Historical Novel on the Life of Ibn al-Haytham Who Changed the Course of Science Forever.
Clifton, New Jersey (PRWEB) April 17, 2017 -- During the height of the Abbasid caliphate, Alhasan Ibn al-Haytham leads a quiet, scholarly life in Basra. But when he encounters a mysterious stranger from the neighboring Fatimid caliphate, his life is turned upside down. Taken from his home and his books, the great mathematician is given a seemingly impossible task by Al-Hakim, the “mad caliph”: he must dam the Nile River. When the project encounters difficulties both corporeal and spiritual, Alhasan risks incurring the caliph’s wrath. With his life hanging in the balance, he finds himself on the brink of a revolutionary discovery – though not, perhaps, the one he expected.
The Prisoner of Al-Hakim is an adventurous romp, making history immediate through rich characters, gorgeous settings, and elegant prose. Steffens combines exacting historical detail with rigorous philosophical knowledge. The life of the mind and spirit have rarely been rendered so thoughtfully on the page. Alhasan Ibn Al-Haytham has been mostly lost to Western history, but Bradley Steffens’ new novel brings the forgotten mathematician to vivid life.
Bradley Steffens is an award winning poet, playwright, and author of more than 30 nonfiction books for children and young adults, including Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, the first complete biography of the 11th century Islamic polymath to be published in the West.
Title: The Prisoner of Al-Hakim by Bradley Steffens
9781682060162, 248 pages, $16.95, April 2017
Distributed By: NBN - National Book Network
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