Short Description
His name is Abu Ali al-Hassan Ibnul Haitham. He is of Arab origin and was called Ptolemy the Second. He's a collective scientist and one of the greatest Mathematics and Physics scientists. He was proficient in Medicine and got specialized but did not practice it. As we
His name is Abu Ali al-Hassan Ibnul Haitham. He is of Arab origin and was called Ptolemy the Second. He’s a collective scientist and one of the greatest Mathematics and Physics scientists. He was proficient in Medicine and got specialized but did not practice it. As we mentioned in the previous article, he is considered the founder of Optics.
He was born at al-Basra in the year 354 A.H / 965 A.C, and lived there his early life. During his childhood he wasn’t interested in playing with his mates, fascinated with reading and knowledge. Later he worked as an employee in the government council, but had to stop his research and reading. So he travelled to seek knowledge. He went to Baghdad, ash-Sham, and Egypt, and moved around the Islamic nation.
He studied Medicine at Baghdad and passed the admission exam that is done for anyone who wants to work in the career and he specialized in the field of Eye Medicine. The people of Baghdad used to ask him in many fields of science although the city was filled with the best scientists of that era. When al-Hakem Be’amr Allah al-Fatemy his saying, “If I was in Egypt I would have made something for the Nile, to be beneficial when it’s high or low” he invited him to his palace and provided him with all he needs to accomplish his project. When Ibnul Haitham went to Egypt and specified the location for his project (at the city of Aswan), he realized how difficult or impossible it would be to construct his project with the tools of his time. So he apologized to al-Hakem!
After that he got a room beside al-Azhar Mosque to live, and worked in copying some of the world known books to make a living. Besides, he worked in writing and translation as he was proficient in a number of languages and was tight in money. He made a living from copying two or three mathematical books like “The Book of Origins” by Euclid in the field of Engineering, and “Almagest” by Ptolemy in the field of Astronomy. He used to copy them every year so that people would come from faraway places to buy them from him for a known price, no bargains, and no returns. He would sell them and live by their money all through the year.
He always said, “As long as I live I will be exerting an effort and using all my strength in things like that (meaning knowledge and education), taking care of three things. One of them is to benefit who would seek truth and prefer it in my life and after I die. The second is that, to me, this is like an exercise that is mostly enjoyed and that I use to prove what I envision and what my mind excels in, and the third is that my knowledge has become my supply and harness in old age.”
After a scientific journey full of accomplishments, that helped modern Europe make a revival, and after an impact that has continued until today, in Cairo, year 430 A.H / 1039 A.C, Ibnul Haitham died. He left the people and nature. He left behind extremely valuable works that talk about him, and that provides knowledge to the human civilization until today.
Ibnul Haitham … The Modern Scientific Strategy
Kajouri says in his book, “History of Physics”, “Arab and Muslim scientists were the first to initiate and strongly defend the experimental method. It is their pride because they were the first to realize its importance to natural sciences.”
When we come to Ibnul Haitham specifically, we find that he depended in his researches on two methods; investigation and conclusion. In both cases he relied on experiments and observation. His concern was to get to the truth and overcome his suspicions. He knew his exact goal from research, and that was as we had mentioned before, to benefit anyone who would seek the truth and prefer it in his life and after his death.
Ibnul Haitham believed that difference in opinion is the only way to get to the truth. He made practical experiments a fixed method in proving any conclusions or scientific assumptions. After that he tries to express the actual results in correct and specific mathematical phrasing.
Ibnul Haitham’s method gets clear in research in general, starting with his book’s introduction “Kitab al-Manazir - Book of Optics”. Kitab al-Manazir begins with an introduction in which Ibnul Haytham says that he will begin to his study inquiring the first principles and premises of optics. His methods involve criticizing premises and exercising caution in drawing conclusions while aimed to employ justice, not follow prejudice, and to take care in all that we judge and criticize that we seek the truth and not be influenced by opinions.
Ibnul Haitham was concerned in his research with exploration and denoted some of his research work with examples which are the modern scientific research elements. In all this, he did not precede Francis Bacon in his exploration manner only, but made a great advance ahead of him, and had a much wider imagination and deeper thinking. He did not give attention like Bacon to the theoretical philosophy because his method is more lively and complete. A man of science would feel comfortable with its ways and would find work easier. A man of philosophy with a vision would find what satisfies his curiosity and protect him from extreme thinking. Ahmad Amin says, “The best thing about Ibnul Haitham was his knowledge of mathematical theories and his ability to apply his knowledge in his work.”
To sum up, what Ibnul Haitham came with from more than a thousand years ago is a great think that really deserves appreciation and respect. He is truly the greatest Muslim Physician and his book in Optics holds the first correct description of the eye and its different water mediums, lens, cornea, retina,
and dark room.
We find that Ibnul Haitham made Optics take a new path and have a new foundation other than its first foundation. His contribution in Optics became like Newton’s general contribution in Mechanics. Facts in Optics before Ibnul Haitham were separate and without bonds. He started researching it again and took a direction that no one has taken before. He corrected mistake and completed what was missing and invented modern research methods. He added a lot of findings and was able to compile from all of this, a correlated unit. He setup the foundation that the whole of Optics was built on later.
Above that, Ibnul Haitham had a high spirit when he declared that scientific facts are not permanent and that they are not ultimate goals that science stops at. A lot of times it should be changed or replaced. He hopes and wishes like a humble scientist to get to the truth as he says, “ I hope we find at the end of this way the truth that would satisfy our curiosity and gradually reach the goal of certainty, and win with criticism and fact preservation with which conflict is gone and doubts are ended.”
So this way we find that the method Ibnul Haitham used in science is similar to the modern scientific method and even better since he preceded us with a long time. Zigrid Honka says, “The fact is that Roger Bacon, Bacophon Farolam, Leonardo Da Vinci, or Galileo are not the founders of scientific research. The actual proceeds in this field were Arabs and what Ibnul Haitham achieved was nothing but modern physics, thanks to the theoretical observation and fine experimentation.”
Ibnul Haitham … Pioneer Compositions
Ibnul Haitham was a frequent writer and a heavy composer with productions in all sorts of knowledge fields. He wrote in Philosophy, Logic, Medicine, Astronomy, Optics and Mathematics. He created new methods of original scientific thinking. His compositions were more than 200 writings (237 manuscripts and papers in different fields of science and knowledge).
In Optics, Ibnul Haitham composed around 24 topics including books, papers and articles, and a lot more were lost among what we lost of scientific heritage. What remained was taken by Istanbul libraries and London and others. His book “Visions” was preserved from loss and which contained new theories in Optics. It continued to be the main reference in this field of science until the 27th century A.C after being translated to Latin.
Whoever reads the book “Visions” and the topics related to Optics will find out that Ibnul Haitham had given Optics a new nature that wasn’t there before. He composed this book in the year 411 A.H / 1021 A.C and invested in it all his mathematical proficiency and Medical experience and scientific experiments. He made a number of findings that put him on the top of this scientific field and became one of the founder of sciences that changed many scientists’ visions.
The world does not recognize any of Ibnul Haitham’s compositions nowadays besides 50 books, from which only three are left in Cairo. Lots of his books have been taken away to Europe during the French occupation of Egypt and during the crusade wars.
Besides Optics, Ibnul Haitham had his contributions in Engineering, around 58 compositions. These include his opinions and creative proofs on issues that Euclid and Archimedes left without proof or needing more clarification and justification. Around the world, libraries in Cairo, London, Paris and Istanbul have more than 21 manuscripts by Ibnul Haitham in this field. In Mathematics, Algebra and Calculus he composed not less than ten books, out of only a few manuscripts are still found in Atef’s Library at Turkey. Some of those are “Modulus Calculations” and “Extracting a Number Problem”. In the field of Astronomy, Ibnul Haitham created and contributed efficiently that he was called “Ptolemy the Second”. We did not get from Ibnul Haitham’s heritage in Astronomy but 17 articles out of 24 compositions. He talked in them about dimensions and sizes of celestial objects and how we can see them.
He wrote in Medicine two books, one is “Rectification of Medical Industry” an outcome of 30 books by Galenus that he read. The other is “An Article in Response to Abil Farag Abdullah Ibnul Tayeb” to oppose his opinion against Galenus. He also has a paper in eye anatomy and how vision works.
The one who was really concerned with Ibnul Haitham’s research work in Optics and made a lot of studies on it was Kamal ed-Din al-Faresy. He had composed about this his known book, “Amending Images of those with of Visions and Sights”. Through this book, Europe found out a lot about Ibnul Haitham and his works and efforts in Optics after it had been unknown. This book was published in Bale city at Switzerland in the year (980 A.H / 1072 A.C). It was already published before the invention of printing by “Gerar Di Kremona” one of the most famous translators of Spain. He was concerned with creating the biggest series in Astronomy in the year (676 A.H / 1277 A.C) about Arab scientists. Spain made a lot of use from these books as well as Portugal during their Atlantic Ocean exploration trip, thanks to Astronomical conjunctions (schedules) and the mathematical information that the Arab scientists had left.
Roger Bacon and John Beckham and Witelo were all inspired by these translated works of Ibnul Haitham. John Beckham’s book about Prisms is nothing but an incomplete extraction from Ibnul Haitham’s book of “Visions”. As for Witelo’s book that he composed in the year (669 A.H / 1270 A.C) it includes a big section that is taken from Ibnul Haitham’s book, and has no more findings than what Ibnul Haitham had found.
The book “Visions” was a subject of interest for a lot of real and fake scientists. From more than 50 centuries ago, the Italian scientist Jerar De Kermona translated this book into Latin and the Vatican library still holds a copy of this translation until now. Scientists of the West handed down the book “Visions” to benefit from in Optics and Mathematics and that some of them would claim they made some of the findings.
Among those who claimed to be creators of some of the findings was the German scientist Kepler. Also the Optics scientist Witelo Alpolony claimed in his book “Supplies” a lot of what Ibnul Haitham had mentioned. This urged the scientist De La Porta to say “Witelo made mistakes when he copied Alhazen (Ibnul Haitham as called by Europeans) and was like a monkey that imitates. This book copied from its Arabic origin continued to be a reference to all the people of Europe in Optics during the middle centuries.
Ibnul Haitham … Fair Opinions of Western People
Ibnul Haitham’s efforts especially in the field of Optics had a great impact in the development of Optics. This was why he got a lot of admiration of many fair westerns. George Sarton, a great science narrator said, “He is the greatest Muslim Physics scientist and one of the greatest scientists who made research in Optics during all the past ages”. Arnold described him in the book “Islamic Heritage” by saying, “Optics came to its peak with Ibnul Haitham”. His researches in Optics also charmed Max Mayerhof and impressed him to the extent that he said, “The greatness of Islamic creation is really shown in Optics”.
Zigrid Honkah of Germany also says in her famous book, “Allah’s Sun Rises at the West”, “al-Hassan Ibnul Haitham was on top of the Arab educators in the Western countries and had the greatest effect”, and says too, “The impact of this Arab (Ibnul Haitham) genius on the Western countries was great as his theories overruled in Physics and Optics at Europe until this day. His book “Visions” was the base for many of Optics’ creations, starting with the English (Roger Bacon) and ending with the German (Witelo). As for Leonardo Da Vinci the Italian, and the inventor of the Eyehole Copying Machine or the Dark Machine, and the inventor of the pump and the lathe and the first plane – all not true – as he was inspired directly by Muslims and the heritage of Ibnul Haitham gave him a lot of ideas. When Kepler researched in Germany during the 16th century around all the theories that Galileo used in viewing unknown stars through a giant telescope, Ibnul Haitham was all the time in his mind. Until these days, the Mathematical, Physical problem that Ibnul Haitham solved with his fourth degree equation is a proof for his exquisite proficiency in the world of Algebra. Up till the present time Alhazen's problem, namely: “Given a light source and a spherical mirror, find the point on the mirror were the light will be reflected to the eye of an observer”, is still attributed to Ibnul Haitham as “Alhazen’s Problem”.
Dr. Charles Grousy, a (Neurophysiologist, and a specialist in nervous and psychological aspects of vision) says according to a fine study of the “Visions” book, “The basic summary that we can come out with is that this fine man deserves a deeper study, because although his works in integrating Physics, Mathematics and organ functions in a new theory about vision has taken a unique historical position, but his theories about psychology of recognition and its effects will continue to be a fruitful field and important subject of research and study.”
Finally, we came to this fact. The French Mathematician Charles Brannon (1880 A.C) says, “Ibnul Haitham’s researches in the field of Optics is considered the origin of all our knowledge in Optics”.
That way, our Muslim scientists were a pride to humanity and that is how their creations were a source of light to the whole world. We ask Allah (SWT) to cherish Islam and Muslims.
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