The World's First Scientist

In school, navigating my way through the sea of information there always seemed to be giant icebergs placed at every junction of knowledge. Colossus in their own rights and widely dubbed to be the 'founding fathers' of modern science. Their names have become part of the household furniture for not just people in the west, but across the globe. For history has polished the names of Newton, Galileo, Darwin and Einstein to adorn the mantelpieces of present-day science.


However a tale has been lost in time.
The first chapter of any book is a promise to the reader. It puts the rest of the story into context.
It sets the scene, storyline and thoughts into motion. More importantly it introduces the main character, a focal to point to which other characters adhere to.
If the first chapter is missing the book loses its substance, its worth. But more importantly breaking that promise will disappoint and frustrate the reader.


Isaac Newton by many is considered to be the greatest scientist of the modern era. True, for he stood on the shoulders of a giant who left a footprint 700 years earlier. His name was Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham or in short Al-Haytam of Basra (modern day Iraq).

Born in 965 AD, Al-Haytham is known as the father of the scientific method. This method aims to build upon and correct previous acquired knowledge.
To put it simply, it is observations, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis and then analysing the results through mathematical means.

Bradley Steffens in his biography of Al-Haytham states that he 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.

Professor Jim Al-Khalili of the University of Surrey states in an article published by the BBC, ‘just because Western Europe languished in the Dark Ages, does not mean there was stagnation elsewhere. Indeed, the period between the 9th and 13th Centuries marked the Golden Age of Arabic science.
Great advances were made in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, physics, chemistry and philosophy. Among the many geniuses of that period Al-Haytham stands taller than all the others’.


Undoubtedly Al-Haytam’s greatest accomplishment is in the field of optics. His invention of the pinhole camera), his correct description of vision occurring when light rays enter the eye and stimulate the optic nerve, the fact that light travels in straight rays, and radiates from every point on a luminous object in all directions are all mentioned in his ‘The Book of Optics’.

Al-Haytam does ascribe his inspiration and is documented to say, 'I decided to discover what it is that brings us closer to God, what pleases Him most, and what makes us submissive to His ineluctable Will'.

Jim Al Khalili also states that, ‘it is often still claimed that the modern scientific method was not established until the early 17th Century by Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes.
There is no doubt in my mind, however, that Al-Haytham arrived there first’.


Rosanna Gorini, from Institute of Neurosciences, Rome acknowledges Al-Haytam to be a pioneer in science who influenced many Western intellects such as Roger Bacon, Johannes Kepler and Charles Darwin.


In a recent article published by Austin Cline called ‘What is the Scientific Method’ he raised three distinct points.

1. The scientific method separates science from unsuccessful attempts to produce knowledge which people try to sell: faith, religion, pseudoscience, etc.

2. How scientists work, and so why science is superior to the alternatives.

3. Understanding science means understanding how the scientific method works.


Astonishingly Al-Haytam answered all these questions a millennia ago. He is quoted to say in his Doubts Concerning Ptolemy:
'Truth is sought for its own sake ... Finding the truth is difficult, and the road to it is rough. For the truths are plunged in obscurity. ... God, however, has not preserved the scientist from error and has not safeguarded science from shortcomings and faults. If this had been the case, scientists would not have disagreed upon any point of science'.


To ask another question - Who would understand the Scientific Method better than the man who was first to implement it?
It's as if to say, you and I understand the ‘theory of evolution’ better than the man who proposed it, Charles Darwin.


Surprisingly to those who think they understand his theory better than him, Darwin quotes, ‘the mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content to remain an agnostic’.

To know anything well you must understand its origin.
Those who manipulate the modern scientific method to disprove the existence of god may feel they are throwing stones at a glass box.
However the theory has its foundations deeply rooted in Islam and in reality it’s like throwing glass at a stone structure.

Finally Al-Haytam expresses, 'I constantly sought knowledge and truth, and it became my belief that for gaining closeness to God, there is no better way than that of searching for truth and knowledge'.

And Allah Knows Best.