Abu Musa Jābir ibn Hayyān (Arabic: جابر ابن حيان) (c. 721–c. 815), known also by his Latinise name Geber, was a prominent Shi'a Muslim polymath: a chemist and alchemist, astronomer and astrologer, engineer, philosopher, and pharmacist and physician . He is "considered by many to be the father of chemistry". His ethnic background is not clear; although most sources state that he was an Arab, other sources describe him as Persian.