Jabir Ibn Haiyan

Jabir Ibn Haiyan: Father of Chemistry

Jabir Ibn Haiyan, known as the alchemist Geber of the Middle Ages, is generally known as the Father of Chemistry.

His full name was Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan. He had established himself as one of the leading scientist while he practiced medicine and alchemy in Kufa (in present day Iraq) around 776 C.E. In his early days, he was under the patronage of the Barmaki Vizier during the Abbasid Caliphate of Haroon al-Rashid. Jabir died in Kufa in 803 C.E.

Jabir's major contribution was in the field of Chemistry. He is famous for writing more than one hundred monumental treatises, of which twenty-two deal with chemistry and alchemy. He introduced experimental investigation into alchemy (derived from Arabic word al-Kimiya), creating the momentum for the modern chemistry. Jabir emphasized experimentation and development of methods to achieve reproducibility in his work. He devoted his effort to the development of basic chemical methods and the study of various mechanisms of chemical reactions and thus helped evolve chemistry as a science from the legends of alchemy. Jabir emphasized that definite quantities of various substances are involved in a chemical reaction. Therefore, it can be said that he paved the way for the law of constant proportions.

Jabir discovered mineral and others acids, which he prepared for the first time in his alembic (Anbique). Apart from several contributions of basic nature to alchemy, involving largely the preparation of new compounds and development of chemical methods, he also developed a number of applied chemical processes, thus becoming a pioneer in the field of applied science. His achievements in this field include preparation of various metals, development of steel, dyeing of cloth and tanning of leather, varnishing of water-proof cloth, use of manganese dioxide in glass-making, prevention of rusting, lettering in gold, identification of paints, greases, etc. He also developed aqua regia to dissolve gold. The alembic is his great invention, which made easy and systematic the process of distillation. Jabir was mostly interested in experimentation and was well known for his accuracy in his work.

Jabir's experimental ideas paved the way for now commonly known classification of substances as metals, nonmetals and volatile substances. He discussed three distinct types of substances based on their properties: a) spirits, i.e., those which vaporize on heating, like camphor, arsenic and ammonium chloride, b) metals, e.g., gold, silver, lead, copper, iron, and c) compounds that can be converted into powders.

Although known as an alchemist, Jabir did not seem to have seriously pursued the preparation of noble metals as an alchemist; instead he gave greater attention to the development of basic chemical methods and study of mechanisms of chemical reactions in themselves and thus helped evolve chemistry as a science from the legends of alchemy. He stated that, in chemical reactions, definite quantities of various substances are involved and thus can be said to have paved the way for the law of constant proportions.

Together with chemistry, Jabir was also interested in other sciences such as medicine and astronomy, and had great achievements and contribution in these fields. His books on chemistry, including his Kitab-al-Kimya, and Kitab al-Sab'een were translated into Latin and various European languages. Wit these books being translated to European languages, Jabir's books became famous in Europe for several centuries and have influenced the evolution of modern chemistry.

Jabir invented several technical terms, such as alkali, which are found today in various European languages and have become part of scientific vocabulary.