Optics
Keywords: Optika, Ptolemy, vision, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, al-Kindi, Euclid, Ibn al- Haytham, astronomy, Islamic civilization, Avicenna, Nasir al-Din Tusi, intromission, Kitab al-manazir (The Optics), meteorology.
Abstract: The science of optics ('ilm al-Manāẓir) studies the nature and comportment of vision and light, along with phenomena associated with the reflection and refraction of the rays of light. This classical discipline preoccupied numerous mathematicians and physicists in the history of mediaeval science and philosophy in Islam. Its variegated applications were also fundamental in the structuring of several theories in meteorology, astronomy, surveying, and the investigation of the anatomy of the eye and of the psychological aspects of visual perception. The ground-breaking innovative progress of this ancient science was accomplished by Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen; d. after 1041 CE), and it was further developed by Kamal al-Din al-Farisi (d. 1320 CE)..
Author
Professor Nader El-Bizri
Nader El-Bizri is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Civilization Studies Program at the American University of Beirut. He has previously taught at the University of Cambridge, the University of Nottingham, and the University of Lincoln. He is also affiliated with The Institute of Ismaili Studies in London and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris.
