Al-Battani

Al-Battānī (other names include Albategnius, Albategni and Albatenius; born about 858 – died 929) was an Arab astronomer, astrologer and mathematician. He is considered an important astronomer and mathematician of the Islamic Golden Age. His discoveries about trigonometry were often quoted by medieval European astronomers; including by Copernicus. He was from Harran. His full name was Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Jābir ibn Sinān al-Raqqī al-Ḥarrānī al-Ṣābiʾ al-Battānī.

 Career 
Al-Battani helped to calculate the distance between the Earth and the Sun, before the telescopes. This allowed him to refine existing values for the length of the year.

 Works 
He is most famous for his book the Kitāb az-Zīj (or the Zij). The Zij was a book with 57 chapters dedicated to astronomy. He influenced the works of Copernicus, Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe, who were famous astronomers of later times. The book was translated many times into many different languages. Inside the Zij, Al-Battani made a map of the stars, naming a few of them.

Al-Battani died of old age in the year 929. He had been protesting against the taxes in Baghdad, and died on the way home."Al-Battani". Encyclopedia of World Biography. Vol. 25. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Biography in Context. Web. 4 Dec. 2013."al- Battani". Notable Mathematicians. Gale, 2008. Biography in Context. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.

Related pages
List of scientists from the Middle East

References

Other websites


Category:858 births
Category:929 deaths
Category:Arab people
Category:Astrologers
Category:Astronomers
Category:Mathematicians
Category:Iraqi Muslims