Ismail al-Jazari

Ismait al-Jazari was a prolific polymath from the Islamic Golden Age, which lasted for about five centuries and was marked by a renaissance in science, culture, and society throughout the Islamic world. It began with the founding of the Abbasid Caliphate in the eighth century. Al-Jazari, who was born in 1136, drew on the achievements of other renowned scientists and inventors from the area, and his creations have been acknowledged as having had a significant influence on Leonardo da Vinci and other European inventors of the European Renaissance.

While little is known about al-early Jazari's years due to the loss of many records from that period, we do know that over the course of his life, he created over 50 different types of unusual devices, including an elephant water clock, a mechanism for raising water for irrigation and other uses, as well as numerous different types of automata. His masterpiece, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, which continues to be a significant work in the history of early engineering, has illustrations of his creations.

Born: 1136 CEJazira, Artuqid State
Died: 1206 CE
Religion: Islam
Era: Islamic Golden Age