I hated this light stuff back in 1st year phys, of course maybe I should of payed attention. And I'm surprised you haven't got any links from any of those Islamophobia web sites.
This is actually pretty interesting stuff. I don't believe in the infallibility of any religious text, but it does seem reasonable that these works are inspired and contain valuable knowledge couched in terms suitable for the culture which generated them. The error I find with book-based religion is that too often the cultural lens of the religion is out of context with that of the author(s). Combined with political abuse of dogma, shifting word meanings and translation errors, the idea of literal truth in these books is a dangerous misunderstanding. Often, the scripture is alluding obliquely to events and knowledge in a metaphorical manner. @mohammedd...not sure if you caught this, but polite teen is an outspoken adherent of Islam. Not sure why you would expect links to Islamophobia sites. Are you suggesting this idea is a heretical interpretation? Just curious. Thanks for bringing this stimulating subject to our attention. Many Westerners are not aware of the contributions that the Arab world, pre-and-post Islamic, have made to mathematics and science.
So So... polite teen, Equations were missing from your post so I googled it... You were quoting this (this time with all the equations intact). Many things I can say about that: A) LOL! The guy writes at the bottom : v = c * 0.999997237 ( v= angel speed, c = speed of light) And then say: v = 299792.4579999994 km / s ( and this is the speed of light ) [ or: v = c "in mathematical words"] So either: v = c * 0.999997237 , or v = c. Mathematically, these two equations are completely different and solve for a different v Look at the equation for time dilation. This is a highly non-linear equation (where the velocity is). Now, one can easily show, that if the quran said 500,000 years instead of 50,000 years the solution would be v = c * 0.999999137 instead of v = c * 0.999997237 (and so on for 5,000,000 years but NEVER v = c) Namely, in either case it would be "almost the speed of light", but never the speed of light: because it if were the speed of light, the time dilation would be infinite. B) 1) According to the theory of general relativity (which Einstein wrote 10 years later, the most genious scientific theory of the previous century), only massless particles (like photons which carry the quanta of light =light particles) can reach the speed of light. ( otherwise, an infinite body mass is required...) 2) "moslems believe that angels are low density creatures, and that God created them originally from light". Density is defined as : Mass/Volume (mass divided by volume). If you have a "low density" that means you have a non-zero mass. (1) + (2) = contradiction. Therefore either (1) general+special relativity are correct or (2) "angels are low density creatures which travel at the speed of light" is correct. I would go with (1) C) The title of the post reflects the absurd in it. In order for "Special relativity to prove the truthfulness of the quran", the special relativity must be true beyond any doubt. Well, this is the case at the moment. But special relativity is the 2nd generation basic mechanical theory, after newton's equations, who were just a private case (where only low velocities are involved). What am I saying? That although special relativity was never in contradiction with experiment, that day might come (when we will have better technology to create more powerful experiments). And then, a new theory will be required. If a religious book needs a "Theory" (not a bible) to "proove its truthfullness" , its a HUGE absurd. The believers and followers of the book first belive, then look for "proof" for the stupid belief. can you think of something more ridiculous? D) If a solution of the equation was there, (actually an example of substitution from the quran) how come no muslim scholar come up with the simple equation of time dilation? After all, all the numbers are there! just relate them with simple mathematical operations! Actually, it was a jewish guy, his name was Albert Einstein, one of the greatest people who lived in the previous century, who came up with the equation. Reason? He was not trying to "prove" this or that "holy" book, he was REALLY thinking. If somebody wants to learn another cool thing about special relativity, check out the Twins Paradox The quoted post was trying to "prove" at any cost. even if at the bottom he had to write that 1+2 = 5 When a scientist read the original post it can be described only in the following words: first the conclusion was drawn, and then an attempt was made to explain it.....Sadly, this is what religious people do ... They can't afford taking the risk to first gather what they have and unbiasly see where this leads to, because they know they might not like the outcome of it.... Cheers, Moshe (Israel) p.s. Amanamission: pre-islamic achievements of the arabs are huge. Especially in Planar Geometry, Group theory, and Algebra. But would you care to elaborate more about the post-islamic scientific achievements in the fields of math & physics? Today, there are 1.3 billions muslims in the world, same as christians. Honestly, I know of very little muslim scientists, all of them are/were working for the west. (like Abdus Salam great pakistani physicist, who were working for the imperial college in london and was also a close friend of Einstein's). It happens to be my profession so I know a little bit: The output of the arab/muslim countries, if you measure by the volume scientific publications is nearly 0. sorry. In the 2008 editions of Nature, Science, and most leading physics journals (Phys.Rev. B, JMMM etc') there were more contributions from Israel than from all of the muslim world altogether. Plus, I have attended numerous scientific conferences, where I met scientists from all around the world, but I can't recall seeing anybody from Algeria, Tunis, Egypt, Iraq, Oman, Dubai, Saudi Arabia etc' represeting a scientific institute from their home country. This must be an outcome of the Israeli occupation!
Considering it is your profession, you are poorly informed: I don't know about Israel, in the US algebra is taught to virtually every student as the basis for higher mathematics. In fact, it would be harder to imagine a more basic contribution to math than algebra. Only Euclid with his geometry or Newton with Calculus could match this level of world-wide influence in math. This term and approach to math dates from the Muslim era, whether you like it or not. source Or in chemistry: source I could go on, but why should I? My comment had nothing to do with the relative merits of Islamic or Jewish contributions to science, and certainly had nothing to do with the demographics of publishing physicists. In fact, it had nothing to with physics at all, or current science. I was acknowledging, for the purpose of this thread, that many Westerners are unaware of the mathematical scientific achievements of the Arab or Muslim world...and you have not only proven my point, you have defied reality to do so. Do you really think that this denial of the achievements and contributions of Muslims is not mere bigotry? Is this your e-mail campaign or are you simply spreading the hate? BTW, as I stated before, I am not any sort of Muslim, nor do I subscribe to any text-based religious system. Comparing the relative achievements of Muslims and Jews is unfair from the start...such successes by particular geniuses do not advance the premise of superiority of their ethnic group, or even culture. Nor is modern state Islam identical to that of the early golden age. The implication, rather unsubtly, is that the more than 1 billion nominal Muslims who generally live in fairly poor countries, are not pulling their weight by producing scientists in proportion with the Jewish population. There are many reasons for this disparity, but it borders on hate speech to claim that this particular 1/5 of humanity has not done their part for the species. With what a broad brush you sweep these people into the role of demon! This denial of credit and suggestion of inferiority is deeply offensive as well as inaccurate.
First Issue: I understand that you agree with me that the initial post in the thread is ridiculous. Now, we get to business, I knew you would refer only to the p.s. of my thread OK. You are right. I have to introduce a small amendment then: Instead of "after Islam", I should have written "after medieval times".... (at the time where Islam was FAR from what it is today. The Islam didn't start and end with Muhammed. It evolved in the first centuries after muhhamed, during which the science books were gradually replaced by books of "faith".... Happy now? As for the email, you argue with me for some time. You should know already that I write everything from what I think and I think for myself. My main source is the most reliable, independent, and objective source on the web presently: wikipedia. Your quote in this matter is ... weird. What does the terrorism has to do with our discussion? I hate such hate mails which unfortunately I get to see from time to time and they disgust me (especially the ultra pro-Israeli ones). As for today: Not all arabic/islamic countries today are poor. Even amongst the richest such as UAE, Saudi arabia, Turkey( a secular country!), kuwait, qatar, oman the scientific presence in international event and journals, is negligible. That's a fact. I do not use it for any racial ideaology or suggestion of inferiority, but just for the sake of the discussion. I am not quoting any dubious sites or telling you what I've heared from this or that guy. I am simply telling you from my personal experience. I attended dozens of international events and read thousands of articles, and I just can't recall any, not even 1!, representative of the above arab/muslim countries (namely, representing an institution based in the above countries and not working for a western university, these you see quite often). A french friend of mine, also a physicist, is standing near me as I write this post (visiting the holy land on my invitation, I show him all there's to see from south to north. U're also welcome to take a look for yourself before presenting such a determined opinion without seeing anything for yourself....). He Just told me: "actually, youre right". from his own experience (15 years of career), He can't recall any either. Call me a racist. p.s. in business conferences, you would surely see a lot of presence from these countries.
Thank you very much dear amanamission May Allah reward you a good reward. I will pray for you. May Allah guide you to Himself and admit you into His Mercy and Paradise where you will see a block from gold and the other from silver making a huge house designed by The Innovative The Merciful for His slaves as the prophet ,prayer and peace be upon him, promised us. 25. And Allâh calls to the home of peace and guides whom He wills to a Straight Path.