"Nevertheless, this laughable hypothesis is exactly what has been adopted with the 12th and 16th c. sources of “Greek” or “Hellenic” tradition." Hence, virtually all the knowledge prevalent in the 11th c. world, as known to Indians and Arabs, is attributed to Greeks like Aristotle, Archimedes, and Ptolemy. The fact is that the knowledge in these 11th c. texts accurately reflects the knowledge that then prevailed—as is naturally to be expected. However, Western historians explain this fact not by the simple and natural hypothesis of accretive up- dating of the texts, but by the extraordinary claim that all (or most of) the contemporary knowledge of the 11th c. world was derived by transmission from the Greeks, who had anticipated these developments. There is no other, or direct, evidence that these Greek authors wrote anything at all. Thus, by way of evidence, this extraordinary‘theory of transmission simply begs the question! To complete the story, it is thought enough to supplement it with a speculative chronology, attached to Greek names, based on stray remarks of doubtful authenticity in late texts. This sort of story-telling may be perfectly consonant with the standards of theology (and most early Western historians were priests), but is completely unconvincing from a somewhat more sceptical and down-to-earth point of view."