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al-Birjandi
A work of al-Birjandi's, Sharh al-Tadhkirah, a manuscript copy, beginning of the 17th century
Died	1525–1526
Academic background
Influences	Naṣīr al‐Dīn al‐Ṭūsī, al-Kashi
Academic work
Era	Islamic Golden Age

Abdal Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Husayn Birjandi (Persian: عبدالعلی محمد بن حسین بیرجندی) (died 1528) was a prominent 16th-century Persian astronomer, mathematician and physicist who lived in Birjand.

Astronomy

Al-Birjandi was a pupil for Mansur ibn Muin al-Din al-Kashi, a member at the Samarkand Observatory, otherwise known as The Ulugh Beg Observatory. In discussing the structure of the cosmos, al-Birjandi continued Ali al-Qushji's debate on the Earth's rotation. In his analysis of what might occur if the Earth were moving, he develops a hypothesis similar to Galileo Galilei's notion of "circular inertia", which he described in the following observational test (as a response to one of Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi's arguments):

The small or large rock will fall to the Earth along the path of a line that is perpendicular to the plane (sath) of the horizon; this is witnessed by experience (tajriba). And this perpendicular is away from the tangent point of the Earth's sphere and the plane of the perceived (hissi) horizon. This point moves with the motion of the Earth and thus there will be no difference in place of fall of the two rocks.

Works

Al-Birjandi wrote some more than 13 books and treatises, including:

• Sharh al-tadhkirah, a commentary on Tadhkira, al-Tusi 's memoir. This work provides explanations for the reader, and provides alternative views while assessing the viewpoints of predecessors, which is consistent with the Islamicate commentary tradition .The text, in some copies of the manuscript from 17th century, is written throughout in black and red ink with diagrams illustrating many of the astronomical elements discussed. The 11th chapter of the book was translated to Sanskrit in 1729 at Jaipur by Nayanasukhopadhyaya. The 11th chapter specifically talks about the Tusi Couple, mainly when applying those concepts to lunar theory. Birjandi objects the applications of celestial spheres resting between two points of motion. When talking about curvilinear or spherical concepts of the Tusi Couple, it makes a slight longitudinal inclination. A Persian, Muhammad Abida dictated it to Nayanasukha, allowing him to compose it in Sanskrit. Kusuba and Pingree present an edition of the Sanskrit, and in a separate section, an English translation facing the Arabic original. That chapter has attracted attention among European scholars since the late 19th century. Al-Birjandi on Tadhkira II, Chapter 11, and Its Sanskrit Translation by Kusuba K. and Pingree D. ISBN 978-90-04-12475-2 was published in 2001 by Brill Academic Publishers.
• Sharh-i Bist Bab dar Ma'rifat-i A'mal-i al-Asturlab (Commentary on "Twenty Chapters Dealing with the Uses of the Astrolabe" of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi; Persian.
• Risalah fi Alat al-Rasad (Epistle on observational instruments); in Arabic.
• Tadhkirat al-Ahbab fi Bayan al-Tahabub (Memoir of friends: concerning the explanation of friendship ); in Arabic.

Birjandi contributed to many different fields besides his commentaries. His works included studies of ephemerides, instruments for astronomical observations, and cosmology. He also worked in determining the size and distance of planets that have been associated to Habib Allah.

He also had works in the field of theology and made a series of almanacs in 1478/1479.

References

1. ^ Kusuba, Takanori (2014), "Birjandi: ҁAbd al- ҁAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-Birjandi", in Hockey, Thomas; Trimble, Virginia; Williams, Thomas R.; Bracher, Katherine (eds.), Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, New York, NY: Springer New York, pp. 225–226, doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_158, ISBN 978-1-4419-9916-0, retrieved 2020-11-21
2. Ragep, F. Jamil (2001b). "Freeing Astronomy from Philosophy: An Aspect of Islamic Influence on Science". Osiris. 2nd Series. 16 (Science in Theistic Contexts: Cognitive Dimensions): 49–64 & 66–71. doi:10.1086/649338. S2CID 142586786.
3. Ragep, F. Jamil (2001a). "Tusi and Copernicus: The Earth's Motion in Context". Science in Context. 14 (1–2). Cambridge University Press: 145–163. doi:10.1017/s0269889701000060. S2CID 145372613.
4. Kusuba, Takanori (2007). "Birjandī: ʿAbd al-ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-Birjandī". In Thomas Hockey; et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. (PDF version)
5. (Ragep 2001b, pp. 63–4)
6. (Ragep 2001a, pp. 152–3)
7. "Encyclopaedia Iranica". Archived from the original on 2019-04-16. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
8. Kusuba, Takanori (2014), "Birjandi: ҁAbd al- ҁAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-Birjandi", in Hockey, Thomas; Trimble, Virginia; Williams, Thomas R.; Bracher, Katherine (eds.), Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, New York, NY: Springer New York, pp. 225–226, doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_158, ISBN 978-1-4419-9916-0, retrieved 2020-11-21
9. "The Institute of Ismaili Studies – The Calligraphic Tradition in Islam". Archived from the original on 2013-05-11. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
10. Powell's Books – Islamic Philosophy, Theology, and Science, #47: Arabic Astronomy in Sanskrit Arabic Astronomy in Sanskrit: Al-Birjand? on Tadhkira II, Chapter 11 and Its Sanskrit Tranal-Birjand? on Tadhkira II, Cha by Takanori Kusuba
11. Manuscript Exhibition 2007

v t e Mathematics in the medieval Islamic world
Mathematicians	9th century 'Abd al-Hamīd ibn Turk Sanad ibn Ali al-Jawharī Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf Al-Kindi Qusta ibn Luqa Al-Mahani al-Dinawari Banū Mūsā brothers Hunayn ibn Ishaq Al-Khwarizmi Yusuf al-Khuri Ishaq ibn Hunayn Na'im ibn Musa Thābit ibn Qurra al-Marwazi Abu Said Gorgani 10th century Abu al-Wafa al-Khazin Al-Qabisi Abu Kamil Ahmad ibn Yusuf Aṣ-Ṣaidanānī Sinān ibn al-Fatḥ al-Khojandi Al-Nayrizi Al-Saghani Brethren of Purity Ibn Sahl Ibn Yunus al-Uqlidisi Al-Battani Sinan ibn Thabit Ibrahim ibn Sinan Al-Isfahani Nazif ibn Yumn al-Qūhī Abu al-Jud Al-Sijzi Al-Karaji al-Majriti al-Jabali 11th century Abu Nasr Mansur Alhazen Kushyar Gilani Al-Biruni Ibn al-Samh Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi Avicenna al-Jayyānī al-Nasawī al-Zarqālī ibn Hud Al-Isfizari Omar Khayyam Muhammad al-Baghdadi 12th century Jabir ibn Aflah Al-Kharaqī Al-Khazini Al-Samawal al-Maghribi al-Hassar Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi Ibn al-Yasamin 13th century Ibn al‐Ha'im al‐Ishbili Ahmad al-Buni Ibn Munim Alam al-Din al-Hanafi Ibn Adlan al-Urdi Nasir al-Din al-Tusi al-Abhari Muhyi al-Din al-Maghribi al-Hasan al-Marrakushi Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi Shams al-Din al-Samarqandi Ibn al-Banna' Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī 14th century Nizam al-Din al-Nisapuri Ibn al-Shatir Ibn al-Durayhim Al-Khalili al-Umawi 15th century Ibn al-Majdi al-Rūmī al-Kāshī Ulugh Beg Ali Qushji al-Wafa'i al-Qalaṣādī Sibt al-Maridini Ibn Ghazi al-Miknasi 16th century Al-Birjandi Muhammad Baqir Yazdi Taqi ad-Din Ibn Hamza al-Maghribi
Mathematical works	The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing De Gradibus Principles of Hindu Reckoning Book of Optics The Book of Healing Book on the Measurement of Plane and Spherical Figures Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity Toledan Tables Tabula Rogeriana Zij
Concepts	Alhazen's problem Islamic geometric patterns
Centers	Al-Azhar University Al-Mustansiriya University House of Knowledge House of Wisdom Constantinople observatory of Taqi ad-Din Madrasa Maragheh observatory University of al-Qarawiyyin
Influences	Babylonian mathematics Greek mathematics Indian mathematics
Influenced	Byzantine mathematics European mathematics Indian mathematics
Related	Hindu–Arabic numeral system Arabic numerals (Eastern Arabic numerals, Western Arabic numerals) Trigonometric functions History of trigonometry History of algebra

• People from Birjand
• 1528 deaths
• 16th-century Iranian astronomers
• 16th-century Iranian mathematicians