São Paulo – The Brazilian mathematician and writer Malba Tahan launches a contest to decide which scientist from the Muslim civilization will be the subject of his next book. Thus, Muslim personalities who changed the history of science many centuries ago take the stage to discuss their inventions and ideas. It is up to the audience of children and teenagers to choose whose narrative is the best.
This is how the 1001 Inventions Program, sponsored by the namesake British organization, works. The project has arrived in Brazil this week, brought by the Qatari government as part of the Qatar-Brazil 2014 Year of Culture, designed to foster cultural integration between the two countries. The program was launched this Tuesday (23rd) at São Paulo’s Instituto Butantã.
“We want to show Brazilian kids that in the history of science, after the fall of the Roman Empire, there was a long period of scientific innovation and inventions in the Middle East. These great inventions from the past have an impact in our lives today,” said Ahmed Salim, producer and managing director of 1001 Inventions. “Our message is to try and inspire people to study the sciences. Whatever people can do to make science fun and stimulating helps [garner interest in the subject],” he mused.
According to Salim, this flourishing of science in the Muslim world happened from the 7th to the 16th century, in an area that extended from Spain to China. In the theatrical play, staged so that the kids can interact with the characters, the audience is introduced to four names from ancient science:
Ibn Al-Haytham, who discovered how human vision works; Mary Montagu, responsible for taking the inoculation system (which preceded vaccines), originally developed in Turkey, to the West; Mariam Al-Astrolabiya, who improved the astrolabe, a device that showed the position of the Sun and the planets; and Al Jazari, an engineer who developed the crank-and-rod system and created the hydraulic pump.
Each character explains their creation or discovery and tries to persuade the audience to choose them as the subject of Tahan’s new book. The audience also watches a film about other ancient artists.
“Arabs have made contributions to the progress of humanity through their scientists,” said Mohamed Alhayki, the Qatari ambassador in Brasília. “Algebra, the foundation of math, was invented by Al-Khwarizmi, an Arab scientist. Without this mathematical science, algebra, we would not have computers today, and the calculations that led to Newton’s laws would definitely not have been possible,” he said. The ambassador also mentioned the physician Avicenna and other Muslims who made contributions to global science.
“This activity shows how culture can bring peoples together. Many stereotypes and enmities could be overcome by bringing cultures together,” said Michel Alaby, CEO of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, which supports activities of the Qatar-Brazil Year of Culture.
Jorge Kalil, director of Instituto Butantã, welcomed the guests prior to the presentation and recounted the institute’s history. Wilson Pollara, the joint secretary of Health of São Paulo, told the youths of his admiration for Malba Tahan.
Tahan, by the way, was the pen name of Júlio Cesar de Mello e Souza. As previously stated, he was a mathematician and writer. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he wrote stories set in the Middle East. His best known book is O Homem que calculava (The man who counted). He passed away in 1974 and his character is played by an actor.
The program’s premiere was watched by guests and students from state school Escola Estadual Alberto Torres. The play will be staged over a week at Instituto Butantã and attended by 2,000 students from 25 state schools.
The event was also attended by Faleh Al-Hajri, the Qatari deputy minister of Culture, Rafah Barakat, head of the Qatar-Brazil 2014 Year of Culture project, and Marcelo Araújo, the secretary for Culture of the State of São Paulo.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
