Abu Ali al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham (Latinized name: Alhazen) made important discoveries in astronomy, mathematics, and optics. His Kitab al-Manazir (Book on Optics) made the works of Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Euclid obsolete. He merged their classical theories, combining the mathematical, physical, and physiological aspects into one unified optical theory. The Kitab al-Manazir also introduced the distinction between optics and physiology/psychology that is a cornerstone of modern optics and colorimetry.
In his work, Ibn al-Haytham attempted to show how illumination, hue, and saturation combine together into color perception. Although he was not able to establish a complete system of color attributes, his account is largely consistent. “In terms of scope, details and comprehensiveness of treatment, Ibn al-Haytham’s observations on the subject of color perception are unequalled in any single writer before him” (Vol. 2, p. 43 in Ref. [1]).
The Kitab al-Manazirwould be the dominant text on...
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Kirchner, E. (2014). Al-Haytham (Alhazen), Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan ibn. In: Luo, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_332-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_332-1
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