In the 18th century, the Swedish naturalist and physician Carl Linnaeus introduced the scientific system of classifying plants and animals that is used all over the world to this day. Under this system, each living thing is assigned a name consisting of two Latin words. The first word is the name of the genus, and the second, the species. The classification of living things is called taxonomy. In 1737, Linnaeus published the first edition of his book titled Systema Naturae or System of Nature. Over the years, Linnaeus continued to develop his ideas and add new species so that the book grew in a period of about 30 years from 12 outsize pages in its first edition, to 2400 pages in its twelfth edition. This was the first serious attempt ever made to document all of our planet's species. It was a huge effort and it won Linnaeus acclaim as the 'Father of Taxonomy .
Born in the tenth century AD, Alhazen was an Arab who was known as the first true scientist. He developed the scientific method of experimentation, and was the first person to formulate hypothesis and conduct verifiable experiments. A scientist, philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, Alhazen wrote over a hundred books, more than half of which have been preserved. One of his most influential writings was in the field of optics. In this book Alhazen gave experimental proof of the nature of light, the structure of the eye and the basic principles of reflection via mirror. He stated that contrary to popular belief, the eye does not send out rays to the object it sees. Rather it is the light reflected via the object that the eye beholds. This was a completely new and revolutionary concept. The book comprises sevenvoles, and was translated into Latin.
