Ibn al-Haytham was born in 965 CE in Basra. An Arab scholar of the Islamic Golden Age, Ibn al-Haytham, known in the West as Alhazen, was born in Basra and worked mainly in Cairo. His Book of Optics, written while he was under house arrest, set out a theory of vision based on light rays entering the eye from objects, rather than rays emitted by the eye, as earlier thinkers had held. He used experiments to test his ideas, a method that led some historians to call him a pioneer of the scientific method. He also studied the camera obscura, refraction and mirrors, and wrote on mathematics and astronomy. His work influenced Kepler and Roger Bacon.
Before and after
- 946 CEConstruction of Monastery of Saint John of Rila
- from 960 CE to 1279Song dynasty
- from 2 February 962 CE to 6 August 1806Holy Roman Empire
- from 963 CE to 965 CESiege of Rometta
- 965 CEBirth of Ibn al-Haytham
- 965 CEFounding of Kingdom of Denmark
- 967 CEOrigins of Banteay Srei
- from November 968 CE to October 969 CESiege of Antioch
- 6 July 969 CEFounding of Cairo
More in Science & technology
- 721 CEBirth of Jabir ibn Hayyan
- 866 CEBirth of Abu Bakr al-Razi
- 9th centuryGunpowder
- 1098Birth of Hildegard of Bingen
- 1270Glasses
- 13th centuryDiscovery of arsenic
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 10th century.