Editing Ibn al-Haytham (section)

== Legacy ==
[[File:Book of Optics Cover Page.jpg|upright|thumb|Cover page of the Latin translation of ''[[Book of Optics|Kitāb al-Manāẓir]]'']]
Alhazen made significant contributions to optics, number theory, geometry, astronomy and natural philosophy. Alhazen's work on optics is credited with contributing a new emphasis on experiment.

His main work, ''[[Book of Optics|Kitab al-Manazir]]'' (''Book of Optics''), was known in the [[Muslim world]] mainly, but not exclusively, through the thirteenth-century commentary by [[Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī]], the ''Tanqīḥ ''al-Manāẓir'' li-dhawī l-abṣār wa l-baṣā'ir''.<ref>{{harvnb|Sabra|2007}}.</ref> In [[al-Andalus]], it was used by the eleventh-century prince of the [[Banu Hud|Banu Hud dynasty]] of [[Zaragoza|Zaragossa]] and author of an important mathematical text, [[al-Mu'taman ibn Hud|al-Mu'taman ibn Hūd]]. A Latin translation of the ''Kitab al-Manazir'' was made probably in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century.<ref>{{harvnb|Sabra|2007|pages=122, 128–129}}. {{harvnb||Grant|1974|p=[{{google books|fAPN_3w4hAUC|plainurl=yes|page=392}} 392]}} notes the ''Book of Optics'' has also been denoted as ''Opticae Thesaurus Alhazen Arabis'', as ''De Aspectibus'', and also as ''Perspectiva''</ref> This translation was read by and greatly influenced a number of scholars in Christian Europe including: [[Roger Bacon]],<ref>{{harvnb|Lindberg|1996|p=11}}, passim.</ref> [[Robert Grosseteste]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Authier|2013|p=23}}: "Alhazen's works in turn inspired many scientists of the Middle Ages, such as the English bishop, Robert Grosseteste (c. 1175–1253), and the English Franciscan, Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1294), Erazmus Ciolek Witelo, or Witelon (c. 1230* 1280), a Silesian-born Polish friar, philosopher and scholar, published in c. 1270 a treatise on optics, Perspectiva, largely based on Alhazen's works."</ref> [[Witelo]], [[Giambattista della Porta]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Magill|Aves|1998|p=66}}: "Roger Bacon, John Peckham, and Giambattista della Porta are only some of the many thinkers who were influenced by Alhazen's work."</ref> [[Leonardo da Vinci]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Zewail|Thomas|2010|p=5}}: "The Latin translation of Alhazen's work influenced scientists and philosophers such as (Roger) Bacon and da Vinci, and formed the foundation for the work by mathematicians like Kepler, Descartes and Huygens..."</ref> [[Galileo Galilei]],<ref>{{Harvnb|El-Bizri|2010|p=12}}: "This [Latin] version of Ibn al-Haytham's Optics, which became available in print, was read and consulted by scientists and philosophers of the caliber of Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Huygens as discussed by [[Nader El-Bizri]]."</ref> [[Christiaan Huygens]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Magill|Aves|1998|p=66}}: "Sabra discusses in detail the impact of Alhazen's ideas on the optical discoveries of such men as Descartes and Christiaan Huygens; see also {{harvnb|El-Bizri|2005a}}."</ref> [[René Descartes]],<ref>{{Harvnb|El-Bizri|2010|p=12}}.</ref> and [[Johannes Kepler]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Magill|Aves|1998|p=66}}: "Even Kepler, however, used some of Alhazen's ideas, for example, the one-to-one correspondence between points on the object and points in the eye. It would not be going too far to say that Alhazen's optical theories defined the scope and goals of the field from his day to ours."</ref> Meanwhile, in the Islamic world, Alhazen's work influenced [[Averroes]]' writings on optics,{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} and his legacy was further advanced through the 'reforming' of his ''Optics'' by Persian scientist [[Kamal al-Din al-Farisi]] (died c. 1320) in the latter's ''Kitab Tanqih al-Manazir'' (''The Revision of'' [Ibn al-Haytham's] ''Optics'').<ref name="{{harvs|nb|last=el-bizri|year=2005a|year2=2005b}}." /> Alhazen wrote as many as 200 books, although only 55 have survived. Some of his treatises on optics survived only through Latin translation. During the Middle Ages his books on [[cosmology]] were translated into Latin, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and other languages.

H. J. J. Winter, a British historian of science, summing up the importance of Ibn al-Haytham in the history of [[physics]] wrote:
<blockquote>After the death of Archimedes no really great physicist appeared until Ibn al-Haytham. If, therefore, we confine our interest only to the history of physics, there is a long period of over twelve hundred years during which the Golden Age of Greece gave way to the era of Muslim Scholasticism, and the experimental spirit of the noblest physicist of Antiquity lived again in the Arab Scholar from Basra.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Winter |first1=H. J. J. |title=The Optical Researches of Ibn Al-Haitham |journal=Centaurus |date=September 1953 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=190–210 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0498.1953.tb00529.x |pmid=13209613 |language=en |issn=0008-8994|bibcode=1953Cent....3..190W }}</ref></blockquote>

Although only one commentary on Alhazen's optics has survived the Islamic Middle Ages, [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] mentions the work in ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'':<ref>{{cite web |title=Ibn al-Haytham's scientific method |website=UNESCO |date=14 May 2018 |url=https://en.unesco.org/courier/news-views-online/ibn-al-haytham-s-scientific-method |access-date=25 October 2021 |archive-date=25 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025160618/https://en.unesco.org/courier/news-views-online/ibn-al-haytham-s-scientific-method |url-status=live }}</ref>
<blockquote><poem>"They spoke of Alhazen and Vitello,
And Aristotle, who wrote, in their lives,
On strange mirrors and optical instruments."</poem></blockquote>

The [[impact crater]] [[Alhazen (crater)|Alhazen]] on the Moon is named in his honour,<ref>{{Harvnb|Chong|Lim|Ang|2002}} Appendix 3, [{{google books|id=vIcFxgAs-C8C|plainurl=yes|page=129}} p. 129].</ref> as was the [[asteroid]] [[59239 Alhazen]].<ref>{{Harvnb|NASA|2006}}.</ref> In honour of Alhazen, the [[Aga Khan University]] (Pakistan) named its Ophthalmology endowed chair as "The Ibn-e-Haitham Associate Professor and Chief of Ophthalmology".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aku.edu/res-office/pdfs/AKU_Research_Publications_1995–1998.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104215931/http://www.aku.edu/res-office/pdfs/AKU_Research_Publications_1995|url-status=dead|title=AKU Research Publications 1995–98|archivedate=4 January 2015}}</ref>

The 2015 [[International Year of Light]] celebrated the 1000th anniversary of the works on optics by Ibn Al-Haytham.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ibn Al-Haytham and the Legacy of Arabic Optics|publisher=2015 International Year of Light|url=http://www.light2015.org/Home/ScienceStories/1000-Years-of-Arabic-Optics.html|date=2015|access-date=4 January 2015|archive-date=1 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141001171116/http://www.light2015.org/Home/ScienceStories/1000-Years-of-Arabic-Optics.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Houghton Typ 620.47.452 - Selenographia, title.jpg|alt=Frontispiece of book showing two persons in robes, one holding a geometrical diagram, the other holding a telescope.|thumb|upright|[[Hevelius]]'s ''[[Selenographia]]'', showing Alhasen {{sic}} representing reason, and [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]] representing the senses]]
In 2014, the "[[Hiding in the Light]]" episode of ''[[Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey]]'', presented by [[Neil deGrasse Tyson]], focused on the accomplishments of Ibn al-Haytham. He was voiced by [[Alfred Molina]] in the episode.

Over forty years previously, [[Jacob Bronowski]] presented Alhazen's work in a similar television documentary (and the corresponding book), ''[[The Ascent of Man]]''. In episode 5 (''The Music of the Spheres''), Bronowski remarked that in his view, Alhazen was "the one really original scientific mind that Arab culture produced", whose theory of optics was not improved on till the time of Newton and Leibniz.

[[UNESCO]] declared 2015 the [[International Year of Light]] and its Director-General Irina Bokova dubbed Ibn al-Haytham 'the father of optics'.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Programme-Opening_IYL2015.pdf| title = 2015, International Year of Light| access-date = 10 October 2017| archive-date = 15 April 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170415175814/http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/Programme-Opening_IYL2015.pdf| url-status = live}}</ref> Amongst others, this was to celebrate Ibn Al-Haytham's achievements in optics, mathematics and astronomy. An international campaign, created by the [[1001 Inventions]] organisation, titled ''1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham'' featuring a series of interactive exhibits, workshops and live shows about his work, partnering with science centers, science festivals, museums, and educational institutions, as well as digital and social media platforms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/1000_years_of_arabic_optics_to_be_a_focus_of_the_international_year_of_light_in_2015 |title=1000 Years of Arabic Optics to be a Focus of the International Year of Light in 2015 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=27 November 2014 |archive-date=21 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141121010107/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/1000_years_of_arabic_optics_to_be_a_focus_of_the_international_year_of_light_in_2015/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The campaign also produced and released the short educational film [[1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham]].

Ibn al-Haytham appears on the 10,000 dinar banknote of the [[Iraqi dinar]], series 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |title=10 Dinars, Iraq |url=https://en.numista.com/catalogue/note203100.html |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=en.numista.com |language=en}}</ref>