Here is a good article on the subject of the decline of Science in the Arab/Muslim world.
However the point that needs to be made is that science may not be flourishing in its native lands, but it is amongst the Arab/Muslim diaspora. Both Nobel prizes in Physics and Chemistry by Muslim scientists were earnt from their labs in Oxford and California respectively.

The future does looks slightly better in that Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates et al are building or have already built huge research science institutes and so for the first time in centuries there is now proper patronage of the sciences.

That's an interesting question, actually the list goes on and on, just some samples:


• Israeli company Project RAY has developed the world’s first smartphone for people with visual disabilities.


New Israeli app called Pango that lets users locate, book and pay for parking spots via their smartphone.


• Neomatix, which has developed a device to check tire pressure remotely when trucks park for the night.


• Israel has designed the first flight system to protect passenger and freighter aircraft against missile attack.


• AirTrain JFK – the 8.1-mile light rail labrynthe that connects JFK Airport to New York City’s mass transit – is protected by the Israeli-developed Nextiva surveillance system.


• An Israeli-developed alogrithm enabled NASA to transmit images from Mars.


• Israeli researchers have developed an engineless, nano-RPV (remote piloted vehicle).


• Israel engineers are behind the development of the largest communications router in the world, launched by Cisco.


• An Israeli physicist-turned-inventor has developed the world’s first air-conditioned motorcycle.


• Jerusalem-based SnapKeys


• A new Israeli iPhone and iPad app called GroupShot


• An Israeli company has developed the world’s first video ringtones for cell phones – the Vringo.


• The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel.


• Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.


• The technology for AOL Instant Messenger was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.


• Israeli technology is behind the successful testing of in-flight cell phone use.


• An Israeli company has developed a revolutionary new tool that could allow surgeons to close wounds without stitches or staples minimalizing scarring and risk of infection.


• Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.


• Israel’s Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill.


• A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the ClearLight device.


• Israeli microbiologists have developed the first passive vaccine against the mosquito-borne West Nile virus.


• Israeli stem-cell technology is being used in the U.S. to regenerate heart tissue.


• An Israeli company has developed a device that could enable millions of American diabetics to painlessly inject themselves with insulin.


• An Israeli company has developed a new device for monitoring coronary disease that will be integrated into future generations of cellphones.


• An Israeli has invented a ‘bone glue’ that will reduce the need for bone transplants and heal bone defects caused by cancer.


• An Israeli company is the world’s leading sleep disorder sensors manufacturer.


• Israeli scientists are developing a nose drop that will provide a five-year flu vaccine.


• Israeli scientists have discovered how to turn mismatched cells into cancer fighters.


• An Israeli-developed device can painlessly administer medications through microscopic pores in the skin.


• An Israeli-developed elderberry extract is one of America’s best-selling flu prevention medicines.


• Israel has one of the most progressive medical marijuana programs in the world. For thousands of Israelis suffering cancer, MS, Crohn’s and chronic pain, pot provides vital relief.


• A 91-year-old scientist has developed a simple bedside test that can detect killer superbugs in minutes, rather than days, providing one of the most potent weapons against hospital-borne infections to date.


• An Israeli pharma company is testing an advanced weapon against pancreatic and prostate cancer.


• An Israeli ‘super-sensor’ has been installed in Sealy mattresses to control snoring problems.


• An Israeli discovery of a gene that could cure a blinding eye disease has been licensed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.


• The success of GlaxoSmithKline’s once-a-day breast cancer pill Tykerb – which has won approval by the FDA for use by women with metastatic or advanced breast cancer – is thanks in part to clinical trials conducted by Israeli researchers.


• An Israeli innovation could make many diagnostic catheterizations for clogged arteries unnecessary.


• Israeli scientists have developed a genetically engineered cleaning solution that makes today’s deadly new strains of superbugs resistant to antibiotics.


• Israeli laser technology is powering the latest hair removal devices on the American market.


• An Israeli system to help dyslexic readers is being used throughout the US and Europe.


• An Israeli company has developed a device that helps nurses locate hard-to-find veins.


• A portable electrocardiograph machine developed by Israeli company SHL can transmit highly detailed data on heart activity to physicians by mobile phone.


• Israeli startup Audiodent has developed an innovative hearing aid that clips easily inside the mouth, using the teeth and jawbone to transmit sound to the brain.


• Israeli company Ultrashape has developed a safe replacement for liposuction – a unique new body-contouring device that “blasts” unwanted fat from the body.


• An Israeli company has developed a simple blood test that distinguishes between mild and more severe cases of MS.


• Israeli scientists have discovered the cause of chronic bad breath and a painless solution.


• An Israeli company has unveiled a blood test that can diagnose heart attacks via the telephone.


• The Israeli-developed Ex-Press shunt is providing relief for American glaucoma sufferers.


• An Israeli doctor headed the Merck team that developed a vaccine against cervical cancer.


• An Israeli inventor has developed the world’s first cardboard bicycle from recycled materials. The bike is resistant to rain and sun, and costs around $9 each.


• An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California’s Mojave desert.


• An Israeli company is providing the technology behind an American all-electric bus for urban use.


• Israeli biologists have successfully managed, for the first time, to prepare the flowering of the “Madonna Lily” – a rare white Easter lily – in time for Easter.


• An Israeli company has developed the world’s first jellyfish repellent.


• An Israeli two-flush system is saving Americans billions of gallons of water a year.


• Drinking water for visitors to Indiaís Taj Mahal has just got a great deal safer thanks to Israelís Aqwise, which will be purifying 150,000 cubes of water daily from the cityís nearby Yamuna River.


• A new IBM-Israel partnership is helping toward a goal of reducing California water usage by 20 percent by the year 2020.


• Israelís Univerve is breeding a strain of algae to fuel your car.


• Israel is one of the leading countries in providing ornamental fish to aquariums around the world.


• NASA is interested in knowing what Israeli researchers can learn about conditions on Mars by studying the Negev desert.


• Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees.


• An Israeli company has developed a nano-lubricant that one day could mean the end of changing your car oil.


• Laplanders from Norway turned to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to learn how to revitalize their traditional language.


• Israeli artists have developed new bus stop libraries available free of charge to commuters and travelers across the country.


• Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers was produced by Haim Saban, an Israeli whose family fled persecution in Egypt.


• A 26-year-old Israeli was named entrepreneur of the year by an international organization for his program to nurture future engineers using advanced Lego building skills.

Fixed that for you.

No problem. Would you like me to rewrite it in my own words ?

Mod
Would it be possible to shorten, or remove part of my post ?
It does seem to be too long .....

Yeah, but apart from that what have the Israelis ever done for us?

thanks for the listing, that is indeed undeniable
but baffles me is how come?, or rather why would such a small country be such a ridiculous overachiever, almost too good to be true.

i just wanted to know a thing or two from the secretes…

How ever... what is going on the middle east is horrific and I cannot understand why other countries are not able to live in peace as we Swiss do.

That's an excellent point.

I see your gold and raise you an "all the oil under the sand".

Where does it rank ?
The University of Jerusalem ranks 70th out of 500 leading universities.
http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2014.html

Education, hard work, ambition, supportive families and communities, The study of the Talmud Yerushalmi raises awareness of their history and heritage, while passing on wisdom through millenniums of generations.

By the way, if you want some very deep background and learn something very interesting about this Middle East situation, review the story of Isaac and Ishmael from both the Jewish and the Muslim perspective. These are Abraham's two sons. This whole ME thing is a humongous family squabble between their mothers, Sarah and Hagar. Intrigue, jealousy, and "he said, I said" versions of the story. This is magnitudes more intense than any TV soap opera.

The lesson I pick up from the story of Isaac and Ishmael is that polygamy might seem like a really cool idea, its not a sin and there is theology to permit it. But the headache and trouble it can potentially cause will make one regret it forever.

EF's a bit quiet this morning. This article is very interesting.

It only confirms what many people suspected.

Arab civilisation broke down in the 13th and 14th century when the Turks took over. Most Arab countries are NOT wealthy. Only a small number of relatively small countries. Out of the heavyweights, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt are slowly bur steadily getting up while Syria and Iraq are in deep trouble

More important than universities are the many professional schools which got established in the past half-century and are as in Europe the main pillar of education. The one which owns money, Saudi Arabia, is investing billions in its infrastructure and into education in order to get ahead.

You have to see that in the 1950ies, illiteracy rates between Casablanca and Muscat were between 30 and 70 percent (Syria fairly good with less than 25% but the KSA pretty bad with around 60 to 70 percent). So that the Arab World as first priority had to catch up

Ringleader in burning alive of Palestinian youth convicted of murder

Source

Let us hope we will eventually approach closure on this disgraceful episode.

Even I have to give credit to the Israeli Police and courts for finding and prosecuting the perpetrators of this heinous crime.