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In the history of science, Islamic science refers to the science developed under the Islamic civilization between the 8th and 15th centuries, during what is known as the Islamic Golden Age.[1] It is also known as Arabic science since most texts during this period were written in Arabic, the lingua franca of Islamic civilization. Despite these names, not all scientists during this period were Muslim or Arab, as there were a number of notable non-Arab scientists (most notably Persians), as well as some non-Muslim scientists, contributing to science in the Islamic civilization.[2] The traditional view of Islamic science, as exemplified by Bertrand Russell,[3] was that Islamic science, while admirable in many technical ways, lacked the intellectual energy required for innovation and was chiefly important as a preserver of ancient knowledge and transmitter to medieval Europe. A number of scholars such as Robert Briffault,[4] Will Durant,[5] Fielding H. Garrison,[6] Muhammad Iqbal[7] and Hossein Nasr have sought to revise this view and consider Muslim scientists to have played an important role in helping usher in modern science, which would emerge in Europe in 16th century, with their introduction of an early scientific method[4][5] and a modern empirical, experimental and quantitative approach to scientific inquiry.[4][5] Some scholars such as Abdus Salam[8] and George Saliba[9] have referred to medieval Islamic science as a Muslim scientific revolution,[10][11] an expression with which scholars such as Donald Routledge Hill and Ahmad Y Hassan express the view that Islam was the driving force behind the Muslim achievements,[12] and which should not be confused with the early modern Scientific Revolution which led to the emergence of modern science.[13][14] During the early Muslim conquests, the Muslim Arab forces, led primarily by Khalid ibn al-Walid, conquered the Sassanid Persian Empire and more than half of the Byzantine Roman Empire, establishing the Arab Empire across the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa, followed by further expansions across Pakistan, southern Italy and the Iberian Peninsula. As a result, the Islamic governments inherited the knowledge and skills of the ancient Middle East, of Greece, of Persia and of India [15] The art of papermaking was obtained from two Chinese prisoners at the Battle of Talas (751), resulting in paper mills being built in Samarkand and Baghdad. The Arabs improved upon the Chinese techniques using linen rags instead of mulberry bark.
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