3. MUSLIM CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE

~ 106 ~ in A.D. 325. After the acceptance of Christianity by Constantine the Great (280-337), the faith spread all over Roman territory. Now vested with tremendous power, the Christians patronized, in particular, the theory of Ptolemy. The curtain of darkness fell over the heliocentric theory of Aristarchus. Of geocentricity the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1984) says: “There was no further scope for cosmology in the model, which continued to be taught and used almost everywhere until the 17th century.”50 It was not until 1495 that Copernicus arrived at the conclusion that the earth was not the centre of the universe. After a long period of research devoted to astronomical studies, he was forced to conclude that the planets revolved around the sun. But, fearing the opposition of the Church, he refrained from publishing his findings until 1543. The Muslims, however, did not suffer from the error of regarding as sacred, that which was nonsacred. They were in a position to reflect upon matters of scientific interest with open minds, and in a purely academic way. When they found that