The eccentric engineer [Network History]

The article features the multiple inventions of Al-Shaykh Ra´is al-A´mal Badi´ al-Zaman Abu al-Izz ibn Isma´il ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari (1136-1206), thankfully known as just al-Jazari. He was the senior engineer to Nasir Al-Din, the Artuqid king of Diyar Bakr of northern Irag. What makes al-Jazari really stand out is that he wrote a book, the intriguing ´Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices´ (1206). Al-Jazari´s book, containing a biweldering array of machines - 50 devices in all with everything from pumps and fountains to blood-letting tools. A great builder of automata, he was one of the first engineers to turn his mind to what we today call the ´domestic appliances´.