Arabic in the Sciences
The Rainbow from the Book of Optics
قوس قزح من كتاب المناظر
Around 1304–1311 Dietrich of Freiberg explained the rainbow by the refraction and reflection of light inside a raindrop, testing it with glass globes filled with water, and built his theory on Ibn al-Haytham's Book of Optics. At the same time Kamal al-Din al-Farisi, who had written a commentary on that same book, reached the same explanation – with no known contact between the two.
- Author
- Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) (d. c. 1040)
- Field
- Optics
- Arabic title
- كتاب المناظر
- Latin title
- De aspectibus (Perspectiva) → Dietrich of Freiberg, De iride
See also: The Book of Optics in Europe
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Sources
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, «Dietrich of Freiberg», §6.2: his theory of the rainbow «builds upon and extends that of Ibn al-Haytham»; al-Farisi «with no known historical link»
- Wikipedia, «Theodoric of Freiberg»: De iride, c. 1304–1311; water-filled glass globes; both relied on the Book of Optics
- كمال الدين الفارسيّ، البصائر في علم المناظر، مقدّمة المحقّق: «البصائر» مختصرُ «تنقيح المناظر»، وهو شرحٌ لـ«المناظر» لابن الهيثم
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