Tusi

Nasir al-Din al- Tusi

Born: 18 Feb 1201 in Tus, Khorasan (now Iran)
Died: 26 June 1274 in Kadhimain (near Baghdad now in Iraq)

Previous (Chronologically) Next     Biographies Index

Previous ( Alphabetically) Next          Welcome page
Al-Tusi attempted to join the caliph's court at Baghdad but was imprisoned in a fortress which was the headquaters of the terrorist Assassins. In 1256 he betrayed the defenses to the invading Mongols who he joined. He was rewarded with the construction of a fine observatory!

Al-Tusi wrote many books, some of which are improved translations of Euclid, Ptolemy, Theodosius and Apollonius.

He also made important original contributions to astronomy and mathematics. He put his observatory to good use, making a very accurate table of planetary movements.

Other Web sites:

Library of Congress, USA

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. B H Siddiqui, Nasir al-Din Tusi, A History of Muslim Philosophy I (Wiesbaden, 1963), 564-580.
  4. F J Ragep, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's Memoir on Astronomy (New York, 1992). 
Previous (Chronologically) Next     Biographies Index

Previous ( Alphabetically) Next          Welcome page

History Topics Index              Famous curves index

Chronologies                           Birthplace Map

Mathematicians of the day  Anniversaries for the year

Search Form   Simple Search Form   Search Suggestions
JOC/EFR February 1996