Badīʿ az-Zaman Abu l-ʿIzz ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ar-Razāz al-Jazarī was a polymath, scholar, inventor, mechanical engineer, artisan and artist from the Jazira in Mesopotamia of the Artuqid period. He is best known for writing The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices in 1206, where he described 50 mechanical devices, along with instructions on how to construct them. One of his more famous inventions is the elephant clock. He has been described as the "father of robotics" and modern day engineering. 1164 – 1206; died at about 42. Alive at the same time as Genghis Khan, Francis of Assisi, Averroes, Zhu Xi, and Saladin. Wiki link