Al-Mahani

Al-Mahani
ابوعبدالله محمد بن عیسی ماهانی
Born
Mahan
Died880
NationalityPersian
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics and astronomy

Abu-Abdullah Muhammad ibn Īsa Māhānī (ابوعبدالله محمد بن عیسی ماهانی, flourished c. 860 and died c. 880) was a Persian[1][2] mathematician and astronomer born in Mahan, (in today Kermān, Iran) and active in Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate. His known mathematical works included his commentaries on Euclid's Elements, Archimedes' On the Sphere and Cylinder and Menelaus' Sphaerica,[3] as well as two independent treatises. He unsuccessfully tried to solve a problem posed by Archimedes of cutting a sphere into two volumes of a given ratio, which was later solved by 10th century mathematician Abū Ja'far al-Khāzin. His only known surviving work on astronomy was on the calculation of azimuths. He was also known to make astronomical observations, and claimed his estimates of the start times of three consecutive lunar eclipses were accurate to within half an hour.

  1. ^ Meri, Josef W. (2005-10-31). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-135-45603-0.
  2. ^ On science and the construction of identities : remembering Ibn al-Haytham (965–1039) page 99 : "He neatly resolved the problem of al-Mahanī, a Persian mathematician of the 9th century"
  3. ^ * Roshdi Rashed and Athanase Papadopoulos, 2017