{"title":"S. Frederick Starr","description":"S. Frederick Starr is founding chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute \u0026amp; Silk Road Studies Program, a research and policy center affiliated with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm. A past president of Oberlin College and the Aspen Institute, he began his career in classical archaeology, excavating at Gordium in modern Turkey and mapping the Persian Royal Road.","products":[{"product_id":"lost-enlightenment-central-asias-golden-age-from-the-arab-conquest-to-tamerlane-paperback","title":"Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe forgotten story of Central Asia's enlightenment--its rise, fall, and enduring legacy\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this sweeping and richly illustrated history, S. Frederick Starr tells the fascinating but largely unknown story of Central Asia's medieval enlightenment through the eventful lives and astonishing accomplishments of its greatest minds--remarkable figures who built a bridge to the modern world. Because nearly all of these figures wrote in Arabic, they were long assumed to have been Arabs. In fact, they were from Central Asia--drawn from the Persianate and Turkic peoples of a region that today extends from Kazakhstan southward through Afghanistan, and from the easternmost province of Iran through Xinjiang, China. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eLost Enlightenment\u003c\/i\u003e recounts how, between the years 800 and 1200, Central Asia led the world in trade and economic development, the size and sophistication of its cities, the refinement of its arts, and, above all, in the advancement of knowledge in many fields. Central Asians achieved signal breakthroughs in astronomy, mathematics, geology, medicine, chemistry, music, social science, philosophy, and theology, among other subjects. They gave algebra its name, calculated the earth's diameter with unprecedented precision, wrote the books that later defined European medicine, and penned some of the world's greatest poetry. One scholar, working in Afghanistan, even predicted the existence of North and South America--five centuries before Columbus. Rarely in history has a more impressive group of polymaths appeared at one place and time. No wonder that their writings influenced European culture from the time of St. Thomas Aquinas down to the scientific revolution, and had a similarly deep impact in India and much of Asia. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eLost Enlightenment\u003c\/i\u003e chronicles this forgotten age of achievement, seeks to explain its rise, and explores the competing theories about the cause of its eventual demise. Informed by the latest scholarship yet written in a lively and accessible style, this is a book that will surprise general readers and specialists alike.\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A fantastic book.\"\u003cb\u003e--President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eLost Enlightenment\u003c\/i\u003e brilliantly re-creates for us the world of Central Asia, which for centuries was not a backwater but a center of world civilization. With a sure mastery of the large historical sweep as well as an eye for detail, Fred Starr has written an important book that will be a resource for years to come.\"\u003cb\u003e--Francis Fukuyama, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Origins of Political Order\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"For more than three hundred years the Islamic world exercised the scientific and philosophical mastery of Europe. With compelling urgency and lucidity, \u003ci\u003eLost Enlightenment\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of the rise and tragic demise of this golden age of Islamic learning in Central Asia. It is a story whose lesson we should never be allowed to forget.\"\u003cb\u003e--Anthony Pagden, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Enlightenment: And Why It Still Matters\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"From 800 to 1200, Central Asia was the world's most advanced civilization in the sciences, mathematics, medicine, law, and art. Starr's \u003ci\u003eLost Enlightenment\u003c\/i\u003e thoughtfully explains this astonishing evolution and its end.\"\u003cb\u003e--Henry A. Kissinger\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Fred Starr makes the most persuasive case yet that medieval Central Asia was a major center of civilization and high culture--and what a picture emerges.\"\u003cb\u003e--Richard W. Bulliet, Columbia University\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Drawing on his vast knowledge and experience of Central Asia, Fred Starr provides a brilliant account of the history and culture of the land that produced some of the greatest Islamic scholars, scientists, saints, artists, and architects. Thanks to this book, the Central Asian enlightenment is no longer as lost as some might think.\"\u003cb\u003e--Seyyed Hossein Nasr, George Washington University\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A delight to read, this is a fine survey of the intellectual and cultural history of Central Asia by a distinguished historian. By showing the remarkable discoveries in astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and other fields made by Central Asians from the earliest times, \u003ci\u003eLost Enlightenment\u003c\/i\u003e is certain to surprise many readers by challenging traditional misconceptions of the region. The book's biographical approach makes for lively reading. Anyone interested in the Silk Roads will find it enthralling.\"\u003cb\u003e--Morris Rossabi, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Mongols: A Very Short Introduction\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This ambitious and much-needed book will be an eye-opener for many readers. S. Frederick Starr shows that Central Asia, often viewed today as a backwater, produced some of the most outstanding minds of the Middle Ages.\"\u003cb\u003e--Peter B. Golden, author of \u003ci\u003eCentral Asia in World History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51366071435487,"sku":"9780691165851","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/l62OrOMfOt9780691165851.webp?v=1789080743"},{"product_id":"the-genius-of-their-age-ibn-sina-biruni-and-the-lost-enlightenment-hardcover","title":"The Genius of Their Age: Ibn Sina, Biruni, and the Lost Enlightenment - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA vibrant portrait of an age when Arabic enlightenment anticipated and inspired the European Renaissance, illuminated by its guiding figures and rivals, Ibn Sina and Biruni.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThe Genius of their Age\u003c\/em\u003e, S. Frederick Starr follows up his acclaimed \u003cem\u003eLost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age\u003c\/em\u003e with a portrait of the Arab enlightenment and its key figures--Abu-Ali al-Husayn ibn-'Abdallah Ibn-Sina and Abu al-Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni. A thousand years ago, these two intellectual giants--known as Ibn Sina and Biruni for short--achieved stunning breakthroughs in fields as diverse as medicine, astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, geography, and physics. Biruni measured the earth more precisely than anyone else down to the sixteenth century, pondered a heliocentric universe, and hypothesized the existence of North and South America as inhabited continents. Ibn Sina's writing on philosophy and metaphysics enriched the writings of countless European thinkers, including St. Thomas Aquinas, while Sina's grand synthesis of medical knowledge became the standard for the next six hundred years in Europe, the Middle East, and India. They both also commented extensively on the works of ancient Greeks and earlier Muslim thinkers, whose works they aspired to synthesize--and to transcend. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eContemporaries, Ibn Sina and Biruni were born within the borders of what is now Uzbekistan and spent their lives in Central Asia. They also became rivals, launching a correspondence and commentary that galvanized them despite sometimes bitter disagreement. Centuries before the West caught up with them, Ibn Sina and Biruni reflected their age's feats and its intellectual high point, persisting with their inquiries and their independence amid turmoil and rapid change. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThough scholars have long dissected the works of Ibn Sina and Biruni, S. Frederick Starr focuses also on their lives and the times in which they lived. By contextualizing their work and by making the age palpable to the reader, S. Frederick Starr gives the achievements of Ibn Sina and Biruni a holistic and unforgettably human dimension.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51369764094175,"sku":"9780197675557","price":35.62,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/uerXBHt_TB9780197675557.webp?v=1789146141"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/s-frederick-starr.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}