Al-Farisi

Kamal al-Din Abul Hasan Muhammad Al-Farisi (in Persian: كمال الدين ابوالحسن محمد الفارسي)

(1260 - 1320) was a prominent Persian mathematician and physicist.

He made two major contributions to mathematics, one on optics, the other on number theory. His work on light, colour and the rainbow is discussed in 'Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 1970-1990)', and his contributions to number theory are discussed in the references:

'R Rashed, The development of Arabic mathematics : between arithmetic and algebra (London, 1994).'
'R Rashed, Entre arithmétique et algèbre: Recherches sur l'histoire des mathématiques arabes (Paris, 1984).'
'A G Agargün and C R Fletcher, al-Farisi and the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, Historia Math. 21 (2) (1994), 162-173.'
'R Rashed, Materials for the study of the history of amicable numbers and combinatorial analysis (Arabic), J. Hist. Arabic Sci. 6 (1-2) (1982), 278-209.'
'R Rashed, Nombres amiables, parties aliquotes et nombres figurés aux XIIIème et XIVème siècles, Arch. Hist. Exact Sci. 28 (2) (1983), 107-147.'
'R Rashed, Le modèle de la sphère transparente et l'explication de l'arc-en-ciel : Ibn al-Haytham - al-Farisi, Revue d'histoire des sciences 22 (1970), 109-140.'

Al-Farisi was a pupil of the great astronomer and mathematician Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi, who in turn was a pupil of Nasir al-Din Tusi. His work on optics was prompted by a question put to him concerning the refraction of light. Shirazi advised him to consult the Optics of Alhazen, and al-Farisi made such a deep study of this treatise that Shirazi suggested that he write what is essentially a revision of that major work, which came to be called the 'Tanqih'. Shirazi himself was writing a commentary on works of Avicenna at the time.

Al-Farisi made a number of important contributions to number theory. His most impressive work in number theory is on amicable numbers. In Tadhkira al-ahbab fi bayan al-tahabb ("Memorandum for friends on the proof of amicability") introduced a major new approach to a whole area of number theory, introducing ideas concerning factorisation and combinatorial methods. In fact al-Farisi's approach is based on the unique factorisation of an integer into powers of prime numbers.

He died in Tabriz, Persia.

External links

[St Andrew's School of Mathematics Biography of Al-Farisi]

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Al-Farisi

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