Ibn Sahl's treatise on burning mirrors and lenses
E1022095
Ibn Sahl's treatise on burning mirrors and lenses is a foundational 10th-century work in Islamic optics that mathematically analyzes refraction and lens design, anticipating principles later formalized in Snell’s law.
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
medieval Arabic scientific text
ⓘ
scientific treatise ⓘ work on optics ⓘ |
| aim |
to design lenses that concentrate light for burning
ⓘ
to design mirrors that focus sunlight to a point ⓘ |
| approximateDate | c. 984 ⓘ |
| associatedWith | Baghdad NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| author | Ibn Sahl NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| contribution |
construction of burning lenses using refracting profiles
ⓘ
construction of burning mirrors using conic sections ⓘ mathematical derivation of refraction at spherical surfaces ⓘ |
| culturalContext | Islamic Golden Age NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| demonstrates | systematic use of mathematics in physical optics ⓘ |
| era | medieval Islamic science ⓘ |
| field |
mathematical physics
ⓘ
optics ⓘ |
| genre | technical scientific treatise ⓘ |
| hasSubject |
focusing of solar rays
ⓘ
relationship between path of light and refractive media ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance |
earliest known work to state the correct law of refraction in mathematical form
ⓘ
foundational text in Islamic optics ⓘ |
| influenced |
development of mathematical optics
ⓘ
later Islamic optical works ⓘ |
| knownFor |
anticipating Snell's law
ⓘ
earliest correct formulation of the law of refraction ⓘ |
| language | Arabic ⓘ |
| mainTopic |
burning lenses
ⓘ
burning mirrors ⓘ geometrical optics ⓘ lens design ⓘ refraction of light ⓘ |
| mathematicallyFormulates | constant ratio of sines of incidence and refraction angles in different media ⓘ |
| methodology |
geometric analysis
ⓘ
use of conic sections ⓘ |
| placeOfOrigin | Abbasid Caliphate NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| precedes |
René Descartes' work on refraction
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Willebrord Snellius's formulation of Snell's law ⓘ |
| publicationCentury | 10th century ⓘ |
| rediscoveredBy | modern historians of science ⓘ |
| studiedIn |
history of optics
ⓘ
history of science ⓘ |
| survivesAs | manuscript copies ⓘ |
| usesConcept |
angle of incidence
ⓘ
angle of refraction ⓘ geometric construction ⓘ refractive index ratio ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
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