If you think of the basis of the world’s knowledge, who came up with the theories which began to understand how the world was formed or put together? does it make a difference what religion they were? If it does not and should not, the reality is the earliest abilities to understand was made by Muslims, in what is termed the Golden Age. In the book Lost History written by Michael H Morgan published by National Geographic, Washington, DC, 2007 outlines the earliest Muslim thinkers who began to put the logic, the numbers, the theories together to understand how man fits into the world. The calendar, the size of earth, where is earth in relationship to the planets, what is in the sky? Time, distance which meant the math of calculus, trigonometry were founded and used by the Muslims in the 700s. This was a time where people believed in reason (reason is the highest expression of G-d) and were given the latitude and expectations by their religious leaders. In the Golden Age, the brightest and best and all so inclined came to universities of the time and started to theorize. The standard was each theory no matter how compelling must stand up to observation and testing. In the environment, understanding in the 700’s there was no computers, the calculations of the scientists on the size of the earth was within a half mile of what we know it in 2000’s.

The environment was the key. Each of the scientists had to research and publish their findings which were shared with the other scientists. Sometimes the theories were wrong, but sometimes the theories were correct which then would translate into building projects – irrigation, buildings, transportation which made life better for everyone. The book describes many scientists, thinkers and artists who were well advanced of where Europeans were at. If it had not been for the Muslims and their books being translated into Latin for Europeans, the European world would have developed much slower. (one of the great assets of Florence which is the city at the height of the Renaissance is the libraries of the Medici). The golden age of great leaps of knowledge ended partly because of different leaders who had a narrow vision of their lives would burn the libraries (known knowledge, because knowledge is power) and have their citizens believe in only what they can see. Leadership matters, however the history of Muslim scientists lives on. Some of the names are Jabir ibn Haiyan known as the father of chemistry; Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi known as the father of algebra and there are many others.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the standard of theories no matter how compelling must stand up to observation and testing to be true is something to consider while investing. Every day someone has a theory how to beat the markets, which is a good thing. Unfortunately most will not stand the test of time, however it is good to have theories. One theory that has stood the test of time is companies that can afford to pay a dividend because they are profitable are good investments, particularly over the long term. If a company is profitable, the street will push up the price earnings ratio or the stock price will go up and receiving dividends along the way will push your total return up.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.