Ibn al-Haytham

Pioneer of modern optics and scientific methodology who revolutionized experimental physics

Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham (965–1040 CE), known in the West as Alhazen, fundamentally transformed our understanding of light and vision. His seminal work Kitab al-Manazir (The Book of Optics) challenged ancient Greek theories and laid the foundation for modern experimental science.

Breaking from Aristotle's doctrines, Ibn al-Haytham demonstrated through systematic experiments that light travels in straight lines and vision occurs when light reflects off objects into the eyes. He invented the camera obscura to test his theories, establishing principles that would later influence Renaissance scientists like Kepler and Da Vinci.

His rigorous approach combining mathematics, experimentation, and verification created the blueprint for the modern scientific method – centuries before European Enlightenment thinkers. The UNESCO declared 2015 as the International Year of Light in his honor.