Ibn al-Haytham
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9.7
- proper noun
- The experiments of Ibn al-Haytham revolutionized the study of optics in the Middle Ages.
Examples
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Many historians regard Ibn al-Haytham as the father of modern scientific methodology.
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Ibn al-Haytham's work was translated into Latin and influenced European scholars for centuries.
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The work of Ibn al-Haytham laid the foundation for modern optics.
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Did Ibn al-Haytham really invent the camera obscura?
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Ibn al-Haytham's groundbreaking theories on light changed how scientists understood vision and perception.
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The principles of optics described by Ibn al-Haytham are still taught in physics classes today.
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Scholars celebrate Ibn al-Haytham for his contributions to experimental science and mathematical rigor.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A Muslim Arab scientist who studies light and uses experiments to see how it works
1
9.9
A medieval Arab scientist who studied light and vision and developed early ways of testing ideas
Surface Forms
Morphology
Ibn + al-Haytham
This item is a proper name whose referent — an Egyptian polymath and pioneer in optics — cannot be derived from the literal constituents. Although a learner who knows Arabic elements might recognise 'Ibn' as a patronymic ('son of') and thus infer it is a person's name, that morphological clue does not provide the specific biographical or disciplinary meaning, so the expression is not transparently interpretable.
Etymology
Ibn al-Haytham literally means 'son of' because Ibn means 'son of' and al-Haytham is the family name, and he was called Alhazen in Europe. He used careful experiments with light and a dark room to study vision, so people call him a 'father of modern science' and of the study of light.