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I have a few comments on the themes raised in Pervez Hoodbhoy’s article.

Table I.
Country Physics papers per million people Science papers per million people GDP per capita (dollars)
Pakistan  5  50  2 100 
India  25  190  2 900 
Malaysia  29  480  9 000 
Saudi Arabia  32  559  11 800 
Iran  36  376  7 000 
Egypt  40  345  3 900 
Morocco  47  310  4 000 
China  58  332  5 000 
Turkey  73  1284  6 700 
Brazil  101  699  7 600 
US  686  9327  37 800 
Country Physics papers per million people Science papers per million people GDP per capita (dollars)
Pakistan  5  50  2 100 
India  25  190  2 900 
Malaysia  29  480  9 000 
Saudi Arabia  32  559  11 800 
Iran  36  376  7 000 
Egypt  40  345  3 900 
Morocco  47  310  4 000 
China  58  332  5 000 
Turkey  73  1284  6 700 
Brazil  101  699  7 600 
US  686  9327  37 800 
View Large

The table on page 52 of Hoodbhoy’s article compares data on the number of physics and science papers produced by the seven most scientifically productive Islamic countries and by some selected non-Islamic countries, namely Brazil, India, China, and the US. The countries he lists have very different populations. It may be more meaningful to compare their scientific productivity normalized by their populations. The table above is modified to present the number of papers per million people as well as the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita for those countries, based on 2005 statistics.

Using these modified data, we may extract a few additional points.

  • In addition to religious causes, scientific productivity appears to be influenced by some measure of economic activity such as GDP per capita. The lowest numbers of papers per million people are produced by Pakistan and India, the two countries with the lowest GDP per capita among the countries considered. Muslims make up only a small portion of the Indian population.

  • The religion factor becomes most noticeable with Saudi Arabia and Iran. The two countries lag behind in scientific productivity despite having relatively larger GDPs per capita, primarily from oil income. They are also two of the most ideologically rigid Islamic states.

  • Turkey ranks highest in the number of publications (adjusted to population) among Islamic countries and non-Islamic India and China. Part of that ranking may be attributed to Turkey’s democratic form of government and secular constitution. Muslims make up 99% of the population of Turkey. However, religion and state are clearly separated. Turkish Islam is also much more moderate in scope than Islam as practiced in Saudi Arabia and Iran.

I completely agree with the assertion that the effect of religious extremism on scientific thinking is not limited to Islam but is alive and well in all three monotheistic religions.

© 2008 American Institute of Physics.
2008
American Institute of Physics