Ibn al Haytham - The First Scientist - Alhazen - Ibn al Haitham - Biography - Bradley Steffens
Known in the West as Alhazen, Alhacen, or Alhazeni, Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham was the first person to test hypotheses with verifiable experiments, developing the scientific method more than 200 years before European scholars learned of it—by reading his books.
Born in Basra in 965, Ibn al-Haitham first studied theology, trying unsuccessfully to resolve the differences between the Shi'ah and Sunnah sects. Ibn al-Haitham then turned his attention to the works of the ancient Greek philosophers and mathematicians, including Euclid and Archimedes. He completed the fragmentary Conics by Apollonius of Perga. Ibn al-Haitham was the first person to apply algebra to geometry, founding the branch of mathematics known as analytic geometry.
A devout Muslim, Ibn al-Haitham believed that human beings are flawed and only God is perfect. To discover the truth about nature, Ibn a-Haitham reasoned, one had to eliminate human opinion and allow the universe to speak for itself through physical experiments. "The seeker after truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them," the first scientist wrote, "but rather the one who suspects his faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits to argument and demonstration."
In his massive study of light and vision, Kitâb al-Manâzir (Book of Optics ), Ibn al-Haytham submitted every hypothesis to a physical test or mathematical proof. To test his hypothesis that "lights and colors do not blend in the air," for example, Ibn al-Haytham devised the world's first camera obscura, observed what happened when light rays intersected at its aperture, and recorded the results. Throughout his investigations, Ibn al-Haytham followed all the steps of the scientific method.
Kitab al-Manazir was translated into Latin as De aspectibus and attributed to Alhazen in the late thirteenth century in Spain. Copies of the book circulated throughout Europe. Roger Bacon, who sometimes is credited as the first scientist, wrote a summary of Kitab al-Manazir entitled Perspectiva (Optics) some two hundred years after the death of the scholar known as Alhazen.
Ibn al-Haytham conducted many of his experiments investigating the properties of light during a ten-year period when he was stripped of his possessions and imprisoned as a madman in Cairo. How Ibn al-Haytham came to be in Egypt, why he was judged insane, and how his discoveries launched the scientific revolution are just some of the questions Bradley Steffens answers in Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, the world's first biography of the Muslim polymath.
Midwest Book Review calls Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist a "fine blend of history and science biography." Booklist concurs, praising Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist as a "clearly written introduction to Ibn al-Haytham, his society, and his contributions." Kirkus Reviews touts Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist as "an illuminating narrative...of a devout, brilliant polymath." Children's Literature adds, "Steffens deftly weaves an overview of Islamic history into this biography. Writing for The Fountain, Dr. Ertan Salik adds: "I congratulate Bradley Steffens for his beautiful work about Ibn al-Haytham and his advancement of experimental science."
Critics are not the only ones praising Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist; casual readers are lauding it as well. Abdul Jabbar Al-Shammari, the director of the Ibn al-Haitham Center for Science and Technology in Amman, Jordan, writes: "I enjoyed reading about the events in the life of the first scientist, Ibn al-Haitham. I congratulate Bradley Steffens on writing a fantastic and accurate book.” A. Nor of Ohio adds, "I find the book interesting, for it accords and recognizes a Muslim scientist his proper place as the first scientist who is responsible for advocating experimental work in verifying conceived scientific ideas (hypotheses)."
Source: Bradley Steffens at http://www.ibnalhaytham.net/index.em?pid=570430
Monday, 18 January 2010
How to get your event on UTM website?
Any event and news about conference, roadshow, exhibition or any academic activity organized by research groups, faculty, department or centre in UTM can be displayed on 'Calendar of Events' and 'News' box on UTM Main Official Website (www.utm.my)
How to get your event on UTM website?
- Send email with graphics image (mini banner, etc.), date, time, venue and brief description of the event to:-
Ahmad Hilman Borhan - ahilman@utm.my
or
Nor Idiana binti Hamidi - idiana@utm.my
How to get your news on UTM website?
- Send email of complete news write-up (in English) to :-
Sabri Ahmad - sabri@utm.my
or
Rohizai bin Zainal - rohizai@utm.my
or
Rohizai bin Zainal - rohizai@utm.my
Thank you.
NOR IDIANA HAMIDI
IT OFFICER
IT OFFICER
WEB UNIT
OFFICE OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS
UTM
OFFICE OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS
UTM
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Book Reviews by Ronald McCaffer
Book Reviews
Refurbishment and Repair in Construction (1st)
David Doran, James Douglas and Richard Pratley
Whittles Publishing
Refurbishment and Repair in Construction
With refurbishment and repair accounting for 50% of construction turnover this is a big market. Yet the books and papers that support it are few. Repair and refurbishment would appear to be the Cinderella sector of the construction market. It is therefore refreshing to see the subject tackled so comprehensively in this book. The authors’ disciplines are a civil/structural engineer, a quantity surveyor and an architect – bringing together the range of skills that are present in repair and refurbishment.
The authors describe repair and refurbishment of buildings as a daunting task, more difficult and more demanding than realised at first sight. The challenge is frequently re-constructing for modern use whilst retaining and matching the original style. The knowledge required is not only of the modern techniques and materials but also knowledge and understanding of the original materials and building techniques. The legal constraints, modern legislation and regulation would have been largely absent during an original construction and now have to be addressed in the refurbishment.
The authors emphasise the difficulty of finding the data required on original buildings and quote the standing committee on structural safety who estimate corporate amnesia of 35 years. That is the data available in a corporate organisation has largely disappeared after 35 years
So how does the repairer and refurbisher get to grips with such issues as understanding the properties of the materials used, the structural integrity of the building, the reasons for distortion and cracking and the scope for incorporating new floors. This calls for careful diagnosis and a design of remedial work that will not exaggerate the problems.
When considered the authors’ description of daunting doesn’t seem exaggerated.
This books provides a framework of the knowledge required and gives many references to essential sources of information.
The contents of the book are wide ranging covering in an excellent introduction including reasons for refurbishment, design life, forensics , energy conservation, unnecessary repairs, safety and conservation.
The introduction is a section well worth reading when you’re standing in the book shop, it will persuade you to buy the book.
Section 2 is entirely devoted to risks including a categorisation of risks and interestingly attitudes to risk.
Section 3 addresses sources of information and discovering process. Largely concentrating on materials in particular concrete, timber, masonry, metals and plastics.
Section 4 reviews the major forms of contract used for repair and refurbishment.
Section 5 is the main section of the book being 136 pages long. It is entitled Types of construction: disasters, defects and potential solutions.
Covering each of the main materials in turn gives a description of their use. The section also covers other matters such as: environmental conditions; condensation; dampness; thermal insulation; sound insulation; fire engineering; vibration; and a wide range of construction techniques as well as specific issues including flat and pitched roofs, tenements, heritage, bridges, tunnels, asbestos, new services, service loads and underground services.
Section 5 contains the core information of this book with the other sections supporting and providing the context. Section 5 is the section that provides the technical knowledge needed in repair and refurbishment.
Section 6 provides a review of all the legal restraints including planning; listed building and building legislation.
Section 7 presents a wide range of case studies giving examples of where all the knowledge in section 5 can be brought together to provide successful outcomes.
This book is essential for any practitioner in repair and refurbishment. I can see engineers going home in the evening with a problem on their mind and turning to this text for guidance, if it doesn’t have the solution then it will offer guidance to where the solution might be found. To the student market this book has the capability of inspiring a career in repair and refurbishment but only for the resilient who are not put off by the daunting nature of the task.
The authors express their regret that refurbishment and repair does not feature much in formal degree and other training programmes. That regret is well justified and there should be more formal education either in under-graduate or post-graduate programmes supporting this sector of the industry.
Ronald McCaffer
Source: http://www.mccaffer.com/index.php?page=book_reviews&review=29
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