Pathfinders: Golden Age of Arabic Science

For over seven centuries, the international language of science was Arabic. In Pathfinders, physicist and author Jim Al-Khalili brings to life the forgotten pioneers of the Islamic Golden Age.

We meet Ibn al-Haytham, who practiced the scientific method centuries before Francis Bacon. We encounter al-Khwarizmi, the mathematician whose work gave us algebra. And we discover Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, a Persian polymath whose brilliance rivaled that of Leonardo da Vinci.

This is not just a history of science. It is a celebration of curiosity, invention, and the human drive to understand the world. Al-Khalili reminds us that the so-called ‘Dark Ages’ were anything but — they were illuminated by scholars whose ideas shaped the foundations of modern science.