So being a chemist, you can tell that I am interested in Chemistry and all that which relates to it… So I was searching something online about liquor and I came across a very interesting point…The person who invented the distillation process of liquor is an Arab. 
So I searched him more and I found some real interesting stuff about him… So here it comes:
Abu Musa Jābir ibn Hayyān known in the west as Geber
He was
1- polymath
2- a chemist and alchemist
3- astronomer
4- astrologer
5- engineer
6- geologist
wait wait.. the list goes on
7- philosopher
8- physicist
9- pharmacist
10- and finally a physician.
PHEW… that is like 10 majors that we can specialize in at our universities .. how in the heck did he secure all this time for his studies!!!
Anyway… He is considered by many to be the father of chemistry …. do you want to know? Check this out:
1- He was the first to introduce the experimental method in alchemy (The stuff you did in you chemistry labs was first introduced by this dude).
He said “The first essential in chemistry is that you should perform practical work and conduct experiments, for he who performs not practical work nor makes experiments will never attain the least degree of mastery.”
2- He invented the syntheses of hydrochloric (HCL), nitric acids (H2NO2), Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4), and the discovered citric acid (that sour component of lemons)
3- He is credited with the invention of over twenty types of now-basic chemical laboratory equipment such as Alembic
4- He discovered and described many now-commonplace chemical substances and processes – such as distillation (<- this is how liquor is produced) and crystallization (Crystallization is a chemical solid-liquid separation technique, in which mass transfer of a solute from the liquid solution to a pure solid crystalline phase occurs)
5- He invented Aqua Regia, one of the few substances that can dissolve gold.
6- He was the first to classify sulfur (‘the stone which burns’ that characterized the principle of combustibility) and mercury (which contained the idealized principle of metallic properties) as ‘elements’
7- He was the first to purify and isolate sulfur and mercury as pure elements (Pure elements are those elements that are not attached to any other elements, like the Carbon in CO2 is not pure because its attached to two Oxygen, while the Chlorine in Cl2 is a pure element because it only consists of Chlorine)
And much more… but here is the most interesting thing I found on him.. do you know the origin of the word “Gibberish”? I looked it up on The Merriam Webster website and here is what I found.
Main Entry:gib·ber·ish
Pronunciation: \ˈji-b(ə-)rish, ˈgi-\
Function: noun
Etymology: probably from gibber Which was how his name pronounced in Latin
Date: circa 1554
Finally, In the Middle Ages, Jabir’s treatises on alchemy were translated into Latin and became standard texts for European alchemists. These include the Kitab al-Kimya (titled Book of the Composition of Alchemy in Europe), translated by Robert of Chester; and the Kitab al-Sab’een by Gerard of Cremona (before 1187). Marcelin Berthelot translated some of his books under the fanciful titles Book of the Kingdom, Book of the Balances, and Book of Eastern Mercury. Several technical Arabic terms introduced by Jabir, such as alkali, have found their way into various European languages and have become part of scientific vocabulary.
O.. here is one more interesting fact about him:
هناك من علماء المسلمين ومن المستشرقين من يشكك في شخصيته ويرى أن كتبه قد ألفت بعد هذا العصر. إذ لا يعرف أن أحدا من معاصرين قد ذكر رجلا بهذا الاسم. وأول من ذكره هو أبو بكر الرازي بعد مئة عام وبلقب آخر (أبو موسى بدلا من أبي عبد الله). ويقول ابن تيمية في مجموع الفتاوى (7 / 59): وَأَمَّا جَابِرُ بْنُ حَيَّانَ صَاحِبُ الْمُصَنَّفَاتِ الْمَشْهُورَةِ عِنْدَ الْكِيمَاوِيَّةِ فَمَجْهُولٌ لَا يُعْرَفُ وَلَيْسَ لَهُ ذِكْرٌ بَيْنَ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ وَلَا بَيْنَ أَهْلِ الدِّينِ
This was taken from Arabic Wikipedia and is translated as:
There are some of the Muslim scholars and some orientalists who doubted his exsistance and think that his books where written after his death. That is because no one from those who lived in the same time with him knew him or commented on his work. The first to do so was AbuBakr arRazy which was 100 years after Jabir’s death and he mentioned him as Abu Musa instead of Abu Abdullah Jabir Ibn Hayyan. Ibn Tayymiah said in Majmoo’ AlFatawa “As for Jabir Ibn Hayyan the author of The Famous Classifications, he is unknown and no one recognizes him from the people of science nor the people of deen.
All I can say.. interesting indeed 
