Ibn Khaldun on the fate of Islamic science after the eleventh century

Abstract

The history of Islamic science is often periodised into a golden age followed by decline. This periodisation stipulates that: prior to Islam there was no science worth mentioning; then a gigantic endeavor to acquire and translate the ancient sciences of the Greeks was launched between the eighth and ninth centuries; followed by a period of splendid original thinking and contribution known as the golden age, which lasted from the end of the ninth century to the end of the eleventh century. This was immediately followed by a decline in Islamic science. This period is conventionally known as the "age of decline" of Islamic science