3 14 Notes to PaD'lls I 4I-I43~v,

3. Jhn Sahl's manuscripts on l,enseswere discovered and reconstructed by Rash .. .

Anaclastics." On 4 78, Rashed shows that a geometric ratio in lb ed, A Pioneer in
. . al . h. d · h n Sahl's dia
(reproduce d on 4 6 7 ) 1s eqmv ent, m m s1g t, to the modern sine I h. gram
.s the basis
. o f lbn Sa hi's an alys1s. o f I enses. O veraII , 1t
· 1s
· an impressive
· aw, w ich he
re . cl aims
·
1. . . al . f I . construction of
impressive early geometnc an ys1s o enses. One pertment point is that lb S h1 . an
that when reversing the direction of view, the angles of incidence and: fa ~eahzed
. reverse.d (4 7 8) . Th.1s 1s
. an important
. . . h t, b ut 1t . does not depend e raction. are
simply . ms1g on a particula
law of refraction, and Robert Gouldmg . noted that an accurate law of refract·10n 1s . notr
actually necessary for such geometnc analyses: al-Haytham and his commentator w·Itelo
developed geometric optics even :urther than Ibn Sa~l, and they developed sophisticated
theorems for lenses and other opucal phenomenon usmg only a qualitative tmderstandi
of refraction ("Thomas Harriot's Optics," 14 7). ng
Indeed, Ibn Sahl gave no account of where his ratio came from. Andrew Young suggests
that he likely began with mathematical conic surfaces of revolution and worked backward
to find the light path that makes these lenses suitable for burning ("Discovery of the
Law of Refraction," h ttps:ff aty.sdsu.edu/ explain/ optics/ discovery.html). On the available
evidence, Young does not think Ibn Sahl discovered the law of refraction. A similar analysis
and conclusion is given injean-Luc Godet, "A Short Recall about ... the Refractive Index,"
http:# okina.univangers.fr/publications/ua13816/ 1/refrindexstor.pdf.
For a more detailed critique of Ibn Sahl's analysis, and a gentle suggestion that Rashed
exaggerated Ibn Sahl 's importance regarding the law of refraction, see Sabra, review of
Rashed's "Geometrie et dwptique au xe siecli', 685. But in his "A Pioneer·in Anaclastics"
Rashed does clearly acknowledge (491) that rather than deducing a law of nature from
experiment, lbn Sahl's was a purely geometric exercise devoted to lenses. In fact, Rashed's
main point here is that lbn Sahl was a forgotten pioneer in geometric optics, and especially
the study of lenses, and I certainly agree that he deserves recognition for this.
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