Hundred Great Muslims

ffiN AL-HAITHAM
The Arabs who were pioneers in diverse branches of mediaeval sciences
have made invaluable contribution to the field of optics. Of all the sciences that
have received the imprint of Arab genius, optics stands on the top. The highest
authority in optics during the mediaeval times whose brilliance outshone that of
the Greek thinkers, was Ibn AI-Haitham, better known as Alhazen in the West.
"The glory of Muslim science," writes Max Meyerhof," is in the field of optics.
Here the mathematical ability of Alhazen and Kamal-a-Din outshone that of
Euclid and Ptolemy. Real and lasting advance stands to their credit in this
department of science".
Abu Ali AI Hasan ibn AI-Haitham, was one of the most outstanding
mathematicians. physiologists and opticians of Islam. He was born at Basrah in
965 A.C. and received his education in Basrah and Baghdad which were great
centres of learning in those days. Later, he moved to Egypt and entered into the
service of the celebrated Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim (996-1020 A.C.) and was
entrusted with the task of discovering the method of controlling the annual
floods caused by the Nile. But, having been unsuccessful in this mission. he
remained underground and also assumed madness till al-Hakim's death. He also
visited. Spain. During this period he got ample time for his intellectual pursuits
and composed a number of works on medicine, which washis original profession.
He died in Cairo in 1039 A.C.
Alhazen, a versatile genius, made lasting contributions to optics,
mathematics, physics, medicine and philosophy. The author of 'Uyunul Ariba Ii
Tabaqaat il Atibba', a well-known biographical work quoted the names of
200 scientific works written by Alhazen on diverse subjects, including optics,
mathematics, medicine, physics and philosophy. Alhazen is best known to
Europe through his optical works, which were translated into Latin.
His main work on optics, which was lost in Arabic, still survives in Latin.
In it, Alhazen has corrected the conception of Ptolemy and Euclid that the eye
sends out visual rays to the object of vision. "He was the first to correct the
Greek misconception as to the nature of the vision", observes John Wi1~ am
Draper in his History of the Intellectual Development ofEurope, "showing hat
the rays of light come from external objects to the eye, and do not issue forth
from the eye, impinge on external things, as, up to his time, had been supp .sed.
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