Today marks the “EIGHTEENTH” in the series of my write ups on the contributions of muslims scholars to the development of modern science. It remains a challenge to the Muslims the world over that despite the contribution of the early muslims scholars to the development of modern science their names are hardly mentioned.
HIS BIOGRAPHY:
Ibn Qurra’s full name is Al-Ṣabi Thabit ibn Qurrah al-Ḥarrani. He was born in Harran known as Kharanu, “passage” in old Assyrian language in Assyria (modern-day Turkey).
HIS CONTRIBUTIONS:
He is a great scholar who contributed in the fields of Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics and Astrology.
On Mathematics: In mathematics, he discovered an equation for determining amicable numbers. He also wrote on the theory of numbers and extended their use to describe the ratios between geometrical quantities, a step which the Greeks did not take.He is known for having calculated the solution to a chessboard problem involving an exponential series. He also described a Pythagoras theorem.
On Astronomy: The medieval astronomical theory of the trepidation of the equinoxes is often attributed to him. But it had already been described by Theon of Alexandria in his comments of the Handy Tables of Ptolemy. According to Copernicus he determined the length of the sidereal year as 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes and 12 seconds (an error of 2 seconds). Copernicus based his claim on the Latin text attributed to him.
On Physics: In physics, he rejected the Peripatetic and Aristotelian notions of a”natural place”for each element .He instead proposed a theory of motion in which both the upward and downward motions are caused by weight and that the order of the universe is a result of two competing attractions(jadhb ):one of these being “between the sublunar and celestial elements”and the other being “between all parts of each element separately”.
He is credited with dozens of treatises, covering a wide range of fields and topics. While some were written in his native Syriac, most were composed in Arabic. He was trilingual, a skill that enabled him to play a key role in the translation movement of 9th century Baghdad. He translated works from both Syriac and Greek into Arabic, creating Arabic versions of important Hellenistic and Greek writings. Several of his Arabic translations are the only extant versions of important ancient works.
The medieval astronomical theory of the trepidation of the equinoxes is often attributed to him. He developed a theory about the trepidation and oscillation of the equinoctial points, of which many scholars debated in the Middle Ages.
May God bless Nigeria!
Dauda can be reached at nurudeendauda24@yahoo.com, nurudeendauda24@gmail.com and as a blog, nurudeendauda.blogspot.com
