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Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

Astronomy

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-1274) was a Persian polymath active chiefly in the Ilkhanid Mongol court, working as an astronomer, mathematician, philosopher and theologian. Under the patronage of the Mongol ruler Hulagu Khan he founded and directed the Maragheh observatory in present day Iran, one of the best equipped observatories of its era, where he compiled the influential Zij-i Ilkhani astronomical tables. He devised the Tusi couple, a geometric technique for producing linear motion from combined circular motions that let him revise the Ptolemaic planetary models without violating uniform circular motion, and centuries later a strikingly similar construction appeared in Nicolaus Copernicus's own work, a resemblance historians still debate the transmission route for. He also wrote an influential treatise establishing trigonometry as a mathematical discipline independent of astronomy.

Facts
Birth Year
1201 1
Birth Date
1201-02-18 1
Death Date
1274-06-26 1
Death Year
1274 1
Field
Astronomer and mathematician 1
Death Place
Kadhimain, near Baghdad (now in Iraq) 1
Nationality
Persian 1
Notable Work
Zij-i ilkhani (the Ilkhanic Tables), compiled at the Maragheh observatory he directed; the Tusi-couple, a geometric device resolving linear motion into two circular motions 1
Birthplace
Tus, Khorasan (now Iran) 1
Field
Field (category)
Astronomy 1
Field (category)
Mathematics 1
Connections

Works In

Astronomy, Disciplines
Source Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (Wikipedia)
Chemistry, Disciplines
Source Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (Wikipedia)
Source Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases

Nationality

Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.

Source Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (Wikipedia)Lead, sentence 1
Quote, Lead, sentence 1
Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī (1201–1274), also known as Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (Arabic: نصیر الدین الطوسی; Persian: نصیر الدین طوسی) or simply as (al-)Tusi, was a Persian polymath, architect, philosopher, physician, scientist, and theologian.
Sources
1. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (MacTutor)
MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews
  • Quick Info box, Born line
    18 February 1201 Tus, Khorasan (now Iran)
  • Quick Info box, Died line
    26 June 1274 Kadhimain (near Baghdad now in Iraq)
  • Summary paragraph
    Nasir al-Tusi was an Islamic astronomer and mathematician who joined the Mongols who conquered Baghdad. He made important contributions to astronomy and wrote many commentaries on Greek texts.
  • Biography, paragraph on the Maragheh observatory
    He published Zij-i ilkhani (the Ilkhanic Tables), written first in Persian and later translated into Arabic, after making observations for 12 years.
View the Source
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (Wikipedia)
  • Works In: Mathematics, Lead, sentence 1
    Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī (1201-1274), also known as Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (Arabic: نصیر الدین الطوسی; Persian: نصیر الدین طوسی) or simply as (al-)Tusi, was a Persian polymath, architect, philosopher, physician, scientist, and theologian.
  • Works In: Astronomy, Lead, sentence 4
    In astronomy, al-Tusi created very accurate tables of planetary motion, an updated planetary model, and critiques of Ptolemaic astronomy.
  • Works In: Chemistry, Lead, sentence 5
    He also made strides in logic, mathematics but especially trigonometry, biology, and chemistry.
View the Source
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