Jabir ibn Hayyan, Abu Musa
(d. ca. 815 )
Muslim alchemist. Synthesized cosmological and scientific ideas, including the Neoplatonic theory of emanation of the world and depiction of the cosmos as a hierarchy of concentric spheres, the Pythagorean concept of cosmic harmony arising from qualitative or symbolic properties of numbers, the Chinese magic square and numerical symbolism, and the Hermetic science of alchemical and astrological symbolism. Known as the father of Arab chemistry.