Ibn Al-Haytham: Father of Modern Optics

[Neal Chaves]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6074172/

Just learned about this amazing scientist in an article from Lomography.

https://shop.lomography.com/us/new-petzval-58-bokeh-control-art-lens-brass-nikon-f

[John Layton]

Ha! When I taught a history of photography course awhile back I always included Al-Haytham. Interesting dude!

But then consider the vikings who, while they did not typically play nice with others...nonetheless were able to craft glass spheres (using lathes) to a degree of optical accuracy which some folks see as being equivalent to that of mid 20th century optics! (don't ask for a citation, as I'd need to go deep into the recesses of my basement to dig those up!).

[Drew Wiley]

I've actually encountered late Paleolithic artifacts where they took nearly perfectly clear volcanic glass and stroked it so precisely that the resultant core flake was perfectly flat on one side, and almost perfectly convex on the other. I have no ideal how they did it; perfectly square ends easy to hold. But what was that for? An ancient magnifying glass, starting fires, just something magical to give the shaman his alleged power?

[Neal Chaves]

There may have been two two people using that same name, the first, who made the optical discoveries, and then another, possibly a friend or associate, who constructed the telescope which opened new channels of discovery.