ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Ibn Sahl (mathematician)

Ibn Sahl was a really smart person who lived a long time ago in a place called Baghdad. He was really good at math and he came up with something really important called "Sahl's law".

Sahl's law is all about how light travels through different materials like glass or water. He found out that when light goes through these materials, it doesn't go in a straight line like it does in the air. Instead, it bends a little and changes direction. This is called refraction.

Ibn Sahl made a special tool called a "curved mirror" to help him see this happening. He used this mirror to study how light moved through different materials and he found out some really cool things. He found out how to predict how much the light would bend and change direction when it moved through different materials.

This was a really important discovery because it helped people understand how lenses and glasses work. It also helped people make better telescopes, microscopes, and other important tools that we still use today. So, Ibn Sahl was really smart and his discoveries helped us see the world better!