London, April 01: Scientific research in Islamic countries suffers from a lack of political will to reform, to tackle corruption and to overhaul failing educational systems, institutions and attitudes, a theoretical nuclear physicist at a British University has said.
Jim Al-Khalili of the University of Surrey identifies these factors as holding up scientific progress in the Islamic world, where historically science was once so strong, and examines some projects that could herald a brighter future.
Khalili says political fragmentation and the later effects of colonialism weakened Islamic scientific research.
He writes: ‘It is crucial that both Muslims and non-Muslims are reminded of a time when Islam and science were not at odds, albeit in a very different world.’
‘This is important not only for science to flourish once again in the Islamic world, but also as one of the many routes towards a future in which Muslims see the value of curiosity-driven scientific research, just as they did 1,000 years ago,’ Khalili says.
Looking at the relative citation index (RCI) — the number of cited papers by a nation’s scientists as a fraction of all cited papers divided by its own share of that total — Al-Khalili reveals the lack of quality in current scientific research in some Muslim nations, says a Surrey release.
It is in stark contrast to ‘the free-thinking, curiosity-driven quest for knowledge during the Islamic Middle Ages,’ he says.
The write-up appeared in Physics World.
–IANS