Mathematics in the Physical Sciences, 1650-2000 (original) (raw)
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cian-philosopher contemporary of the former and also living in Irak (although he did never move to Egypt) and possibly belonging to the same family. Rashed's views were contested by A.I. Sabra, who firmly (and soundly) sustained that the two Ibn al-Haythams were one and the same person (''One Ibn al-Haytham or two? An exercise in reading the bio-bibliographical sources", ZGAIW, 12 (1998), 1-50, and 15 (2003), 95-108). In the appendix under discussion, Rashed keeps to his own theory and claims that On the Configuration of the World must be ascribed to Muhammad ibn al-Hasan for several reasons, including that the physical approach of the book sharply contrasts with the mathematical approach of the astronomical works he attributes to al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan, and also that it contradicts the criticisms found in Doubts concerning Ptolemy. It is true that the existence of two authors provides an ingenious explanation for the overwhelming number of works attributed to Ibn al-Haytham, as well as for the fact that while most (but not all) of them are highly mathematically demanding yet others are of a medical, philosophical or propaedeutical nature. Even if Rashed's arguments are not conclusive, still he has made an interesting suggestion that future research should not overlook. He has pointed out problems and puzzles that remain to be explained. This discussion raises yet another point of major interest: there is still an immense work to do about Ibn al-Haytham's production, and most particularly about his astronomical treatises. Rashed's fifth volume of Les mathématiques infinitésimales du IXe au XIe siècle is the most important contribution to date to Ibn al-Haytham's astronomy and a model for future editions and commentaries.