Diagrams on Alhazen's problem
Date
9 April 1672
Creator
Christiaan Huygens (1629 - 2006, Dutch) , Natural philosopher
Object type
Archive reference number
Manuscript page number
p2
Material
Dimensions
height (page): 222mm
width (page): 165mm
width (page): 165mm
Subject
Description
Diagrams demonstrating Christian Huygens's solution to Alhazen's problem, conveyed to Henry Oldenburg in a letter dated 9 April 1672. The demonstration was printed in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol. 8, no. 98 (November 1673).
The problem attributed to Alhazen (the Latinized name of Ibn al-Haytham (965-1045)) is to find a point of reflection on the surface of a spherical mirror in relation to two points, the eye and the visible object.
The problem attributed to Alhazen (the Latinized name of Ibn al-Haytham (965-1045)) is to find a point of reflection on the surface of a spherical mirror in relation to two points, the eye and the visible object.
Object history
Printed as R. F. Slusius and C. Huygens, 'Continuation of the optical problem of Alhazen', Phil. Trans. vol. 8, no. 98 (November 1673), pp. 6140-46, figs 1 and 2.
Related fellows
Christiaan Huygens (1629 - 2006, Dutch) , Natural philosopher
Henry Oldenburg (1612 - 1677, German) , Scientific correspondent
Renatus Franciscus Slusius (1622 - 1685, Belgian) , Mathematician
Henry Oldenburg (1612 - 1677, German) , Scientific correspondent
Renatus Franciscus Slusius (1622 - 1685, Belgian) , Mathematician
Associated place