Habash al-Hasib | |
---|---|
حبش الحاسب | |
Born | Ahmad ibn ‘Abdallah al-Marwazi |
Died | Between 864–874 (aged 100) Possibly in Abbasid Samarra, Abbasid Caliphate |
Known for | Kepler's equation |
Children | Abu Ja'far ibn Habash |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomy |
Ahmad ibn 'Abdallah al-Marwazi,[1][2] known as Habash al-Hasib (Persian: حبش الحاسب, lit. 'Abyssinian calculator',[1][2][3] died c. 869[4]) was a Persian[5][2] astronomer,[6] geographer, and mathematician from Merv in Khorasan, who was the first to describe the trigonometric ratios tangent, and cotangent. Al-Biruni who cited Habash in his work, expanded his astronomical tables.[3]
Habash al-Hasib flourished in Baghdad, and died a centenarian some time between 864 and 874[2][3][7] possibly in Abbasid Samarra.[4] The title "Habash" (Abbyssian) may refer to dark skin color.[3] He worked under two Abbasid caliphs, al-Ma'mun and al-Mu'tasim.[3]
Habash al-Hasib developed a trigonometric algorithm to solve problems related to parallax, which was later rediscovered by Johannes Kepler in 1609 and it is now known as Kepler's equation.[8][9]
Habash is the father of the astronomer Abu Ja'far ibn Habash.[3]
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