Chemist, natural
scientist and philosopher (B. 721, Tûs – D. 815, Tûs / Khorasan). His full name
is Ebu Musa Câbir b. Hayân b. Abdullâh el-Kûfî. He should not be confused with
the inventor of algebra, the Andalusian mathematician Câbir b. Eflah (?-1150).
Câbir’s father Hayyân is known as a spice-seller who originally came from the
Ezd tribe of
Câbir,
who spent most of his life in Kufah, took lectures from Caferes -Sâdık there.
After continuing his works in
Câbir
states that he acquired all his knowledge from İmam Cafer-i Sadık whom he calls
“the source of wisdom”. Besides he mentions Harbî el-Himyerî among his masters
and says that he learnt Himyeri language from him, aside from various sciences.
One of his masters was a priest who was a student of Marianus. He also mentions
other masters aside from them. The sources state that he was afraid of
government oppression and therefore he could not live in the same place for a
long period and had to travel continuously. He also says that he had been in
Câbir’s
works encompass medicine, astronomy, mathematics, natural sciences, philosophy
and other sciences of the period but he is primarily known as a chemist. E.J.
Holmyard is the first person who discovered his privileged place in the history
of chemistry and that he turned chemistry into an empirical science. E. O.
Lippmann claims that Câbir’s place in the history of chemistry is equal to the
founders of modern chemistry such as Boyle, Priestley and Lavoisier. In deed
Câbir realized the importance of empirical method in natural sciences and
applied this method to all of his works.
Câbir’s
natural philosophy is based on the traditional minor universe (human) – major
universe paradigm and the thought that celestial powers affect earthly incidents.
Besides his laying great stress on the quantitative dimension of the universe
and on calculation and experiment in his scientific understanding are a
reflection of Pythagorean theory which claims that the basic factor in the
universe is number, on his natural philosophy.
Among
the existences in the universe which are mines, plants and animals, mines have
a special place in Câbir’s works. That mines are analyzed in his works not only
in terms of mines’ constitution but also in terms of their transformation is
the starting point of chemistry researches. According to his chemistry all
mines come into being upon the union (marriage) of sulfur and mercury in
different rates and under special celestial effects. Mines are signs of planets
on earth due to their origins. Therefore they are substances which do not only
belong to earth. However mercury and sulfur which are essential in the
constitution and transformation process of mines should not be understood as
chemistry elements but rather as a being principle like principles of male and
female. Consequently, the chemist should be able to control the concerning
celestial effects when turning worthless mines into gold.
Câbir b. Hayyân who raised many
students explained his scientific experiments in depth and interpreted the
results achieved with a great sensibility and attention. He detected some
chemicals’ compositions and explained them. He also explained the building and
use of tools used for experiments and built sensitive measurement tools to use
for the science of chemistry. He discovered numerous acids such as sulfuric and
nitric acids, and elements such as sodium carbonate and potassium.
It is related that Câbir
b. Hayyân has 2000 large and small works. He was busy with atom and its
structure long before numerous European scientists such as Enrico Fermi and
Einstein, who would come about thousand years after him and spend years on the
same topic and even at that time, he explained that atomic fission would be
possible in detail in his books. He said following things about this topic: “Atom
which is the smallest part of the matter has an intensive energy. Unlike what
the Greek scientists said, it is not possible to claim that this cannot be
splintered; it can be. And when this is done, such a power (energy) comes into
being that
Câbir bin Hayyan analyzed
the structures of poison and poisonous items and wrote a book about it called “Kitâb-üs-Sümum”
and he also produced
a paper which could not be burnt by fire. He built a distillery for the first
time. He made numerous inventions in the field of treating various metals,
development of steal, varnishing water resistant clothes, use of manganese
tetroxide in glass production, prevention of rust, gilded ornaments, detection
of paints and oils. He categorized matters in three groups due to their
properties and guided their next classifications. He detected numerous
chemicals and named them with Arabic names which are still used. Câbir Khorasani who is
the inventor of clock, nitric acid, the number zero and algebra, also defined
intervals and space. His most important invention is that time has a linear
line, like space.
Câbir’s theory of
balance and chemical system based on it brought him to another system called
“ilmül-havâs”. Câbir with this system
researched the properties of mines, plants and animals, similarities and
differences among them and importance of them in terms of practice and
medicine.
In his booklet titled “Kitâbül-Havâs”
he related the concepts of “havas” and “cause” and criticized the religious
scholars who refuse the existence of ‘havas’ and philosophers who thought that
the apprehension of ‘havas’ causes was beyond human intellectual. Câbir went
further than Plato by having mentioned that the nature could be improved and
even living creatures which are not present in the nature could be derived.
Câbir bin Hayyan
wrote hundreds of works in various fields such as applied physics-chemistry,
theoretical physics-chemistry, mines’ physics-chemistry, mathematics, astronomy,
philosophy and history of religions.
It
emerged later that western scientists translated and laid claims to numerous
works of Câbir who passed away in
MAIN WORKS: Kitabü’l-beyan,
Kıtabü’l-hacer, Kitabü’n-nûr, Kitabü’l-izah..., Kitabü’ş-şems,
Kitabü’l-kamer, Kitabü’l-hayyavan, Kitabü’s-sema, Kitabü'l-arz...