What have the Arabs ever done for us?

So asked daytime talk show presenter "Kilroy", in a now controversial newspaper article. And Guardian columnist Derek Brown is telling him what. Of course, historically the Arabs are the inventors of zero and algebra, and are the discoverers of much astronomical knowledge and many chemical processes. At their cultural peak, they were artists, writers and architects of far greater skill and taste than Europeans of the day. But many people who know these facts, even if Kilroy doesn't, have no idea of the richness of Arab culture today, in such areas as poetry and prose, calligraphy, ceramics and architecture.