alHaytham

alHaytham, also known as Ibn al-Haytham or Alhazen, was a medieval Arab polymath of the Islamic Golden Age whose work in optics and science influenced later developments in both the Muslim world and Europe. Born around 965 in Basra (present-day Iraq) and dying around 1040 in Cairo, he produced extensive writings on mathematics, astronomy, physics, and philosophy, with optics at the forefront of his legacy.

His most influential work, Kitāb al-Manāẓir (Book of Optics), advanced a theory of vision stating that light rays emanate from objects and enter the eye, rather than light emanating from the eye itself. He conducted systematic experiments on reflection, refraction, and lenses, and described the camera obscura and the workings of the eye’s pupil and lens. He also tackled geometric problems in optics, including Alhazen's problem, which concerns locating a point on a spherical surface from which a light ray will reflect to a given point.

In the 12th century, his Book of Optics was translated into Latin and became a central text for medieval European scholars, influencing figures such as Roger Bacon and Albertus Magnus. Modern historians regard alHaytham as a foundational figure in the development of empirical science and the scientific method, due to his emphasis on observation, experimentation, and reproducibility. His work helped lay the groundwork for the later transition from philosophical speculation to experimental inquiry in many fields.