The Touch of Midas: Science, Values and Environment in Islam and the West

Science has played a vital role in the development of Islamic and Western civilisation. In Islamic countries, as in the West, science has been used to obtain unimaginable riches and to organise and improve life. The nature of the scientific enterprise has however been quite different, and this is evident in the character of the environments which these two civilisations have created.

In this critical re-examination of science the contributors reflect on the relationship between science and the moral values of society within Christendom and Islam. Attitudes towards the environment within the different cultures are contrasted and finally, an attempt is made to derive a synthesis of the two sharply differing world-views.