Famous Persian chemist and alchemist born close to Tus, considered the forerunner of modern chemistry, to whom more than one hundred books and scientific theses are attributed and more than 500 treatises written by him. He lived in Al Kufur and Baghdad, both in today's Iraq, at the height of the Abbasid dynasty, and was a contemporary of the Abbasid Caliph Harun Ar Rachid.
Tradition says that he was the victim of envy and persecution by his contemporaries, especially after gaining fame, and because of that, he traveled constantly, from one place to another, fearing for his life; at the end of his life, he returned to the city of Kufa in Iraq, his hometown, where he spent the last years of his life.
He defended in his books the idea that science was born with the innate nature of man, that is, man was born with the predisposition to increase their knowledge, which is acquired externally, through learning and education and required that its students had a natural disposition for the learning.
He wrote in all branches of science, apart from chemistry, like his contemporaries. He wrote treatises on philosophy, astronomy, medicine and biology, such as Kitab Alkhálais, the book of stones, Kitab Alghamar, the book of silver, Kitab Achams, the book of gold, Kitab Al Asrar, the book of secrets, Kitab Azi Abagh, the book of mercury, Kitab al Waçiyya, the book of the testament, Kitab Alhudud, the book of limits, Kitab Arahman, the book of mercy, Kitab al-Kimya, the book of chemical composition, Kitab Alkhawáss, the book of properties, his most important book on chemistry, among others, many of them translated in several European countries, especially in English and Latin.
These translations became popular in Europe for several centuries and influenced the evolution of modern chemistry. In his time, materials were not seen as they are known today. They were classified into three types: 1st - materials that could be cast and molded such as gold, silver and copper; 2nd- fluid materials, such as gas and oil; 3º- intermediate materials between the two previous ones, such as precious stones. Many of the works attributed to him, for other researchers, seem to have their origin between the 9th and 14th centuries, later, therefore, its existence.
These authorship errors would originate when translating these works from Arabic into Latin. These works detail descriptions of chemical processes, including experiments on metal properties. He was, for example, the first scientist to describe the preparation of nitric acid, being attributed to discovery of nitric and sulfuric acids, aqua regia and silver nitrate from the cited writings in Arabic.
His theory, of great importance for the Medieval Age and the Renaissance, stated that metals were composed of mercury and sulfur and that it was possible to transform metal into gold. He wrote numerous works on chemistry and contributed to other sciences as well, such as medicine and astronomy. He introduced several technical terms and many of his books are preserved in Arabic.
Source: http://www.dec.ufcg.edu.br/biografias/
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/abu-musa-jabir-ibn-hayyan.htm
