Alhazen
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
Alhazen[Notes 1] or
Alhacen; c. 965 – c. 1040), was an
Arab[8]scientist,
polymath,
mathematician,
astronomer and
philosopher who made significant contributions to the principles of
optics,
astronomy,
mathematics,
meteorology,
[9]visual perception and the
scientific method.
He has been described as the father of modern
optics,
ophthalmology,
[10]experimental physics and
scientific methodology[11][12][13] and the first
theoretical physicist[14] In medieval Europe, he was nicknamed
Ptolemaeus Secundus("
Ptolemy the Second")
[15] or simply called "The Physicist".
[16] He is also sometimes called
al-Basri (Arabic: البصري) after
Basra, his birthplace.
Njegov doprinos se ogleda i u
nauci uopšte sa uvođenjem naučnog metoda. Ibn al-Haytham se smatra ocem optike zbog svoje uticajne "
Knjiga o optici", kojom je ispravno objasnio i dokazao moderne teorije umetnutosti vizuelne percepcije, kao i zbog svojih eksperimenata u optici, uključujući i eksperimente sa
lećama,
ogledalima,
refrakcijama,
refleksijama, i
disperzijama svjetlosti na svoje sastavne boje. Studirao je binokularni vid i iluziju
mjeseca, špekulisao o konačnoj brzini, pravolinijskom širenju i
elektromagnetskim aspektima svjetla, i tvrdi da su zrake
svjetlosti potoci
energetskih čestica koje putuju u ravnim linijama.
Opisan kao prvi naučnik, Ibn al-Haytham doveo do procesa naučnog metoda zbog njegove stalne sumnje u sposobnost ljudskog bića da shvati sistematsko i pravilno djelovanje prirode. Zbog svog kvantitativnog, empirijskog i eksperimentalnog pristupa u
fizicii nauci, on se smatra pionirom moderne naučne metode i eksperimentalne fizike, a neki su ga opisali kao "prvog naučnika" za istih razloga. Neki ga smatraju osnivačem
psihofizike i eksperimentalne psihologije zbog njegovog eksperimentalnog pristupa u psihologiji vizuelne percepcije, i pionirom na polju filozofske fenomenologije. Njegova "
Knjiga o optici" je rangirana zajedno sa knjigom
Isaka Njutna "
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica" (Matematički principi prirodne filozofije) kao jedna od najuticajnijih knjiga ikada napisanih u
historiji fizike.
According to medieval biographers, Alhazen wrote more than 200 works on a wide range of subjects, of which at least 96 of his scientific works are known.
Alhazen wrote a total of twenty-five astronomical works, some concerning technical issues such as
Exact Determination of the Meridian, a second group concerning accurate astronomical observation, a third group concerning various astronomical problems and questions such as the location of the
Milky Way; Alhazen argued for a distant location, based on the fact that it does not move in relation to the fixed stars.
[94] The fourth group consists of ten works on astronomical theory, including the
Doubts and
Model of the Motions discussed above.
In his
On the Configuration of the World Alhazen presented a detailed description of the physical structure of the earth.
Besides the
Book of Optics, Alhazen wrote several other treatises on the same subject, including his
Risala fi l-Daw’ (
Treatise on Light). He investigated the properties of
luminance, the
rainbow,
eclipses, twilight, and
moonlight. Experiments with mirrors and
magnifying lenses provided the foundation for his theories on
catoptrics.
[83]
In his treatise
Mizan al-Hikmah (
Balance of Wisdom), Alhazen discussed the density of the
atmosphere and related it to
altitude. He also studied
atmospheric refraction.
Alhazen explored the
Euclidean parallel postulate, the fifth
postulate in
Euclid's Elements, using a
proof by contradiction,
[98] and in effect introducing the concept of motion into geometry.
[99] He formulated the
Lambert quadrilateral, which Boris Abramovich Rozenfeld names the "Ibn al-Haytham–Lambert quadrilateral".
[100] His theorems on
quadrilaterals, including the Lambert quadrilateral, were the first theorems on
elliptical geometry and
hyperbolic geometry. These theorems, along with his alternative postulates, such as Playfair's axiom, can be seen as marking the beginning of
non-Euclidean geometry. His work had a considerable influence on its development among the later Persian geometers
Omar Khayyám and
Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī, and the European geometers
Witelo,
Gersonides, and
Alfonso.
[101]
In elementary geometry, Alhazen attempted to solve the problem of
squaring the circle using the area of
lunes (crescent shapes), but later gave up on the impossible task.
[17] The two lunes formed from a
right triangle by erecting a semicircle on each of the triangle's sides, inward for the hypotenuse and outward for the other two sides, are known as the
lunes of Alhazen; they have the same total area as the triangle itself.
