Discussion at Somewhere Else Coffeehouse and Bookstore

10:55 PM, March 18, 2007, updated at 7:04 AM, March 19, 2007

I spoke at Somewhere Else Coffeehouse and Bookstore on March 17. I want to thank Maria T. Groschup-Black for inviting me to speak, promoting the event, and making me feel welcome.

The attendees and I relaxed on the sofa and chairs in the reading area and discussed the life and achievements of Ibn al-Haytham, whose name sometimes is spelled Ibn al-Haitham and who was known in the West as Alhazen, Alhacen, or Alhazeni. I especially enjoyed the questions and comments of a recent immigrant from Iraq who graciously accepted my invitation to correct my mispronunciations of Arabic names.

I analyzed a pair of 900-year-old historical accounts that suggest Ibn al-Haytham feigned madness to escape his duties as a government minister. I expressed my doubts about these claims and offered reasons why I think Ibn al-Haytham actually suffered from some kind of mental disorder. To read some of my comments, click here: Ibn al-Haytham remarks.

It was a wonderful evening. I am sure Ibn al-Haytham would have been amazed at the idea that one thousand years in the future a group of people in a far-off land would gather at a café to sip hot beverages and discuss his life and work.

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