Thoughts on science

I finished El Medico this morning--great book. It tells the story of a young Christian man in the middle ages who travels to Persia to study medicine. Because of Christian-Islamic tensions, he disguises himself as a Jew with the hope of being admitted into one of the best schools of medicine of the time. It's an incredible saga and especially interesting for anyone who's scientifically or medically inclined.

I was struck while reading by just how long it takes for traditions, societies and cultures to change. The middle ages was a time when European doctors were at best well-intentioned but completely ignorant of most diseases and their respective causes and cures; and at worst, greedy, blood-suckers who capitalized on popular ignorance to line their own pockets, charging outrageous prices for minimal services. Medicine was nearly tantamount to witchcraft, and many doctors and other healers were tried and convicted of the crime. The Church believed only priests and saints to be the legitimate care-takers of the human soul and body.

In the Middle East, however, under Islamic caliphates, medical studies flourished and doctors enjoyed respect in society. Nonetheless, many of the findings and breakthroughs made in Eastern medicine didn't make their way to Europe for centuries; one exception being Spain, where there was a strong Islamic government for 700 years. In fact, in the novel, the main character is presented with Spain as an option for study since being Christian automatically makes him an ineligible candidate for the madrases of the Islamic East.

I also finally watched Agora. In the film, the Library of Alexandria, home to thousands of important volumes on everything from philosophy to science and medicine, is destroyed. The main character is killed for her pursuits in science and philosophy and especially her studies of the stars and the movement of the planets--namely that the Earth isn't the center of the universe. This is because her beliefs and practices, like those of doctors in the middle ages, go against the current theology of the time.

And for a moment I was glad to live in an enlightened age... But then I thought of things like stem cell research and same-sex marriage where religious beliefs and morals are still obstructing science and human rights and I realize that we've got a long way to go.

Will there come a time when people look back at us now and marvel at how we could have been so ignorant?