Civilization: The West and the Rest

The second chapter focuses on the development of science in the West and in the Islamic world. Ferguson uses the Ottoman Empire as a representative of the latter because they “had been the standard bearers of Islam since their conquest of Constantinople” (51). He describes the relationship between the West and the Islamic civilization as antagonistic and argues that “the West has consistently won this clash of civilizations” militarily in the latter part of the Middle Ages as well as the Early Modern period because of “the superiority of science” (50).

Initially, Medieval Muslim scholars and culture left a great impact on the West in the realm of philosophy, optics, medicine, mathematics, and cartography. For instance, the Islamic world built “upon Greek and especially Indian foundations” to establish algebra (51). Yet Ferguson argues that the West later surpassed it.

Ferguson frames his discussion by examining the military confrontations between the Ottoman Empire and Europe such as the Siege of Vienna in 1529 and the Battle of Vienna in 1683. To demonstrate the eventual decline of the Ottoman Empire, he relies on the use of applied science for military purposes as well as its extension to social sciences per philosopher David Hume. In the 17th century, the Ottomans controlled a large territory all the way to the Azov Sea and beyond, but their empire dissolved during World War I. Indeed, the 1683 battle “marked the beginning of the end” for the Ottomans (56). The author argues that it is not competition that the Ottomans lacked; they competed with the Safavids and the Mughals. Nor is it strictly military superiority in Europe, but rather “that superiority was itself based on improvements in the application of science to warfare and of rationality to government” (59).

The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment occurred along a path that was “long and torturous” (59). Ferguson situates the latter in the separation of Church and state. The author goes over several well-known discoveries from the 16th century onward: the development of linear perspective in art, the dissemination of knowledge through Gutenberg’s printing press with movable type, such as the work of Martin Luther, empiricist works of Robert Hooke, the philosophy of Rene Descartes and Baruch Spinoza, Galileo’s telescopic observations, Isaac Newton’s laws of motion, Antoine Lavoisier’s chemical advancements, and many others. In Ferguson’s view, the Scientific Revolution was “Eurocentric” (67).

At the same time, the Ottomans did not seem to advance scientifically in this period. In Ferguson’s view, religious dogma surpassed the importance of scientific development, as was the case with the polymath Taqi al-Din whose observatory was demolished for blasphemy. The author considers the differences between Europe and the Ottoman Empire to be personified by the personalities and leadership styles of Sultan Osman III and Frederick the Great of Prussia. For example, social mobility in the Ottoman Empire depended on “bribery and favoritism” while the harems were “unhealthy” (71-72). In contrast, Fredrick preferred simplicity, if not austerity, and discipline. At the same time, his rule was liberal when it came to religious tolerance and even “unrestricted press freedom and openness to immigration” (75).

Paradoxically, it was after the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1922 that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of the Turkish Republic, carried out a series of reforms, such as the new Latin-based alphabet. Turkey reoriented itself toward the West in other ways—from fashion to secularization. Ferguson believes that these were the unintended consequences of the First World War in favor of the Scientific Revolution.

In the 21st century, Ferguson perceives Jerusalem as “the modern equivalent of Vienna in 1683—a fortified city on the frontier of Western civilization,” whereas the state of Israel is a “Western outpost” (92). He wonders, however, whether “science can continue to be the killer application that gives a Western society like Israel an advantage over its enemies” (92). For instance, Israel has been at the forefront of scientific research between 1980 and 2000 based on the number of patents significantly exceeding those in Arab countries. In Ferguson’s view, some Muslim countries use their “newfound scientific literacy” for nefarious reasons, such as Iran enriching uranium (94).