On the Legacy of Ibn Al-Haytham: An Exposition Based on the Work of Roshdi Rashed

By : Athanase Papadopoulos

Page No: 157-177

Abstract
We report on the work of Ibn al-Haytham, an Arabic scholar who had settled in Cairo in the eleventh century, and worked in several fields, including mathematics, physics and philosophy. We review some of his work on optics, astronomy, number theory and especially spherical geometry. Our report is mostly based on the books published by Roshdi Rashed, a specialist on Ibn alHaytham and the world expert on Arabic and Greek mathematics and their interaction. We also provide a report on the life of Ibn al-Haytham, his influence, and the general background in which he flourished. The year 2015 has been declared by the UNESCO the “International Year of Light”, and one reason is that we celebrate this year the thousandth anniversary of Ibn Al-Haytham’s fundamental work on optics, KitÀb al-ManÀzir.