al'Biruni

Abu Arrayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al'Biruni


Born: 15 Sept 973 in Khwarazm (now Kara-Kalpakskaya, Uzbekistan)
Died: 13 Dec 1048 in Ghazna (now Ghazni, Afganistan)

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Al'Biruni travelled widely, visiting India and studying its culture.

An outstanding intellectual figure, al'Biruni contributed to astronomy, mathematics (where he worked on shadows and chords of circles), physics (where he worked on springs and the specific weight of precious stones and metals), medicine and history.

Al'Biruni's most famous book was inspired by accompanying Mahmud, the Ghazna ruler, on his Indian campaigns. The book is a survey of Indian life, language, religion and culture.

Al'Biruni's contributions to science are of major importance. He believed that the Earth rotated on its axis and made accurate calculations of latitude and longitude. He studied hydrostatics and made very accurate measurements of specific weights. He is known to have corresponded with Avicenna.

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. D J Boilot, L'oeuvre d'al-Beruni. Essai Bibliographique, Mélanges de l'Institut dominicain d'etudes orientales 2 (1955), 161-256.

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JOC/EFR February 1996