Abbas Ibn Firnas

Abbas Ibn Firnas (810 – 887 A.D.) was also known as Abbas Qasim Ibn Firnas and العباس بن فرناس (Arabic language). He was born in Izn-Rand Onda, al-Andalus (today's Ronda, Spain), and lived in the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in al-Andalus. He was a Berber, [« 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.] [cite episode |transcripturl=http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1910.htm |title='Abbas Ibn Firnas |credits=John H. Lienhard |series=The Engines of Our Ingenuity |serieslink=The Engines of Our Ingenuity |network=NPR |station=KUHF-FM Houston |airdate=2004 |number=1910] polymath, aviator, chemist, engineer, humanitarian, inventor, musician, physician, physicst, poet, astronomer and technologist.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] : quote|"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."]

Inventions

Ibn Firnas designed a water clock called Al-Maqata, devised a means of manufacturing colorless glass, developed a chain of rings that could be used to display the motions of the planets and stars, and developed a process for cutting rock crystal that allowed Spain to dispense with exporting quartz to Egypt for farbrication.

Another one of his inventions was an artificial weather simulation room in which spectators saw and were astonished by stars, clouds, artificial thunder, and lightning which were produced by mechanisms hidden in his basement laboratory. [citation|title=Muslim Spain 711-1492 A.D.|first=S. M.|last=Imamuddin|publisher=Brill Publishers|year=1981|isbn=9004061312|page=166] It is unknown how he produced the artificial thunder and lightning and whether or not any electricity was involved. According to Lynn Townsend White, Jr., Ibn Firnas was also an inventor of "some sort of metronome." Ibn Firnas also built and made an attempt to fly a rudimentary glider.

Aviation

In 852, Abbas Ibn Firnas jumped from the minaret of the Mezquita mosque in Córdoba using a huge wing-like cloak to break his fall, which he survived with minor injuries. This was the first example of an early parachute. Ibn Firnas recognized that aviation was a difficult task and asked himself in a personal ledger:

In 875, at age of 65 years, Ibn Firnas made the earliest attempt at flight using a rudimentary glider and launched from the Mount of the Bride (Jabal al-'arus) in the Rusafa Area, near Córdoba, Spain. However, it ended in a crash and he injured his back. This failure left critics saying he hadn't taken proper account of the way birds land and that he had provided neither a tail, nor a means for landing.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 [100-101] ]

Ibn Firnas died twelve years later in 887, at the age of 77 years old.

Eyewitness accounts

Several eye witnesses reported the event. Ibn Firnas stated the following, moments before he flew:

One of the witnesses reported: [Witness accounts to his gliding flight: [http://www.islamonline.net/english/science/2003/05/article04.shtml] ]

Another account states:

Another witness, the poet Mu'min Ibn Said (d. 886), reported:

Based on these and other eyewitness accounts, the early 17th-century historian Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari described the event as follows:

Legacy

:"Ibn Firnas was the first man in history to make a scientific attempt at flying."
—Philip Khuri Hitti, "History of the Arabs".

Ibn Firnas' flight was apparently the inspiration for Eilmer of Malmesbury, more than a century later, who would fly in England for about 200 meters using a glider circa 1010. [Lynn Townsend White, Jr. (1978). "Eilmer of Malmesbury, An Eleventh Century Aviator", "Medieval Religion and Technology", Chapter 4. Los Angeles: University of California Press.]

As Westerners teach their children about Sir George Cayley, Lilienthal and Santos-Dumont the Islamic countries tell theirs about Ibn Firnas, a thousand years before their time. The Libyans produced a postage stamp honoring him. The Iraqis built a statue in his memory on the way to Baghdad International Airport, and the Ibn Firnas Airport to the north of Baghdad is named for him. The Ibn Firnas crater on the Moon is also named in his honor.

According to Paul Lunde, "had he lived in the Florence of the Medici, Abbas ibn Firnas would have been a Renaissance man." [Paul Lunde, [http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200407/science.in.al-andalus-.compilation..htm Science in Al-Andalus] , "Saudi Aramco World", July 2004, pp. 20-27.]

References

Bibliography

* J. Vernet, "Abbas Ibn Firnas. Dictionary of Scientific Biography" (C.C. Gilespie, ed.) Vol. I, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970-1980. pg. 5.
* Salim T.S. Al-Hassani (ed.), Elisabeth Woodcock (au.), and Rabah Saoud (au.). 2006. "1001 Inventions. Muslum Heritage in Our World". Manchester: Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation. See pages 308-13. (ISBN-13: 978-0-9555035-0-4)

See also

* List of Arab scientists and scholars
* History of hang gliding