Born Būzjān (Būzhgān, Khurāsān, Iran), 10 June 940
Died Baghdad, (Iraq), 997 or 998
Būzjānī was one of the leading astronomers and mathematicians of the Middle Ages, with significant contributions in observational astronomy. His achievements in trigonometry paved the way for more precise astronomical calculations.
Būzjānī was born in Būzjān, in the region of Nīshāpūr. The town is now a deserted land in the vicinity of the small town of Torbat-e Jām, located today in the Iranian province of Khurāsān. He was from an educated and well-established family. He is said to have studied arithmetic under both his paternal and maternal uncles.
Būzjānī flourished in an age of great political upheavals. The Būyids (945–1055), a family originally from the highlands of Daylam in northern Iran, had built a new dynasty that soon extended its rule over Iraq, the heartof theҁAbbāsid caliphate, reducing the caliph’s rule to a mere formality. Under the Būyids, who were great patrons of science and the...
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Hashemipour, B. (2014). Būzjānī: Abū al-Wafā’ Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Būzjānī. In: Hockey, T., et al. Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_223
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