Sami Abdel Raouf (Dubai)
Throughout the ages, geniuses and discoverers have provided great services to humanity, changed the course of the world for the better, and illuminated the path towards progress and development, so that history perpetuates them and is proud of them.
At a time when Expo 2020 Dubai is keen to celebrate today’s scientists and future innovations, it at the same time evokes the achievements of yesterday’s scientists to remind the world of the role of geniuses, thinkers and inventors in the past, so the pavilions of the participating countries are replete with many inspiring models of scholars, intellectuals and innovation, old and new, Among the most prominent and most important of these pavilions is the pavilion of the Kingdom of Spain, which is distinguished from other participating countries, as it was the meeting place of the Islamic and European civilizations, which made it unique in its past and present.
The Spanish pavilion includes many matters and aspects on display, the most important of which is a review of the role of some Spanish scholars and thinkers in the service of humanity, including the doctor Ramon i Cajal.
In the late nineteenth century, this young doctor bought the first microscope with which to explore the human brain. This scientist is also an accomplished painter and excellent photographic designer. He described in amazing detail the structure and connections of the nervous system, today called the “father of modern neuroscience.” Cajal obtained , was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1906.
The Spanish pavilion reviews the role of one of the pioneers of neuroscience in the world, the Spaniard Rafael Yuste, the inspirer of the Brian Initiative “The Initiative to Study the Human Brain” (in the United States of America), and Javier de Filipe, Co-Director of the Human Brain Project (in the European Union), both of which are He helped drive the most ambitious projects in the field of brain simulation and mapping, respectively.
It is remarkable that modern Spain celebrates the role of Islamic civilization in its formation and distinction. The inscriptions on the walls of the pavilion indicate that Spain preserves a huge heritage of Spanish-Andalusian Islamic architecture, richly decorated inspired by nature, engineering and Quranic drawing.
The intermarriage of these two rich cultures resulted in the legacy of Andalusia, embodied in the development of agricultural techniques and the use of water, in addition to the transmission of knowledge sciences such as astronomy, cartography and medicine, as well as cultural, musical and architectural intermingling.
For more than eight centuries, much of Spain was the scene of unprecedented cultural, social and religious exchange between East and West.
When you go to the Spanish Pavilion, the interest in the game of chess also draws your attention, as it comes at the front of the pavilion and controls a large area of it, in addition to giving visitors the opportunity to play chess, as there are several places dedicated to this.
The game of chess was an original element in the Arab culture in the past, as matches were held in the court of Baghdad, and they were played blindfolded to be able to memorize the positions of the pieces.
The Spaniards call the game of chess many nicknames, including “a school of war and life.” In 1283, King Alfonso X stressed the importance of chess as a tool for coexistence between Muslims, Jews and Christians.
Spain occupies a leading place in the use of chess as an educational, social and therapeutic tool, in addition to being the country that organizes most international tournaments for this game, which is an effective educational and educational tool, because it improves emotional intelligence and athletic performance, and helps comprehension during reading, in addition to promoting The game values and skills flexible thinking and self-criticism, two skills essential today to achieve coexistence in this fast and volatile world.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, chess became a strategic game par excellence, as the first chess clubs were established, and the first international tournaments were organized.
The Spanish winger refers to one of the historically distinguished players, Judith Polgar, who is the only woman ever to be ranked among the top ten chess players in the world, and she retired from competition in 2014 to devote herself to teaching chess. It also refers to the remote control, invented by the brilliant Spanish inventor Torres y Quevedo, the agadrista machine (1910) capable of giving checkmate to the tower and the king against the king. After 40 years, chess is once again a field experiment by the fathers of artificial intelligence, Tozing and Shannon . Today, science draws important lessons from matches between computers and the best chess players.
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