Academic historians of science have always been confronted with politically expedient appropriations of historical research. The line between academic and popular history is obviously fleeting, but in the recent past, the global political conjuncture and a more rapid distribution of contents over the internet have led to a steep increase in the spread of claims that do not stand up to the most basic scholarly standards. This paper presents a case study concerning alleged priorities of the Muslim world in the medical sciences, exemplified by several exhibits in the exhibition '1001 inventions - Muslim heritage', which has been endorsed by the National Geographic and is reaching an audience of hundreds of thousands through museums, print and video, hegemonising the international discourse including some university-level teaching. Firstly, the reception of the 1001 inventions narrative will be traced through various types of academic, semi-academic, and popular media. This includes peer-reviewed journals in the history of science, SCI-indexed medical and healthcare journals as well as magazines published by national research organisations such as Turkey's TÜBİTAK and some authoritative-looking websites (e.g., muslimheritage.com). Even among active members of the International Commission on History of Science and Technology in Islamic Societies, there is no unanimity about an adequate presentation of research in this field or regarding appropriate responses to the growing visibility of revisionist historiography. An assessment of some of the recent public debates about the 1001 inventions project and some additional examples from the history of medicine in the Islamic world forms the second major part of the presentation. Finally, I will argue that as professional historians of science we need to strike a fine balance between concentrated research and thorough analysis on the one hand and contributions to the making of knowledge outside our immediate field of specialisation, either by publishing work that is accessible to a wider audience (non-specialist teaching, media, exhibitions, such as 'ex oriente lux?' in Oldenburg 2009) or through collaboration with media professionals (one would like to think of the National Geographic as a potential partner).