Al-Biruni
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Abu Rayhan Biruni (Persian: ابوریحان بیرونی; Arabic: أبو الريحان البيروني) (September 15 973–December 13 1048) was a Persian mathematician, physicist, scholar, encyclopedist, philosopher, astronomer, astrologer, traveller, historian, pharmacist, and teacher, who contributed greatly to the fields of mathematics, philosophy, medicine, and science. Al-Biruni crater, on the Moon, is named after him.
He was born in Khwarazm (formerly north-western Persia (Iran) at the time under the Persian Samanids) presently in Khiva Uzbekistan. He studied mathematics and astronomy under Abu Nasr Mansur.
He was a colleague of the fellow Persian Muslim philosopher and physician Ibn Sina, the historian, philosopher and ethicist Ibn Miskawayh, in a university and science center established by prince Abu Al Abbas Ma'mun Khawarazmshah. He also travelled to South Asia with Mahmud of Ghazni, who also became his patron, and accompanied him on his campaigns there, learning the language, and studying the religion and philosophy, and wrote Ta'rikh al-Hind ("Chronicles of India"). He also knew the Greek Language, the Sanskrit Language and possibly Syriac and Berber. He wrote his books in Persian and Arabic, but his native language was Khwarezmian.
Achievements
Some of his notable achievements included:- At the age of seventeen, he calculated the latitude of Kath, Khwarazm, using the maximum altitude of the sun.
- By the age of twenty-two, he had written several short works, including a study of map projections, "Cartography", which included a methodology for projecting a hemisphere on a plane.
- By the age of twenty-seven, he had written a book called "Chronology" which referred to other work he had completed (now lost) that included one book about the astrolabe, one about the decimal system, four about astrology, and two about history.
- He refined the ancient estimate of the Earth's radius from approximately 6,314 km (measured by Eratosthenes in 240 AD) to 6,339.6 km. This feat was not repeated or surpassed in the western world until the sixteenth century.
Works
Biruni's works number more than 120.
His contributions to mathematics include:
- theoretical and practical arithmetic
- summation of series
- combinatorial analysis
- the rule of three
- irrational numbers
- ratio theory
- algebraic definitions
- method of solving algebraic equations
- geometry
- Archimedes' theorems
- Critical study of what India says, whether accepted by reason or refused (Arabic تحقيق ما للهند من مقولة معقولة في العقل أم مرذولة) - a compendium of India's religion and philosophy
- The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries (Arabic الآثار الباقية عن القرون الخالية) - a comparative study of calendars of different cultures and civilizations, interlaced with mathematical, astronomical, and historical information.
- The Mas'udi Canon (Persian قانون مسعودي) - a book about Astronomy, Geography and Engineering, named after Mas'ud, son of Mahmud of Ghazni, to whom he dedicated
- Understanding Astrology (Arabic التفهيم لصناعة التنجيم) - a question and answer style book about mathematics and astronomy, in Arabic and Persian
- Pharmacy - about drugs and medicines
- Gems (Arabic الجماهر في معرفة الجواهر) about geology, minerals, and gems, dedicated to Mawdud son of Mas'ud
- Astrolabe
- A historical summary book
- History of Mahmud of Ghazni and his father
- History of Khawarazm
See also
External links
- John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson. [] at the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.
- [Extensive biography on Biruni]
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