▌/The Vault
Podcast
Renaissance #188 – The Library of Nineveh (Reconquista #9)
In the West, we have all heard about the great Library of Alexandria. But how many are familiar with the fact that Caliph Al-Mamun built one of the…
Renaissance #187 – Chemistry v Alchemy (Reconquista #8)
We delve into the distinction between chemistry and alchemy and ask where is the line in the sand that divides the two? Isaac Newton, after all, was a…
Renaissance #186 – Geber the Alchemist (Reconquista #7)
It is no coincidence that many of the chemical words in use today derive from the Arabic: alcohol, alkali, amalgam, benzoic, borax, camphor, elixir, etc. They were developed…
Renaissance #185 – Book of Ingenious Devices (Reconquista #6)
You really can’t understand Arabic science without considering the extent to which it was influenced by Islam. Arabic science was inextricably linked to religion. In contrast to Christianity,…