A Cultural mix

"Modern science begins in 13th-century Europe, based firmly on the plinth furnished by translations from Arabic and Greek." (Fletcher 1993)

If you click the above link (a cultural mix) it will lead you to an interesting podcast relating to the cultural climate in Cordoba during the Islamic Golden age. The court was open to the ideas of Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, and as a result was the a great meeting place for intellectuals of the time.Cordoba was, for a few centuries, a place were Islam and Christianity coexisted peacefully. This was a time of great information exchange, it is where the culture of the Arabs came into contact with the west, and therefore, the western world was introduced to the ideas of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

Fletcher, Richard 1993, Moorish Spain, University of California Press, California.

Menocal, Maria Rosa 2006, Golden age of Spain: cross pollination of Muslim, Jewish and Christian culture in medieval Spain, Yale University, 2 May, viewed 23 May 2010.

Van Der Zee, Bibi 2010, Córdoba: the city that changed the world, The Guardian, viewed 23 May 2010.

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/cordoba-city-changed-world)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Research reflections

While conducting my research, I have found that by narrowing down the topic to the very specific, more accurate and useful information could be found. The information that I have put up on this blog is merely the very tip of the iceberg as far as the information sourced. I found that once I had honed in on a particular time, place and/or person(s) the research became much easier. Some of the difficulties I had were trying to ascertain if a source of information was up to date or reliable. When you are dealing with Islamic and western histories you can sometimes come up with some sources that have a hidden agenda. I also regret not formulating a question for myself before beginning the research. Perhaps if I had created a question from the brief I chose, I may have been able to pinpoint the research and information required in a more timely manner. I did find that I spent a lot more time reading and evaluating information than I would have liked.