Editing Ibn al-Haytham (section)

=== Other contributions ===
The ''Kitab al-Manazir'' (Book of Optics) describes several experimental observations that Alhazen made and how he used his results to explain certain optical phenomena using mechanical analogies. He conducted experiments with [[projectile]]s and concluded that only the impact of [[perpendicular]] projectiles on surfaces was forceful enough to make them penetrate, whereas surfaces tended to deflect [[Oblique angle|oblique]] projectile strikes. For example, to explain refraction from a rare to a dense medium, he used the mechanical analogy of an iron ball thrown at a thin slate covering a wide hole in a metal sheet. A perpendicular throw breaks the slate and passes through, whereas an oblique one with equal force and from an equal distance does not.<ref>{{harvnb|Russell|1996|p=695}}.</ref> He also used this result to explain how intense, direct light hurts the eye, using a mechanical analogy: Alhazen associated 'strong' lights with perpendicular rays and 'weak' lights with oblique ones. The obvious answer to the problem of multiple rays and the eye was in the choice of the perpendicular ray, since only one such ray from each point on the surface of the object could penetrate the eye.<ref>{{harvnb|Russell|1996|p=}}.</ref>

Sudanese psychologist Omar Khaleefa has argued that Alhazen should be considered the founder of [[experimental psychology]], for his pioneering work on the psychology of visual perception and [[optical illusion]]s.<ref name="auto2">{{harvnb|Khaleefa|1999}}</ref> Khaleefa has also argued that Alhazen should also be considered the "founder of [[psychophysics]]", a sub-discipline and precursor to modern psychology.<ref name="auto2" /> Although Alhazen made many subjective reports regarding vision, there is no evidence that he used quantitative psychophysical techniques and the claim has been rebuffed.<ref>{{harvnb|Aaen-Stockdale|2008}}.</ref>

Alhazen offered an explanation of the [[Moon illusion]], an illusion that played an important role in the scientific tradition of medieval Europe.<ref>{{harvnb|Ross|Plug|2002}}.</ref> Many authors repeated explanations that attempted to solve the problem of the Moon appearing larger near the horizon than it does when higher up in the sky. Alhazen argued against Ptolemy's refraction theory, and defined the problem in terms of perceived, rather than real, enlargement. He said that judging the distance of an object depends on there being an uninterrupted sequence of intervening bodies between the object and the observer. When the Moon is high in the sky there are no intervening objects, so the Moon appears close. The perceived size of an object of constant angular size varies with its perceived distance. Therefore, the Moon appears closer and smaller high in the sky, and further and larger on the horizon. Through works by [[Roger Bacon]], [[John Pecham]] and Witelo based on Alhazen's explanation, the Moon illusion gradually came to be accepted as a psychological phenomenon, with the refraction theory being rejected in the 17th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Hershenson|1989|pp=9–10}}.</ref> Although Alhazen is often credited with the perceived distance explanation, he was not the first author to offer it. [[Cleomedes]] ({{circa}} 2nd century) gave this account (in addition to refraction), and he credited it to [[Posidonius]] ({{circa}} 135–50 BCE).<ref>{{harvnb|Ross|2000}}.</ref> Ptolemy may also have offered this explanation in his ''Optics'', but the text is obscure.<ref>{{harvnb|Ross|Ross|1976}}.</ref> Alhazen's writings were more widely available in the Middle Ages than those of these earlier authors, and that probably explains why Alhazen received the credit.