Camera Obscura Theory And The Contrıbutıon Of Muslıms To Thıs Process

Abstract

In the history of science, the invention of the telescope, the photographic camera and later the modern camera have a special place. These inventions have an important place in the history of medicine as they are the first forms of today's glasses, lenses and intraocular lenses. This colorful and magical process, from the preservation of memories to the study of the sky, from witnessing history to the birth of the cinema industry, began with the introduction of dark chamber theories (camera obscura). The foundation of these studies was laid in the centers of knowledge and thought of the ancient East. From China to Ancient Greece, from Alexandria, the center of semitic teachings, to Baghdad where the center of science and civilization in the 9th century, many scholars and thinkers developed theories on this subject. This process, which we know as the process of reaching the ultimate truth, reached its peak with Ibn al-Haytham, who conducted a series of studies in Cairo in the early 11th century. Ibn al-Haytham, who demonstrated that the sun or fire sends its light through a hole into a dark chamber, stretching a string along the direction of the light and showing that the light spreads, succeeded in influencing Muslim and Christian scientists who came after him. Known as “Alhazen” in the West, this important thinker influenced many Westerners from Roger Bacon to John Peckham, Vitellius to Gersonides, Leonardo da Vinci to Kepler. Not only that, Ibn al-Haytham was also a stepping stone for later Muslim successors such as Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī and Taqiyy al-Dīn al-Rāsid. This process then moved on to the telescope, the camera and the camera, which changed the course of the history of science and made our lives more colorful. The fact that the initial stage of this process was carried out by Muslim scientists and the final form by Christian physicists and astronomers has been one of the most important indicators of the East-West exchange of knowledge. This article aims to give an accurate and chronological account of this process, while explaining how Muslim scientists contributed to this development. It is also written to refute the misconception that the Jewish scientist Levi ben Gerson invented the dark room theory, which is quite widespread in the West. The article, which is analyzed under three headings, aims to reach a conclusion by discussing the first theorists of the dark room theory, the contributions of Muslims and their influence on the West.