Abbas ibn Firnas
9th century astronomer and physician · Spain · Scientists · Lived 810 to 887 · aged 77
Abbas ibn Firnas is read about 403 times a day, in 55 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 8 October 2026
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Something wrong?A ninth-century Andalusian who built a planetarium, developed early magnifying lenses, and - according to reports that have circulated for centuries - attempted to fly.
Also in Deutsch
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About this person
Born around 809 in Al-Andalus, Abbas ibn Firnas moved through multiple disciplines: astronomy, engineering, chemistry, medicine, music, poetry. He constructed a device that tracked planetary motion and developed a process for manufacturing colourless glass, then applied it to create reading stones - early magnifying lenses. Somewhere in those decades he also experimented with unpowered flight, a trial that became the detail history remembered. He died in 887, leaving behind the image of a mind that refused to stay in one field.
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