| Achievements |
Father of Modern Optics: He is known for the earliest use of the camera obscura. He contradicted Ptolemy's and Euclid's theory of vision that objects are seen by rays of light emanating from the eyes; according to him the rays originate in the object of vision and not in the eye. He is the first to describe accurately the various parts of the eye and give a scientific explanation of the process of vision. He made a thorough examination of the passage of light through various media and discovered the laws of refraction. |
 |
He also carried out the first experiments on the dispersion of light into its constituent colors. His book Kitab-al-Manadhir was translated into Latin in the Middle Ages, as also his book dealing with the colours of sunset. He dealt at length with the theory of various physical phenomena like shadows, eclipses, the rainbow, and speculated on the physical nature of light. He also attempted to explain binocular vision, and gave a correct explanation of the apparent increase in size of the sun and the moon when near the horizon.
|
