Do we have any articles/publications that explain this ? Both religions exhort its followers to gain knowledge and become skilled, and yet only Islam seemed to have experienced a golden age in science and technology despite Buddhism being much older and coming under patronage from various rulers at a much earlier time.
Theistic religions are concerned with beginnings. The Buddha taught us to end things. Buddhism isnât really into the wonder of creation.
With this as a basis for acquiring knowledge, priorities seem to have been different.
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Buddhism has though long been at the forefront of media technologies, from the first printed book to contemporary robotics and virtual reality.
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If not creation, then why couldnât atleast lay followers in the past document/observe natural phenomena atleast just like how Buddhists observe the mind/aggregates ? They had a thousand year head start.
So many things that we take for granted apparently were founded/created by Muslim scientists who were keen enough to observe such phenomena. For example, I take it you are wearing spectacles/glasses, are you aware that the father of the very field of study (Optics) that made the creation of such devices even possible was Muslim (Al Haytham) ?
It can be argued that even Islam has theological restrictions for science/experimentation etc since it supposedly isnât concerned much with this life, since it is said to be temporary/a test from God etc.
Well this belief of a temporary life did not deter Muslims from creating a new golden age for science in that very lifetime that then lasted centuriesâŚ.
Yes, Iâm aware of printing technology that Buddhists pioneered. The first printed book was a Mahayana Sutra iirc. That being said, Iâm still surprised there was no equivalent golden age of science compared to what the Muslims have spearheaded, with numerous muslim scientists who ended up creating so many scientific manuscripts in Arabic and establishing entirely new fields of scientific study.
Scientific contributions by Buddhists during ancient or even mediaeval times are rather wanting if not non-existent, even during the times of the Mauryan Empire when Buddhism had considerable patronage and influence, not just in the Indian subcontinent but elsewhere.
I not expert in this concept but i think virtue of Islam was it originally for long time open mind have pluralism doctrine. Early Arab Muslim in Persia praise the Buddhism very high and at a time Muslim translate some Mahayana Text into Arabic language. At later time it was âex-Tengri-Buddhistâ convert Turk & Mongol final end of Buddhism in India & Afghanistan. I not sure Islam invent all of it science but it also inherent scientific development from long Persia development and also maybe Persia inherent from China example the gunpowder & cannon for war. I think contrast is the Christianity. The Christianity bring Dark Age to Europe and destroy the Greek & Roman humanistic advancement and destroy all native religion and later Europe emerge from darkness with Renaissance & Protestant rejection of original Christianity plus adopting technology from Islam world . I think Buddhism not good comparison because the Buddhism decline & defeat in India before Turk invasion of India and the Buddhism only have the predomination in the less technological society Ceylon South East Asia. When society live in more abundant tropical easy to grow food land of Ceylon South East Asia less need for technology & science. Many technology & science come from war such as England emerge in 1700s as leader of technology because England maybe have most concentration history of war. The Golden Age Of Islam representation of the cultural pluralism & humanism which why Golden Age of the Jewish Civilisation also happen in the Islamic Age. The Islam doctrine very similar to Zoroastrian doctrine why Islam easy seamless adoption in Persia in emphasis one universal god creating human potential for goodness. Different to Bible which make the god have the flaws and emphasis the evil human nature. Also goal of Bible is destruction of the nations. In West use phrase âAbrahamic religionâ for Islam but i not agree with this. Bible is Abrahamic intolerant fundamentalism destruction religion which emphasis evil sinful nature of the man; not the potential for goodness. This why the Islam for long time promote the balanced human endeavour & cultural religious diversity also a cause for science flourish. 
My preliminary view is that, Islam is a mercantile, warrior, proselytizing religion that cherishes worldly attainments. Buddhism is not like that.
Islam praises acquisitions, why Buddhism praises renunciation. Itâs kind of easy to imagine how those ideas would shape cultures. 
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I not sure. Buddha Sutta promote mercantile and deva lifestyle for layperson. Many sutta about virtue of acquisition of worldly wealth. Today Western people read Sutta and think the deva devata like the Christian devata floating in the heaven cloud outer space but in India time i think the people believe the devata Buddhism praise is the king, queen, rich luxury people. When Islam first visit to the West India many Buddhist convert to Islam because both Buddhist and Muslim have mercantile livelihood; why Silk Road was very much Buddhism. When Mongol come into Islam territory the Mongol ruler inheritance heirs keep changing the State Religion from Buddhism to Islam to Buddhism to Islam until last time. The Buddhist also very mercantile.
The Suttas encourage acquisition of wealth, and proselytization as well. Youâre right on the warrior part I guess.
Also donât Muslims frown upon worldly attachments as well ? Saying it distracts them from coming closer to their Allah. ?
Some sects even shun Jewellery and even Music, stating the same reason.
I kinda agree with some of things the poster above mentioned. Buddhism was actually quite popular among the Mercantile classes in India and elsewhere.
Islam is AbrahamicâŚ
I agree about the Human Endeavour part, but âpromoteâ cultural religious diversity ? Maybe that is stretching it. âTolerateâ is more like it. Also it did quite surprise me that Jews were more well treated in Islamic societies than in Christian ones. The Christian resentment back then is probably because of the fact that the Jews gave up Jesus to be crucified by the Romans(and I wonât mention whatâs written in the Talmud about Jesus and Mary) and also the fact the Jews consider Christians as Heretics/Idol worshippers. Since Muslims are strict Monotheists like Jews, it is unsurprising that Jews have no problem praying inside Mosques.
Having said all that, I feel like we were going off topic. If anyone has any articles/books etc that explain/explore the initial question I asked, I will be grateful.
IMHO Buddhismâs âtechnologicalâ genius was, and is, within the experiences of our minds. We might say âinwardâ while the West and, according to you, Islam often leaned âoutwardâ into the sciences and tool-making.
The âworldâ in the Abrahamic religions of course includes the soul and inner reflection and prayer, but is also directed towards the manipulation and exploration of the outer world â the universe as itâs usually conceived, Godâs Creation.
The âworldâ in the Dhamma is different and is defined in SN35.23 and SN12.44, among other suttas. Reading them youâll see the important differences in the premise/definition of the âworldâ between Buddhism and these religions.
This lead to less interest by Buddhist teachers and committed practitioners in figuring out how the âoutsideâ world worked and how to manipulate it to, rather, how the âinsideâ world of experiences arises and ceases. This lead to the teaching of many profound âtechnologiesâ such as various forms of meditation, morality, and skillful intentions to END the world of conditional experiences, hence to end all dukkha.
Meanwhile, have worldly telescopes, microscopes, optics, and QM solved this existential problem? Buddhism looks directly into this problem and offers an empiric testable solution.
This is not to demean scientific inquiry and some advancements, but to offer a different perspective on why Buddhism directed its âlightâ in a different direction.
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To my understanding, Buddhism now conquers the West and the world, is not in the sense of religion, but in the personal mental health needs in the psychotherapy field, such as mindfulness practice.
Those who practice and teach mindfulness do not consider Buddhism is a religion but psychotherapy for mental health.
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It probably has little to do with religion. Mesopotamia and Greece were always in the lead in terms of civilizational advances. The Islamic world inherited that lead. The region had been unified for a long time under Persian empires before Islam conquered it. India had a much later start than the Middle East.
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One thing I notice in Thailand is that climate plays a factor as well. Mechanical innovation has less incentive here in the tropics, where food is relatively abundant year-round (no need for winter storage, etc) and where physical infrastructure doesnât last very long (termites, humidity, etc quickly destroy just about anything).
But there is a degree of Europeans discounting indigenous forms of knowledge at work here too. Careful selection of crops led to great innovations in agriculture. The domesticated chicken is from Southeast Asia, for example. And rice is still the most common calorie source on Earth.
To bring it back to Buddhism: what counts as âSTEMâ? What counts as âgolden ageâ? Most of the STEM innovations in the Middle East and Europe (and today in America) were for war⌠Perhaps Buddhism is just less interested in war?
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I am not aware of any, nor am I aware of any articles/publications that explain why left-handed people never had their own Golden Age for STEM.
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This verse came to mind this morning, though as others have said, I am sure it is as much geographical as anything.
Irrigators guide water, fletchers straighten arrows, carpenters carve timber, the astute tame themselves
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My first thought is that the Buddha was concerned with the Four Noble Truths and the ending of dukkha and rebirth. Concepts like the universe expanding or contacting didnât interest him. Even the beginning of consciousness wasnât of concern, only the ending of rebirth.
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Those who believe in samsara do not need to look for eternal life; we all have eternal life. For some the main issue is how to free from eternal life!
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Buddhism did have a Golden Age with intellectual pursuits that included STEM at Nalanda University. Nalanda was sited near PÄvÄrikaâs mango grove the Buddha enjoyed.
That golden age had similarities to The Golden Age of Islam. They were both reliant on secular conditions e.g. a wealth surplus, that in part was generated by trade and dependent on state stability. With trade came access to traveling scholars with knowledge.
Ironically the Islam Golden Age drew on Indian knowledge, despite the Islamic invasion of north India sacking Nalanda. The libraries were said to burn for weeks. A Persian historian recorded that thousands of Bhikkus were either burned alive or beheaded.
While its reasonable to make the argument religion aided some STEM advances, its also compelling to make a case that STEM happened despite religion rather then because of religion.
Nalanda: international university of the ancient world
In 427 C.E., one of the worldâs first great universities was founded at Nalanda, in the state of Bihar, north India. Even judged by todayâs standards, Nalanda was a marvel of educational vision. Dedicated mainly to Buddhist studies at first, it expanded into a training center for many areas of knowledge. At its height in the 7th century, it housed nearly 2,000 professors and as many as 10,000 students, who arrived not only from all parts of India but from China, Tibet, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Persia, and Turkey.
The building of this great center of higher education was another mark of the âgolden ageâ represented by the Gupta Era.
In addition to the Buddhist scriptures, students were able to pursue fields of science, especially astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and logic
A History of Science in World Cultures 2016
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Buddhism was also a motivation in the advancement of astronomy and timekeeping in medieval China:
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