How the Gulf’s rulers want to harness the power of science
A stronger R&D base, they hope, will transform their countries’ economies. Will their plan work?
Bayt al-Hikma, or the House of Wisdom, in Baghdad emerged in the ninth century—even before the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, widely considered the first academy of sciences. The Banu Musa brothers, sons of an astronomer in Baghdad, created the first machine with a stored program there and scientific textbooks from the institute were translated and made their way to Europe.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Return of the House of Wisdom”
From the January 11th 2025 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
Satellites are polluting the stratosphere
And forthcoming mega-constellations will exacerbate the problem
AI models are dreaming up the materials of the future
Better batteries, cleaner bioplastics and more powerful semiconductors await
Mice have been genetically engineered to look like mammoths
They are small and tuskless, but extremely fluffy
Is posh moisturiser worth the money?
Don’t break the bank
How artificial intelligence can make board games better
It can iron out glitches in the rules before they go on the market
The skyrocketing demand for minerals will require new technologies
Flexible drills, distributed power systems and, of course, artificial intelligence