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The Medieval History Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, 89-98 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/097194580500900105
© 2006 SAGE Publications

Articles

The Gaze in Ibn al-Haytham

Gérard Simon

Université Charles de Gaulle, Lille 3, CNRS, UMR 8163, Savoirs, textes, languages. Email: simger{at}wanadoo.fr

The article looks at the revolutionary shift of visual interpretation as it occurred in the works of one of the most prominent Arab scientists, Ibn al-Haytham. In his critique of the visual theories of Euclide and Ptolemy, Ibn al-Haytham developed a new conception of estimating distance. Distance is no longer calculated geometrically by the visual faculty, but by the interpretation of signs which are implicit in the visual field and of which an image is formed. This necessity to interpret signs gave Ibn al-Haytham's theory an intellectualist and distinct style and methodology.


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