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  • Researching Biology and Evolution in the Gulf States: Networks of Science in the Middle East by Jörg Matthias Determann
  • Benjamin Reilly (bio)
Researching Biology and Evolution in the Gulf States: Networks of Science in the Middle East, by Jörg Matthias Determann. London: I.B. Tauris, 2015. 234 pages. $95.

For many scholars of intellectual history, the Arabian Peninsula has long been an “empty quarter” as far as scientific production was concerned. This is particularly true in the field of biology, where (conventional wisdom holds) Arab hostility to the theory of evolution has exerted a malign influence on research progress. In his new book, however, Jörg Matthias Determann counters this view, arguing that the Gulf participated in substantive transnational research interconnections in the field of biology despite the region’s supposed hostility to evolutionary theory. Indeed, Determann argues that the Arabian Peninsula has been an oasis as much as a desert for biological research, especially in a few “islands of efficiency” created by royal patronage. However, these islands were often short-lived; not because of hostility to evolution, but mainly due to factors intrinsic to the rentier mentality of the Gulf monarchies.

The book begins with a discussion of the supposed Arab hostility to the theory of evolution, which Determann clearly believes has been exaggerated by many observers. It is true that the ‘ulama of the region reject the proposition that mankind evolved from lower forms of animals. Determann admits that the theory of evolution is omitted from most public school textbooks in the region. Nonetheless, Determann notes that Muslim believers, unlike the “Young Earth” Christian fundamentalists in West, generally acknowledge that the earth is billions of years old, which is crucial to evolutionary biology. What is more, many Arabian Peninsula scholars were influenced by the ideas of 19th-century Egyptian scholar Muhammad ‘Abdullah and his successors, who made the argument that certain breakthrough ideas in science, such as the “Big Bang” theory and embryology, were presaged by the Qur’an. Determann also argues that local unfamiliarity with the concept of evolution has actually been advantageous to Arab and Western academics working in this field within Arabia, since papers submitted by such scholars to international journals have generally elicited little interest from, or pushback from, local Arab populations. Determann does point out several recent incidents in which Arab populations have condemned evolutionary theory, such as the 2007 anti-evolution campaign in Dubai and the media storm against a 2011 lecture by Joe Williams at Taif University in Saudi Arabia. These incidents, however, have not prevented evolution from being studied by local scholars or local universities.

In later chapters, Determann gives a number of case studies about successful biological research projects in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly in the fields of botany, zoology, and paleontology. A recurring theme in these case studies is that biological research in Arabia took place when it could mutually satisfy the needs of both local and international actors. Local shaykhs became interested in biology as a side-effect of their efforts to conserve or re-introduce prey animals, such as the oryx and the houbara bustard. Oil companies, in turn, were interested in biology as a side-effect of geology, since fossil collection was an important means by which to measure the ages of rock strata. The actual research was generally carried out by scholars hailing from outside of the Arabian Peninsula, mainly from Europe, America, or (especially in the early period) Egypt. Funding and logistical support, on the other hand, was mainly provided by either indigenous Arabian governmental officials, members of the Gulf royal families, or both. The two sides benefitted from these international connections: foreign scholars were able to rack up an impressive list of publications, even on topics relating to evolution, while local governments were able to tout their scientific or environmentalist credentials to [End Page 348] an international audience.

Nonetheless, the same historical factors that explained the success of some Gulf biology projects ensured that others would be short-lived. According to Determann, powerful patrons in the Gulf monarchies could create “islands of efficiency” for science because of their ability to provide generous funding and cut bureaucratic red...

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