Alhazen Abu Ali al-Hasan Ibn Al-Haitham (also: Ibn al Haitham) (965-1040) (Arabic: أبو علي الحسن بن الهيثم) was an Arab Muslim mathematician; he is sometimes called al-Basri (Arabic: البصري), after his birthplace Basra, Arab Islamic Caliphate (now Iraq). Events March 1 - Pope Benedict V is put in place of Pope Leo VIII by the people October 1 - John XIII becomes Pope The Khazar fortress of Sarkel falls to the Kievan Rus Births Sweyn I of Denmark Deaths February 22 - Odo, Duke of Burgundy July 4 - Pope Benedict V... Events March War of Independence of Western Xia occurred. ... The Arabic language (Arabic: ‎ translit: ), or simply Arabic (Arabic: ‎ translit: ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ... for Imam Muslim, see Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) is an adherent of Islam. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Location of Basra Basra (also spelled BaÅŸrah or Basara; historically sometimes written Busra, Busrah, and the early form Bassorah; Arabic: , Al-Basrah) is the second largest city of Iraq with an estimated population of c. ... An Anglicized/Latinized version of the Arabic word خليفة or Khalīfah, Caliph (  listen?) is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ...

The Muslim mathematician Ibn Al-Haitham depicted in a 10000 Iraqi Dinar note.

Image File history File links Ibn_haithem. ... Image File history File links Ibn_haithem. ...

Life

Alhazen was born at Basra, then part of the Arab Islamic Caliphate, now part of Iraq, and probably died in Cairo, Egypt. [1] Location of Basra Basra (also spelled BaÅŸrah or Basara; historically sometimes written Busra, Busrah, and the early form Bassorah; Arabic: , Al-Basrah) is the second largest city of Iraq with an estimated population of c. ... An Anglicized/Latinized version of the Arabic word خليفة or Khalīfah, Caliph (  listen?) is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... Cairo (Arabic: ‎ translit: ) is the capital city of Egypt (and previously the United Arab Republic) and has a metropolitan area population of approximately 15. ...

One account of his career has him summoned to Egypt by the mercurial caliph Hakim to regulate the flooding of the Nile. After his field work made him aware of the impracticality of this scheme, and fearing the caliph's anger, he feigned madness. He was kept under house arrest until Hakim's death in 1021. During this time he wrote scores of important mathematical treatises. Caliph is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... Hakim bi-Amr Allah (literally: Ruler by Gods Command), known as the Mad Caliph, was the sixth Fatimid Caliph in Egypt, ruling from 996 to 1021. ... A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ... For alternative meanings of Nile, see Nile (disambiguation) The Nile (Arabic: النيل an-nīl), in Africa, is one of the two longest rivers on Earth. ... Feigned madness is acted madness, used in modern times to try to avoid punishment in a court of law, so called insanity defense. ... // Events Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, sixth Fatimid Caliph of Egypt disappears on a trip to al-Muqattam hills. ...

Abu Ali Hasan Ibn al-Haitham was one of the most eminent physicists, whose contributions to optics and the scientific methods are outstanding. Known in the West as Alhazen, Ibn aI-Hautham was born in 965 A. D. in Basrah, and was educated in Basrah and Baghdad. Thereafter, he went to Egypt, where he was asked to find ways of controlling the flood of the Nile. Being unsuccessful in this, he feigned madness until the death of Caliph al-Hakim. He also traveled to Spain and, during this period, he had ample time for his scientific pursuits, which included optics, mathematics, physics, medicine and development of scientific methods on each of which he has left several outstanding books. Events March 1 - Pope Benedict V is put in place of Pope Leo VIII by the people October 1 - John XIII becomes Pope The Khazar fortress of Sarkel falls to the Kievan Rus Births Sweyn I of Denmark Deaths February 22 - Odo, Duke of Burgundy July 4 - Pope Benedict V... Location of Basra Basra (also known as Başrah or Basara; historically sometimes called Busra, Busrah, and early on Bassorah; Arabic: البصرة, Al-Basrah) is the second largest city of Iraq with an estimated population of about 1,377,000 in 2003. ... Location of Baghdad within Iraq Baghdad (Arabic: ) (Bexda in Kurdish) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... For alternative meanings of Nile, see Nile (disambiguation) The Nile (Arabic: النيل an-nÄ«l), in Africa, is one of the two longest rivers on Earth. ... Caliph is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ...

He made a thorough examination of the passage of light through various media and discovered the laws of refraction. He also carried out the first experiments on the dispersion of light into its constituent colors. His book Kitab-at-Manazir was translated into Latin in the Middle Ages, as also his book dealing with the colors of sunset. He dealt at length with the theory of various physical phenomena like shadows, eclipses, the rainbow, and speculated on the physical nature of light. He is the first to describe accurately the various parts of the eye and give a scientific explanation of the process of vision. He also attempted to explain binocular vision, and gave a correct explanation of the apparent increase in size of the sun and the moon when near the horizon. He is known for the earliest use of the camera obscura. He contradicted Ptolemy's and Euclid's theory of vision that objects are seen by rays of light emanating from the eyes; according to him the rays originate in the object of vision and not in the eye. Through these extensive researches on optics, he has been considered as the father of modern optics. The straw seems to be broken, due to refraction of light as it emerges into the air. ... Color is an important part of the visual arts. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... This article is about the optical phenomenon; for other meanings, see Shadow (disambiguation). ... ECLiPSe is a constraint logic programming language developed in IC-Parc. ... A rainbow arches over Florida. ... An eye is an organ of vision that detects light. ... Visual perception is one of the senses, consisting of the ability to detect light and interpret (see) it as the perception known as sight or naked eye vision. ... Binocular vision is vision in which both eyes are used synchronously to produce a single image. ... The Sun is the spectral type G2V yellow star at the center of Earths solar system. ... Bulk composition of the moons mantle and crust estimated, weight percent Oxygen 42. ... For other uses see Camera obscura (disambiguation) The camera obscura (Lat. ... Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ; ca. ... Euclid Euclid of Alexandria (Greek: ) (ca. ... The following alphabetical lists includes men and women commonly known as the father or mother of something. ...

The Latin translation of his main work, Kitab-at-Manazir, exerted a great influence upon Western science e.g. on the work of Roger Bacon and Kepler. It brought about a great progress in experimental methods. His research in catoptrics centered on spherical and parabolic mirrors and spherical aberration. He made the important observation that the ratio between the angle of incidence and refraction does not remain constant and investigated the magnifying power of a lens. His catoptrics contain the important problem known as Alhazen's problem. It comprises drawing lines from two points in the plane of a circle meeting at a point on the circumference and making equal angles with the normal at that point. This leads to an equation of the fourth degree. Statue of Roger Bacon in the Oxford University Museum Roger Bacon (c. ... Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630), a key figure in the scientific revolution, was a German mathematician, astrologer, astronomer, and an early writer of science fiction stories. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... Aviation Fig. ... The straw seems to be broken, due to refraction of light as it emerges into the air. ... Magnification is the process of enlarging something only in appearance, not physical size. ... A lens. ... The circumference is the distance around a closed curve. ...

In his book Mizan al-Hikmah Ibn al-Haitham has discussed the density of the atmosphere and developed a relation between it and the height. He also studied atmospheric refraction. He discovered that the twilight only ceases or begins when the sun is 19° below the horizon and attempted to measure the height of the atmosphere on that basis. He has also discussed the theories of attraction between masses, and it seems that he was aware of the magnitude of acceleration due to gravity. Density (symbol: ρ - Greek: rho) is a measure of mass per unit of volume. ... Layers of Atmosphere (NOAA) Earths atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earths gravity. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Dawn. ... Mass is a property of a physical object that quantifies the amount of matter it contains. ... Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ...

His contribution to mathematics and physics was extensive. In mathematics, he developed analytical geometry by establishing linkage between algebra and geometry. He studied the mechanics of motion of a body and was the first to maintain that a body moves perpetually unless an external force stops it or changes its direction of motion. This would seem equivalent to the first law of motion. Table of Geometry, from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... Algebra is the current mathematics collaboration of the week! Please help improve it to featured article standard. ... This article or section should include material from Parallel Path See also Perpetuum mobile as a musical term Perpetual motion machines (the Latin term perpetuum mobile is not uncommon) are a class of hypothetical machines which would produce useful energy in a way science cannot explain (yet). ... Newtons First and Second laws, in Latin, from the original 1687 edition of the Principia Mathematica. ...

The list of his books runs to 200 or so, very few of which have survived. Even his monumental treatise on optics survived through its Latin translation. During the Middle Ages his books on cosmology were translated into Latin, Hebrew and other languages. He has also written on the subject of evolution a book that deserves serious attention even today. Cosmology, from the Greek: κοσμολογία (cosmologia, κόσμος (cosmos) world + λογια (logia) discourse) is the study of the universe in its totality and by extension mans place in it. ... Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel with the West Bank, the United States, and Jewish communities around the world. ... A speculative phylogenetic tree of all living things, based on rRNA gene data, showing the separation of the three domains, bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. ...

In his writing, one can see a clear development of the scientific methods as developed and applied by the Muslims and comprising the systematic observation of physical phenomena and their linking together into a scientific theory. This was a major breakthrough in scientific methodology, as distinct from guess and gesture, and placed scientific pursuits on a sound foundation comprising systematic relationship between observation, hypothesis and verification. A hypothesis (from ancient Greek hypotithenai meaning to put under or to suppose) offers a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. ...

Ibn al-Haitham's influence on physical sciences in general, and optics in particular, has been held in high esteem and, in fact, it ushered in a new era in optical research, both in theory and practice.

Alhazen is also featured on the obverse of the Iraqi 10,000 Dinars banknote issued in 2003.

Works

Alhazen was a pioneer in optics, engineering and astronomy. According to Giambattista della Porta, Alhazen was the first to explain the apparent increase in the size of the moon and sun when near the horizon, although Roger Bacon gives the credit of this discovery to Ptolemy. Alhazen also taught that vision does not result from the emission of rays from the eye, and wrote on the refraction of light, especially on atmospheric refraction, for example, the cause of morning and evening twilight. He solved the problem of finding the point on a convex mirror at which a ray coming from one point is reflected to another point. Table of Opticks, 1728 Cyclopaedia Optics (appearance or look in ancient Greek) is a branch of physics that describes the behavior and properties of light and the interaction of light with matter. ... Engineering is the application of scientific and technical knowledge to solve human problems. ... Lunar astronomy: the large crater is Daedalus, photographed by the crew of Apollo 11 as they circled the Moon in 1969. ... Image:Giovanni della Porta. ... Statue of Roger Bacon in the Oxford University Museum Roger Bacon (c. ... Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ; ca. ... The straw seems to be broken, due to refraction of light as it emerges into the air. ... In mathematics, an object is convex if for any pair of points within the object, any point on the straight line segment that joins them is also within the object. ... A mirror is a surface with good specular reflection that is smooth enough to form an image. ...

Alhazen's extensive writings influenced many Western intellectuals such as Roger Bacon, John Pecham, Witelo, and Johannes Kepler. John Peckham or Pecham (died 1292), was Archbishop of Canterbury in the years 1279-1292. ... Witelo - also known as Erazmus Ciolek Witelo, Witelon, Vitellio, Vitello, Vitello Thuringopolonis, Erazm Ciołek, (born ca. ... Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630), a key figure in the scientific revolution, was a German mathematician, astrologer, astronomer, and an early writer of science fiction stories. ...

Optics

His seven volume treatise on optics Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics) (written from 1015 to 1021) is possibly the earliest work to use the scientific method. The ancient Greeks believed that truth was determined by the logic and beauty of reasoning; experiment was used as a demonstration. Alhazen used the results of experiments to test theories. The "emission" theory of light had been supported by Euclid and Ptolemy. This theory postulated that sight worked by the eye emitting light. The second or "intromission" theory, supported by Aristotle had light entering the eye. Alhazen performed experiments to determine that the "intromission" theory was scientifically correct. Events August: Canute the Great invades England. ... // Events Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, sixth Fatimid Caliph of Egypt disappears on a trip to al-Muqattam hills. ... The scientific method is a technique of investigation and acquisition of new knowledge, as well as the integration, elimination, and/or explanation of previous knowledge, based upon observable, measurable evidence. ... Euclid Euclid of Alexandria (Greek: ) (ca. ... Aristotle (Ancient Greek: Aristotelēs 384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, who studied with Plato and taught Alexander the Great. ...

Optics was translated into Latin by Witelo in 1270. It was published by Friedrich Risner in 1572, with the title Oticae thesaurus Alhazeni libri VII., cum ejusdem libro de crepusculis et nubium ascensionibus. This work enjoyed a great reputation during the Middle Ages. Works by Alhazen on geometrical subjects were discovered in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris in 1834 by E. A. Sedillot. Other manuscripts are preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford and in the library of Leiden. Witelo - also known as Erazmus Ciolek Witelo, Witelon, Vitellio, Vitello, Vitello Thuringopolonis, Erazm CioÅ‚ek, (born ca. ... For broader historical context, see 1270s and 13th century. ... Events January 16 - Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The new buildings of the library. ... , The Eiffel Tower, the tallest structure in Paris, is an international symbol of the city. ... 1834 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... Leyden redirects here. ...

Other Alhazens

There is another Alhazen who translated Ptolemy's Almagest in the 10th century. Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ; ca. ... Almagest is the Latin form of the Arabic name (al-kitabu-l-mijisti, i. ...

Bibliography

Ibn al-Haytham's Optics: A Study of the Origins of Experimental Science by Saleh Beshara Omar (Bibliotheca Islamica, 1977)

External links

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson. Alhazen at the MacTutor archive.
• http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Al-Haytham.html
• http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761579452/Alhazen.html
• http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=5788
• http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/Alhazen.html
• Alhazen Master of Optics
• Encarta

BITCH!111 ...

See also

• List of Arab scientists