I have two English-language books for the benefit of the reader, having nothing in common except the joy of reading them. My wish is that every able reader read the book ‘Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science' by Professor Jim al-Khalili, an Iraqi whose mother is English, and a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Surrey. He has also hosted several BBC productions about science. Perhaps reading this book is a must for Arabs and Muslims in these bleak days, as they see defeats attacking them from all sides like the spears of the idolaters. This way, Arabs and Muslims would take refuge in a time where we led the world and created a bridge for the Hellenistic and Roman civilizations to cross over the dark ages and onto the Renaissance. A few days ago in my column, I mentioned paper, which the Arabs did not invent but took from China. Al-Khalili's book offers detailed information on how the Arabs developed the art of papermaking, with the first paper mills established in Baghdad at the end of the eighth century, which also used dyes, inks, glues and bindings. Around this time, Jabir ibn Hayyan composed the Kitab al-Kimiya, a study of the nature of matter, which in 1144 was translated into Latin by Robert of Chester. The book included the first study of the art of distillation. Of course, no book on the sciences of the Arabs is complete without referring to Al-Ma'mun and the House of Wisdom, which was a library, academy and a translation factory. The experts who worked there even attempted to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Al-Khalili also mentions the scientist Abu al-Hassan ibn al-Haytham in his book. He wrote the Book of Optics, and was a pioneer in the study of vision, and used his knowledge of mathematics to explain many light phenomena. There was also Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, who was a surgeon, and was the first to devise medical equipment and paved the way for modern medical equipment used today. And there is Ibn al-Nafis, who described the transit of the blood between the heart and the lungs, and his work was followed by the Renaissance scholars in Europe. This is all nice, and great, and perhaps reading Professor al-Khalili's book will raise the otherwise low morale these days. The other book is about the insane genius Bobby Fischer, the former world champion in Chess. The book is entitled ‘Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall- from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness', written by Frank Brady, the founder of the magazine Chess Life. The writer and all those who knew Fischer until his death in early 2008 at 64, talk about psychological disorders, pressures, irritability, paranoia and extremism. Perhaps this is all true. However, in my dictionary, this translates into that Fischer was insane, and we always hear that there is a fine line between genius and insanity. Fischer was on his way to the chess throne even before he became an adolescent. He won the U.S. championship when he was 14. The history of chess today is rarely mentioned without also referring to the Reykjavik match in 1974 between Fischer and the Soviet world champion Boris Spassky. But insanity accompanied Fischer to the championship. He lost his first match, and was absent from the second, which Spassky won by default. Fischer then insisted on moving the matches to a closed room, and the organizers agreed. He would then win all subsequent matches, and the sixth match is still considered today the greatest chess match in the history of the game. Fischer lived with his mother Regina when he was little. She was a leftist Jew who planted in him a sense of suspicion in the authorities. As an adult, he became an anti-Zionist and anti-Semite, and denied the Holocaust. Perhaps his statements following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 are a clear example of his extremism. He told Radio Philippines: “This is all wonderful news. I say death to President Bush! I say death to the United States! F--k the United States! F--k the Jews! This is a wonderful day, what goes around comes around.” (This scene and others will be in Liz Garbus's film Bobby Fischer against the World, which will be shown this summer.) Fischer had Jewish friends, including chess masters and others, and used to quote to them excerpts from Hitler's book Mein Kampf, and supported the Nazi leader's claim that the Jews were the killers not the victims. Fischer was arrested in Japan in 2004 for violating the conditions of his visa. However, Iceland saved him by granting him Icelandic nationality, and he moved and lived there until he died. He was a genius who ate, drank and breathed chess, and was insane, all at once. [email protected]
