Ibn al-Haytham

Ibn al-Hay·tham

I5005370 (ĭb′ən ĕl-hī′thəm) Full name Abu Ali al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham. Also known as Al·haz·en (ăl-hăz′ən) 965?-1040? Arab mathematician and astronomer best known for his book on optics, which presented experimental studies of reflection and refraction and an influential theory of vision that revised that of the Greeks.

Ibn al-Hay·tham

(ĭb′ən ĕl-hī′thəm) Latin name Al·haz·en (ăl-hăz′ən) 965?-1040? Arab mathematician who is best known for his book on optics, which became very influential in Europe after it was translated in the 12th century. It contained a detailed description of the eye and disproved the older Greek idea that vision is the result of the eye sending out rays to the object being looked at.

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Noun

Ibn al-Haytham - an Egyptian polymath (born in Iraq) whose research in geometry and optics was influential into the 17th century; established experiments as the norm of proof in physics (died in 1040)Alhacen, Al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham, al-Haytham, Alhazen

Ibn al-Haytham

(ĭb`ən äl-hīth-äm`) or

Alhazen

(ălhəzĕn`), 965–c.1040, Arab mathematician. Ibn al-Haytham was born in Basra, but made his career in Cairo, where he supported himself copying scientific manuscripts. Among his original works, only those on optics, astronomy, and mathematics survive. His Optics, which relied on experiment rather than on past authority, introduced the idea that light rays emanate in straight lines in all directions from every point on a luminous surface. Latin editions of the Optics, available from the 13th cent. on, influenced Kepler and Descartes. As a cosmologist, al-Haytham tried to find mechanisms by which the heavenly bodies might be shown to follow the paths determined by Ptolemaic mathematics. In mathematics, al-Haytham elucidated and extended Euclid's Elements and suggested a proof of the parallel postulate.

Ibn al-Haytham

Ibn al-Hay·tham

Ibn al-Hay·tham

Ibn al-Haytham

Ibn al-Haytham

Alhazen

Ibn al-Haytham

Synonyms for Ibn al-Haytham

noun an Egyptian polymath (born in Iraq) whose research in geometry and optics was influential into the 17th century

Synonyms