Born Almería, (Spain), 1029
Died Toledo, (Spain), July or August 1070
Ṣāҁid al-Andalusī was a Muslim historian, historian of science and thought, and mathematical scientist with an especial interest in astronomy. Given the near-total loss of his astronomical writings, his claim to recognition in science largely rests on his encouragement and possibly patronage – in his capacity as a well-placed functionary at the Toledan court – of a group of young precision instrument makers and scientists, the most renowned of whom was Azarquiel (i.e., Zarqālī ). The precise extent of his involvement in the compilation of the Toledan Tables – widely disseminated in Latin Europe during subsequent centuries – remains uncertain, owing to the Tables’ deficient manuscript tradition and to the fragmentariness of biobibliographic data.
Following in the footsteps of his paternal family, Ṣāҁid pursued the career of a legal official, having received a solid education in the Islamic religious disciplines; in...
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Llavero Ruiz, Eloísa (1987). “Panorama cultural de Al’Andalus según Abū l-Qāsim Sāҁid b. Ahmad, cadí de Toledo.” Boletín de la Asociación Española de Orientalistas 23: 79–100.
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Richter-Bernburg, L. (2014). Ṣāҁid al-Andalusī: Abū l-Qāsim Ṣāҁid ibn abī l-Walīd Aḥmad Ibn ҁAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Ṣāҁid al-Taghlibī al-Qurṭubī. In: Hockey, T., et al. Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_1210
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