In the 10th century, Cordoba (Spain) had paved streets lit by oil lamps for miles. At the same time, London and Paris were dark, muddy, and unsafe to walk in at night.

Hundreds of English words come from Arabic.
• Admiral comes from Amir-al-Bahr (Commander of the Sea).
• Cotton comes from Qutn.
• Sugar comes from Sukkar.
• Lemon comes from Laymun.

Al-Kindi (9th century) wrote a book titled On Deciphering Cryptographic Messages. He invented Frequency Analysis, a method to break codes by analyzing how often letters appear. This method was used until WWII.

Ibn al-Nafis wrote Theologus Autodidactus, the first novel to use elements of science fiction. It features a protagonist who spontaneously generates on an island, dissects animals, and predicts a doomsday apocalypse using science.

In the 10th century, the Royal Library of Cordoba contained over 400,000 books. In contrast, the largest library in Christian Europe (at the Monastery of St. Gall, Switzerland) held only 600 books.

The university term "Chair" (e.g., Chair of the Department) comes from the Islamic Kursi. In Madrasas, the professor sat on a chair (Kursi) to deliver lectures, while students sat on the floor.

Al-Jazari invented a robotic waitress that could serve water, tea, or wine. The drink was stored in a tank, and as it poured into a cup, the weight change triggered the robot to emerge from a door and serve the drink.

The first modern hospital was the Ahmad ibn Tulun Hospital in Cairo (872 CE). It had a library, separate wards for different diseases, and a policy of treating all patients for free until they were fully recovered.