Abu al-Wafa' al-Buzjani

Abū al-Wafāʾ Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ismāʿīl ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Būzjānī or Abū al-Wafā Būzhjānī (Persian: ابو الوفا بوژگانی, Arabic: ابو الوفا بوزجانی; 10 June 940 – 15 July 998) was a Persian mathematician and astronomer who worked in Baghdad. He made important innovations in spherical trigonometry, and his work on arithmetic for businessmen contains the first instance of using negative numbers in a medieval Islamic text.

Abu al-Wafa' al-Buzjani
Born(940-06-10)10 June 940
Buzhgan, Iran
Died15 July 998(998-07-15) (aged 58)
Academic background
InfluencesAl-Battani
Academic work
EraIslamic Golden Age
Main interestsMathematics and astronomy
Notable worksAlmagest of Abū al-Wafā'
Notable ideas
  • Tangent function
  • Law of sines
  • Several trigonometric identities
InfluencedAl-Biruni, Abu Nasr Mansur

He is also credited with compiling the tables of sines and tangents at 15' intervals. He also introduced the secant and cosecant functions, as well studied the interrelations between the six trigonometric lines associated with an arc. His Almagest was widely read by medieval Arabic astronomers in the centuries after his death. He is known to have written several other books that have not survived.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.