Ibn al-Haytham and Light - A sample chapter from 'Standing on the Shoulders of Giants'

This is a sample chapter from the forthcoming book, ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’ by Tom Burkard and Colin McKenzie. Al-Haytham worked extensively on theories of astronomy and light.

It is aimed at higher ability 11-16 students and has been found to be an excellent resource for revision, homework or ‘flipped learning’. Further chapters are also being made available for review and evaluation.

This chapter tells the story of al-Haytham and details his work on:

• The nature of light
• The eye
• Astronomy
• Eclipses
• Contrasting brightness of stars and planets

There are also student-friendly explanations of reflection and refraction

Each chapter of SotSoG gives a brief biography of a great physicist and is linked to an explanation of their discoveries that is relevant to the school curriculum. Original sketches are included to illustrate the chapter and we welcome feedback from teachers and students before publication of the book.

I have used chapters for revision, homework and as ‘flipped learning’ activities, where students are encouraged to independently learn the basics of a topic before it is taught in class. Our chapters are also very effective for use in ‘quiet reading’ sessions. The literacy level here is ‘middle to high’ and we have found this content to be very engaging as extension work for higher ability students.