The Medieval History Journal

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Simon, G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
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.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?