Iraq / Egypt / Germany: Front page of a Latin edition of Ibn al-Haytham's Opticae Thesaurus, showing examples of various optical phenonomena including perspective, the rainbow, mirrors, and refraction. Hesse, Friedrich Risner, 1572

Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Haytham (Arabic: أبو علي، الحسن بن الحسن بن الهيثم‎), frequently referred to as Ibn al-Haytham (Arabic: ابن الهيثم, Latinized as Alhazenor Alhacen; c. 965 – c. 1040), was an Arab Muslim polymath and philosopher who made significant contributions to the principles of optics, astronomy, mathematics, meteorology, visual perception and the scientific method.

In medieval Europe, he was honored as Ptolemaeus Secundus ('Ptolemy the Second') or simply called 'The Physicist'. He is also sometimes called al-Basri (Arabic: البصري) after Basra, his birthplace. He spent most of his life close to the court of the Caliphate in Cairo and earned his life authoring various treatises and tutoring members of the nobilities.

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Pictures From History

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ISLAMIC SCIENCE