Ibn Firnas designed a water clock called Al-Maqata, devised a means of manufacturing colorless glass, invented various glass planispheres, made corrective lenses ("reading stones"), devised a chain of rings that could be used to simulate the motions of the planets and stars, and developed a process for cutting rock crystal that allowed Spain to cease exporting quartz to Egypt to be cut.

He designed a water clock called Al-Maqata. He also devised means of manufacturing glass from sand to produce silica and quartz glass, and he developed a chain of rings that could be used to display the motions of the planets and stars

In 852, under the new Caliph 'Abd al-Rahman II, Ibn Firnas decided to fly off the minaret of the Mezquita mosque in Córdoba using a huge wing-like cloak to break his fall, which he survived with minor injuries. This was the first example of an early parachute. Ibn Firnas recognized that aviation was a difficult task and asked himself in a personal ledger:

"What man-made machine will ever achieve the complete perfection of even the goose's wing?"

In 875, at an age of 65 years, Ibn Firnas made the first attempt at controlled flight when he invented a hang glider with artifical wings, and launched himself from the Mount of the Bride (Jabal al-'arus) in the Rusafa Area, near Córdoba. The flight was largely successful, and was widely observed by a crowd that he had invited. However, the landing was bad. He injured his back, and left critics saying he hadn't taken proper account of the way birds pull up into a stall, and land on their tails. He'd provided neither a tail, nor ...more

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