IBN Al- Haytham

(better known as Alhazen). Born 965 in Basra; died circa 1039. Arab scholar and scientist.

Al-Haytham, who worked in Cairo, wrote two treatises analyzing Euclid’s Elements, in which he examined definitions, axioms, and postulates and the theory of parallels. He is also the author of works in physics (the most complete account of the optics of that time), medicine (containing information on the structure of the eye approaching modern views), and philosophy.