Optics
In
the Genius Arab Civilization, A. I Sabra stated,
"Ibn al Haytham's most important contribution
were in the fields of optics, mathematics, and
astronomy. His most important single work is the
comprehensive Kitab al-Manazir (the Book of Optics).
Until the revival of optics in Persia, towards
the end of thirteenth century, Ibn Al-Haythm was
mainly known to the Islamic world as mathematician
and as an astronomer, but his best-known and most
influential work in Europe was the Optics. It
was largely on this bases of his book that George
Satorn described Ibn Al-Haytham as "the greatest
Muslim physicist and one of the greatest students
of optics of all times." Other optical subjects
of Ibn Al-Haytham include: "On the light
of the Moon, that argues that the moon shines
like a self luminous object, though its light
is borrowed from the Sun; On the Halo and Rainbow;
On Spherical Burning Mirrors; On Paraboloidal
Burning Mirrors; and On the Shape of eclipse,
which examines the camera obsecura phenomena.
The
Invention of the Camera
Ibn-alHaytham and his student Kamal ad-Din teamed
up making history when they first observed and
record the camera obsecura phenomenon. The obsecura
phenomenon is literary defined by Webster's dictionary
as "dark chamber." Usually is a cardboard
with a tiny pinhole, that is the ground work of
a camera.
al-Haytham
What
is Taught: Isaac Newton's 17th century
study of lenses, light and prisms forms the foundation
of the modern science of optics.
What
Should be Taught: In the 1lth century
al-Haytham determined virtually everything that
Newton advanced regarding optics centuries prior
and is regarded by numerous authorities as the
"founder of optics."
There
is little doubt that Newton was influenced by
him. Al-Haytham was the most quoted physicist
of the Middle Ages.
His
works were utilized and quoted by a greater number
of European scholars during the 16th and 17th
centuries than those of Newton and Galileo combined.
What
is Taught: Isaac Newton, during the
17th century, discovered that white light consists
of various rays of colored light.
What
Should be Taught: This discovery was
made in its entirety by al-Haytham(1lth century)
and Kamal ad-Din (14th century). Newton did make
original discoveries, but this was not one of
them.
What
is Taught: The English scholar Roger
Bacon (d. 1292) first mentioned glass lenses for
improving vision. At nearly the same time, eyeglasses
could be found in use both in China and Europe.
What
Should be Taught: Ibn Firnas of Islamic
Spain invented eyeglasses during the 9th century,
and they were manufactured and sold throughout
Spain for over two centuries.
Any
mention of eyeglasses by Roger Bacon was simply
a regurgitation of the work of al-Haytham (d.
1039), whose research Bacon frequently referred
to.
Optical
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al-Haytham
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Optical
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Optical
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Optical
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