Abu Ali al-Hasan Ibn al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham al-Basrî al-Misrî (965-1041)

known in mediaeval Latin texts as Alhazen, Avennathan and Avenetan. He was the best physicist and mathematician of his time. Most of his works (more than one hundred titles) are devoted to mathematics and physics, but he also wrote on medicine and philosophy.

Ibn al-Haytham was born in Basra in 354. He went to Egypt during the time of al-Hakim, who reigned 386-411, and al-Haytham undertook to control the flow of the Nile River. Regulating the water was not possible, and he quit the task and left. He returned to Cairo after the caliph died and earned his living by copying scientific and mathematical manuscripts. He was highly knowledgeable about Greek writers and he edited and criticized Ptolomy. He died in 430.