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A particular feature of medieval Islamic civilisation was its wide horizons. The Muslims were heir not only to the Graeco-Roman world of the Mediterranean, but to the ancient Near East and the empires of Assyria, Babylon and the Persians. Beyond that, they were in frequent contact with India and China to the east and with black Africa to the south. This intellectual openness is present in many inter-related fields of Muslim thought: philosophy and theology, medicine and pharmacology, algebra and geometry, astronomy and astrology, geography and the literature of marvels, ethnology and sociology. It also impacted powerfully on trade and on the networks that made it possible. This openness is reflected in this series. It covers a wide range of topics, periods and geographical areas, including studies of literature, history, religion, law, art, economics, sociology and science.
