Ibn al Haytham: The Eye of Enlightenment

Ibn al Haytham was a brilliant Arabian polymath and scientist during the Islamic Golden Age. He was a master of many trades, including mathematics, optics, and physics. But perhaps the most noteworthy contribution he made to the scientific community was his research into vision, which eventually led to the invention of glasses, allowing people to see clearly for the first time without squinting or holding objects up close to their face.

Born in the 10th century in Basra, Ibn al Haytham was a curious child who loved to explore and experiment. Once, while playing with his brothers, he accidentally shot an arrow into the air and watched it disappear into the distance. This sparked a lifelong fascination with optics, as he began to wonder how light traveled and how people perceive the world around them.

Ibn al Haytham’s experiments led to the discovery of the pinhole camera, which he used to study how light behaves. He would poke a tiny hole in a sheet of metal and watch as light filtered through, projecting an image onto a surface behind it. He also experimented with mirrors and lenses, studying how they bend and reflect light.

Interestingly, Ibn al Haytham’s work on vision was not just limited to science. He also wrote a book on psychological and ethical issues related to sight. He argued that the way we see the world affects how we understand and react to it. He believed that by controlling our perspective, we could better understand the world around us and make more informed decisions.

But perhaps the most humorous aspect of Ibn al Haytham’s work on vision was his theory that the eye emits a ray of light that illuminates the objects it sees. He called this theory “extramission,” and it was widely accepted at the time. However, it was later debunked when another scientist, Alhazen, discovered that light actually enters the eye, not the other way around. Oops!

Despite this blip on his otherwise impressive resume, Ibn al Haytham remains one of the most innovative and influential scientists of his time. His work on optics and vision paved the way for the development of glasses, telescopes, and microscopes, forever changing how we see and understand the world. So, for that, we thank you, Ibn al Haytham, for being the eye of enlightenment in the scientific world!