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How the Gulf’s rulers want to harness the power of science
A stronger R&D base, they hope, will transform their countries’ economies. Will their plan work?
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Currently, the UAE spends just 1.5% of its GDP on research and development, Qatar just 0.7% and Saudi Arabia 0.5%.
PHOTO: AFP
The Economist
Bayt al-Hikma, or the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, emerged in the ninth century – even before the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, widely considered the first academy of sciences.
The Banu Musa brothers, sons of an astronomer in Baghdad, created the first machine with a stored program there and scientific textbooks from the institute were translated and made their way to Europe.
