Alhazen

Nader El-Bizri (The Institute of Ismaili Studies)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 6.1.2: Middle-Eastern Arabic Writing and Culture: Classical and Post-Classical, 700-1300.
Vol. editors: Ziad Elmarsafy (King's College London), Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Rita Sakr (Maynooth University), Anastasia Valassopoulos (University of Manchester)

Dates

Born 965
Died c. 1041
Activity c. 1000-c. 1041

Places

Born in Iraq
Active in Asia - Southwest

Activities

Primary

Astronomer
Mathematician
Natural scientist
Philosopher
Physicist

Resources

Alhazen's Works

Save to Bookshelf

The full name in Arabic of this highly celebrated polymath is: Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham al-Basri al-Misri. He is more known through the shorter form of his name as “Ibn al-Haytham”, and in Latinate renditions he is referred to as “Alhazen” or “Alhacen”. This Arab scientist (also nicknamed as “al-Muhandis al-Basri” [“The engineer /optician of Basra”]) was born in the southern Iraqi city of Basra in 965 C.E., and died in Cairo ca. after 1041 C.E. The principal biographical-bibliographical sources regarding his life and works were preserved in two treatises in historiography: the first is

Ta’rikh al-hukama’

(

Historiography on Philosophers

) by Ibn al-Qifti (d. 1248 C.E.), and the second is

Tabaqat al-atibba’

(

The Ranks of Physicians

) by Ibn Abi…

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3475 words

Citation: El-Bizri, Nader. "Alhazen". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 May 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12049, accessed 24 November 2024.]