Alhazen (Abu Ali Haitham)

Alhazen (Latinized name of Abu Ali Haytham) (965-1039) - Arabic scholar, the famous physicist of the Middle Ages. Born in Basra. Lived and worked in Cairo (Egypt).

Works are devoted to physics, astronomy, mathematics, medicine and philosophy. Of particular interest are his optical research, outlined in the treatise, which was translated into Latin in the XII century and circulated in manuscript before the first printed edition (1572). Here Alhazen describes the structure of the eye, . Following the ancient Greek scientist Galen (131-211n.e.), . and with the help of experiments refutes the ideas of ancient Greek scientists (Plato, . Euclid) of light as rays, . emerging from the eye and "groping" items,
. Put forward his theory of. By Alhazenu, natural light and colored rays affect the eyes and the visual image is obtained by means of rays, which emit visible bodies and get into the eye. He also believed that each point of the observed object corresponds to a certain point of the eye perceiving. Gave a correct understanding of the vision the two eyes. Held a series of experiments with the camera - pinhole, investigated the refraction of light, considered the types of mirrors (flat, spherical, etc.), suggested that light travels with finite speed.