Abbas ibn Firnas
'Abbas Ibn Firnas, or 'Abbas Qasim Ibn Firnas (810 – 887 A.D.) (Arabic: العباس بن فرناس) was a Berber[1] humanitarian, technologist, and chemist who lived in the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in Al-Andalus. He lived together with the Iraqi contemporary musician Ziryab. 'Abbas ibn Firnas' name was later Latinized as Armen Firman.
In 852, under the new Caliph 'Abd al-Rahman II, Ibn Firnas decided to fly off the minaret of the Mezquita in Córdoba using a huge winglike cloak to break his fall. He survived with minor injuries. This was considered to be the first parachute.
Like Ziryab, Ibn Firnas worked at a huge variety of enterprises. He was studied in chemistry, physics, and astronomy. He set up astronomical tables, wrote poetry, and designed a water clock called Al-Maqata. He also devised means of manufacturing glass from sand, and he developed a chain of rings that could be used to display the motions of the planets and stars. He also developed a process for cutting rock crystal. Up to then, only the Egyptians knew how to facet crystal. Thereafter Spain no longer needed to export quartz to Egypt, but could finish it at home.
In 875 at an age of 65 years, Ibn Firnas built his own hang glider, and launched himself from the Mount of the Bride (Jabal al-'arus) in the Rusafa Area, near Córdoba. The flight was largely successful, and was widely observed by a crowd that he had invited. However, the landing was bad. He injured his back, and left critics saying he hadn't taken proper account of the way birds pull up into a stall, and land on their tails. He'd provided neither a tail, nor means for such a maneuver. He died twelve years later.
- "Ibn Firnas was the first man in history to make a scientific attempt at flying."
—Philip Hitti, History of the Arabs.
As westerners teach their children about Otto Lilienthal and the Wright Brothers, the Islamic countries tell theirs about Ibn Firnas, a thousand years before the Wrights&mdash. 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.
Ibn Firnas crater on the Moon is also named in his honor.
References
- ^ - « 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.
- http://www.uh.edu/, 'Abbas Ibn Firnas by John H. Lienhard.
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)