The full name in Arabic of this highly celebrated polymath is: Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham al-Basri al-Misri. He is more known through the shorter form of his name as “Ibn al-Haytham”, and in Latinate renditions he is referred to as “Alhazen” or “Alhacen”. This Arab scientist (also nicknamed as “al-Muhandis al-Basri” [“The engineer /optician of Basra”]) was born in the southern Iraqi city of Basra in 965 C.E., and died in Cairo ca. after 1041 C.E. The principal biographical-bibliographical sources regarding his life and works were preserved in two treatises in historiography: the first is Ta’rikh al-hukama’ (Historiography on Philosophers) by Ibn al-Qifti (d. 1248 C.E.), and the s…
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Citation: El-Bizri, Nader. "Alhazen". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 May 2011 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12049, accessed 23 November 2024.]
