Abbas ibn Firnas

Abbas ibn Firnas
عباس ابن فرناس
20th century statue of Ibn Firnas outside Baghdad International Airport
Bornc. 810 CE
Ronda, Takurunna province, Emirate of Córdoba
Died887 CE
Córdoba, Emirate of Córdoba
Known forAstronomy, engineering, medicine, invention

Abu al-Qasim Abbas ibn Firnas ibn Wirdas al-Takurini (Arabic: أبو القاسم عباس بن فرناس بن ورداس التاكرني; c. 809/810 – 887 CE), known as Abbas ibn Firnas (Arabic: عباس ابن فرناس) was an Andalusi polymath:[1][2][3] an inventor, astronomer, physician, chemist, engineer, Andalusi musician, and Arabic-language poet.[3] He was reported to have experimented with unpowered flight.[1][4][5][6]

Ibn Firnas made various contributions in the field of astronomy and engineering. He constructed a device which indicated the motion of the planets and stars in the Universe. In addition, Ibn Firnas came up with a procedure to manufacture colourless glass and made magnifying lenses for reading, which were known as reading stones.[5][6]

  1. ^ a b Lévi-Provençal, E. (1986). "ʿAbbās b. Firnās". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. I (2nd ed.). Brill publishers. p. 11.
  2. ^ "Ibn Firnas ('Abbâs)" by Ahmed Djebbar, Dictionnaire culturel des science, by Collective under the direction of Nicolas Witkowski, Du Regard Editions, 2003, ISBN 2-84105-128-5.
  3. ^ a b Lynn Townsend White, Jr. (Spring, 1961). "Eilmer of Malmesbury, an Eleventh Century Aviator: A Case Study of Technological Innovation, Its Context and Tradition", Technology and Culture 2 (2), p. 97-111 [100]: "Ibn Firnas was a polymath: a physician, a rather bad poet, the first to make glass from stones (quartz), a student of music, and inventor of some sort of metronome."
  4. ^ How Invention Begins: Echoes of Old Voices in the Rise of New Machines By John H. Lienhard
  5. ^ a b John H. Lienhard (2004). "'Abbas Ibn Firnas". The Engines of Our Ingenuity. Episode 1910. NPR. KUHF-FM Houston. Transcript.
  6. ^ a b Lynn Townsend White, Jr. (Spring, 1961). "Eilmer of Malmesbury, an Eleventh Century Aviator: A Case Study of Technological Innovation, Its Context and Tradition", Technology and Culture 2 (2), p. 97-111 [100f.]