Ihtesham Ali, with his 29.5k followers on Twitter, seems to be a recurring offender. After completely messing up a description of al-Khwarizmi\u2019s *al-Kit\u0101b al-Mukhta\u1e63ar f\u012b \u1e24is\u0101b al-Jabr wal-Muq\u0101balah*, he then tackled Ibn al-Haytham\u2019s *Kit\u0101b al-Man\u0101\u1e93ir* (Book of Optics) in 640 enthusiastic words. While this attempt is not as disastrous as his post on al-Khwarizmi, it still contains numerous historically inaccurate assertions that deserve scrutiny and correction, as they are prevalent and accepted uncritically by the uninformed.<\/p>\n
Ibn al-Haytham as envisioned by Johannes Hevelius<\/p>\n
Ihtesham Ali: An Arab scholar in 1011 faced house arrest in Cairo for a decade. He utilized this time to develop the scientific method, demonstrate the mechanics of vision, and compose a 7-volume book that Newton would later study 600 years afterwards. I encountered his story last night and couldn’t stop reflecting on it. His name was Ibn al-Haytham, and the book is titled \u201cBook of Optics.\u201d The canonical narrative credits Bacon*, Galileo, and Descartes as the pioneers of modern science. Yet, all three emerged 600 years after Ibn al-Haytham and studied his work either directly or through Latin translations. The true inventor of the scientific method was working independently in a small room in Cairo while Europe remained entrenched in the Dark Ages.<\/p>\n
Our author opens with a bang, declaring that Ibn al-Haytham invented the scientific method, proved the workings of vision, and penned a 7-volume book that was later studied by Newton. Incredible! A real superhero. I will address each of these three claims separately later; for now, I will focus on the notion of the 7-volume book, which suggests a colossal work. The *Book of Optics* consists of seven books, not seven volumes, where earlier scientific publications would often refer to books as sections or chapters today. A suitable comparison would be Kepler\u2019s *Harmonice Mundi*, which comprises five books. The Latin manuscript of the *Book of Optics* is 130 folios, translating to about 260 pages. The seven books are:<\/p>\n
Book I discusses al-Haytham\u2019s theories on light, colors, and vision. <\/p>\n
Book II introduces al-Haytham’s theory of visual perception. <\/p>\n
Books III and IV delve into al-Haytham\u2019s examination of errors in visual perception, with Book VI concentrating on reflection-related errors. <\/p>\n
Books V and VI present experimental evidence supporting al-Haytham\u2019s theories on reflection. <\/p>\n
Book VII addresses the concept of refraction.<\/p>\n
It is evident that al-Haytham\u2019s *Book of Optics* is inspired by Ptolemaeus’ *Optics* (fl.150 CE). This is essential to consider when evaluating his experimental program.<\/p>\n
Additionally, it is worth mentioning that Ibn al-Haytham was a genuine polymath who produced scholarly works across a broad spectrum of disciplines.<\/p>\n
*Roger Bacon indeed read al-Haytham, but to my knowledge, Francis Bacon, who is erroneously credited as the founder of modern science, did not. I also doubt that Galileo studied his works.<\/p>\n
Ihtesham Ali: Here is a story that is rarely told. He was born in Basra around 965 CE. By his 40s, he had gained recognition throughout the Arab world for his originality. Then, he made a critical mistake that nearly cost him his life. He publicly claimed he could control the flooding of the Nile. The erratic caliph al-Hakim summoned him to Egypt for this purpose. Ibn al-Haytham assessed the river and realized that the project was unattainable with the era’s technology. The caliph had executed many scholars for lesser offenses. Thus, he feigned madness. The caliph fell for it and placed him under house arrest in his own home in Cairo for the next ten years.<\/p>\n
Various versions exist concerning Ibn al-Haytham’s unfortunate encounters with al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (985\u20131021), but the crucial detail is that after al-Hakim’s death in 1021, Ibn al-Haytham continued to reside in Cairo for another twenty years until his own demise.<\/p>\n
Ihtesham Ali: Most individuals would have lost their sanity. He instead used this time to create science. Prior to his contributions, knowledge functioned differently. Authority was quoted. If Aristotle had asserted it, it was deemed true. If Galen had documented it, it was accepted as correct. The role of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ihtesham Ali, with his 29.5k followers on Twitter, seems to be a recurring offender. After completely messing up a description of al-Khwarizmi\u2019s *al-Kit\u0101b al-Mukhta\u1e63ar f\u012b \u1e24is\u0101b al-Jabr wal-Muq\u0101balah*, he then tackled Ibn al-Haytham\u2019s *Kit\u0101b al-Man\u0101\u1e93ir* (Book of Optics) in 640 enthusiastic words. While this attempt is not as disastrous as his post on al-Khwarizmi, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372894,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[175],"class_list":["post-372893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-source-thonyc-wordpress-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=372893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/372894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=372893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=372893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=372893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}