Ismail al-Jazari

1136-1206 AD

History

Ismail al-Jazari was a Muslim artisan, mathematician, inventor, and engineer during the Islamic Golden Age.
No biographical information exists about him other than what is in his Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, written in 1206,
the same year he died. He lived in Jazira, a city in Mesopotamia, during the Atruqid Dynasty. Little is known about his ethnicity,
so he is often described as being either Arabic, Kurdish, or Persian.

Inventions, mechanisms, and advancements

al-Jazari's inventions often utilized technological advancements such as hydropower and gears. Many of his inventions are automata. Because of this, he is often considered the father of robotics.
One famous automaton created by him was a hand washing station which implemented flush technology used today in modern toilets. Many of his automata implemented highly advanced water based clocks.
A lot of his famous inventions are powered by these clocks as well. Some of his well known clocks include the elephant clock and the castle clock.

Works cited

Information:
Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, September 28). Ismail al-Jazari. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_al-Jazari
Image:
Fahads1982, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons