Reservoir Optimization Conference: Research in the Oil and Gas Industries

Many of the early Islamic scientists set the directions that were followed by the European scientists who succeeded them and thus established the foundations and the standards for science as we know it today. Pivotal to this early development work was an open process of debate, citation, consensus, and peer review (ijmaa, isnad, and ijtihad), which was, essentially, the precursor to the modern symposiums of professional societies. The process was based on the belief that knowledge had no boundaries and that unfolding nature’s laws was a duty. The support of the Islamic ruling establishments was fundamental to the success of early science; again, this is very similar to the present concept of grants and financial support for academic establishments.