not one could deductively prove a cosmological model.
Anyway, I would like to throw into this pretty much everything anyone has ever said on the Internet about religious history, starting with the notion that Christianity took all its best ideas from paganism and Jesus probably never existed anyway, or if he did, he was a married Buddhist vegetarian who founded the Merovingian dynasty. And my annoyance at this goes double for anyone who actually sacrifices trees to put this stuff in print.
I'm agree with you in the terms that not all arabic text must be Islamic in the same time, the same logic can be apply also that not all English text of today is appear to be non-Islamic, as Arabic backthen was used as international or academical languages also as today English used as international languages.
But as I already address a year ago perhaps in this forum, I will also want to address it again today, the notion that the Islamic world only act as a canal for the Western world to recognize Greek Philosophy it also bit minimizing and be little Islamic world and contribution itself, In this terms I agree with Cheezy the Wiz.. There many invention and discovery that been trigger in the Islamic world, as in Islam the knowledge on God creations is an important aspect to understand God existence and see the traces of God evident through God creations as it address in Ali Imran :
Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding. Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire. (190-191)
In Islam disbelieve mostly is a results of lack of observation, contemplation, reasoning, of our surrounding, or it is a results of knowing but denying. In Surah Al Fatiah the passage that tell :
The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray. (7)
The part of those who evoked the anger of God, are for those who know the truth but they deny it. While the part of those who categorize ashtray are for those who ignorance, they are the one who don't know the truth and never seek about it and they just following what their parents, grandfather, etc used to follow and worship.
I can point out many passage and teaching inside the Islam that encourage thinking, observing, seeking knowledge, even in Quran it said, those who have knowledge are a degree higher than those who don't have knowledge and understanding :
"Allah will raise up, to (suitable) ranks and (degrees), those of you who believe and who have been granted knowledge. And Allah is well-acquainted with all you do."
(Qur'an, Al-Mujadilah 58:11)
We also connected true knowledge with the sign of piety :
"It is only those who have knowledge among His servants that fear Allah."
(Qur'an, Fatir 35:28)
While this kind of nation that the Muslim world only contribute on delivering greek philosophy to be known to the rest of western world it is the same notion that Bertrand Russel express which is incorrect in my opinion.
The invention that independent from Greek world is far more majority then the one it dependent, infact greek philosopher only popular among the Muthazilah. In Islam the meaning of life, meaning of creation, the nature of God, and all of these kind of questions it's done, so many ulama from the early ulama was against philosophy, but they more push the muslim to practical and applicable knowledge not in knowledge on searching truth and question the meaning of creation, because all of that question already answer.
This is also the answer Aristotle logic can be more popular in islamic world than Plato metaphysics or Heraclitus.
Inventor like Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), the "father of optics" and pioneer of the modern scientific method, invented the camera obscura and pinhole camera. Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber), the father of chemistry, invented the alembic still and many chemicals, including distilled alcohol, and established the perfume industry. Al-Razi invented the following chemical processes in the 9th century:
Dry distillation
Calcination (al-tashwiya).
Solution (al-tahlil), sublimation (al-tas'id), amalgamation (al-talghim), ceration (al-tashmi), and a method of converting a substance into a thick paste or fusible solid.
Other chemical processes introduced by Muslim chemists include:
Assation (or roasting), cocotion (or digestion), ceration, lavage, solution, mixture, and fixation.
Destructive distillation was invented by Muslim chemists in the 8th century to produce tar from petroleum.
Steam distillation was invented by Avicenna in the early 11th century for the purpose of producing essential oils.
Water purification
Or Muslim inventor that invent Laboratory apparatus like :
Alembic and still by Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) in the 9th century.
Retort by Jabir ibn Hayyan.
Thermometer and air thermometer by Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna) in the 11th century.
Conical measure by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni in the 11th century.
Laboratory flask and pycnometer by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni.
Hydrostatic balance and steelyard by al-Khazini in 1121.
Muslim chemists and engineers invented the cucurbit and aludel, and the equipment needed for melting metals such as furnaces and crucibles.
Al-Razi (Rhazes), in his Secretum secretorum (Latinized title), first described the following tools for melting substances (li-tadhwib): hearth (kur), bellows (minfakh aw ziqq), crucible (bawtaqa), the but bar but (in Arabic) or botus barbatus (in Latin), tongs (masik aq kalbatan), scissors (miqta), hammer (mukassir), file (mibrad).
Al-Razi also first described the following tools for the preparation of drugs (li-tadbir al-aqaqir): cucurbit and still with evacuation tube (qar aq anbiq dhu-khatm), receiving matras (qabila), blind still (without evacuation tube) (al-anbiq al-ama), aludel (al-uthal), goblets (qadah), flasks (qarura or quwarir), rosewater flasks (ma wariyya), cauldron (marjal aw tanjir), earthenware pots varnished on the inside with their lids (qudur aq tanjir), water bath or sand bath (qadr), oven (al-tannur in Arabic, athanor in Latin), small cylindirical oven for heating aludel (mustawqid), funnels, sieves, filters, etc.
I cannot list all of that invention that is pure contribution from Islamic world it will be overwhelming, and there many book that translated from Islamic author to Latin without credited the work to the muslim inventor but the translator claim the works.
