Mathematician:Al-Kindi
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Mathematician
Persian mathematician, philosopher and prolific writer famous for providing a synthesis of the Greek and Hellenistic tradition into the Muslim world.
Played an important role in introducing the Arabic numeral system to the West.
Nationality
Persian
History
- Born: c. 801 in Basra or Kufa, Mesopotamia (now in Iraq)
- Died: c. 873 in Baghdad, Mesopotamia (now in Iraq)
Publications
At least two hundred and sixty books, including:
- Geometry (thirty-two books)
- Medicine (twenty-two books)
- Philosophy (twenty-two books)
- Logic (nine books)
- Physics (twelve books)
Most have been lost, but a few survive.
On astronomy and astrology (the two were synonymous in those days):
- The Book of the Judgement of the Stars
- including: The Forty Chapters, on questions and elections
- On the Stellar Rays
- De mutatione temporum, ("On the Changing of the Weather")
- Several other epistles on weather and meteorology
- Treatise on the Judgement of Eclipses
- Treatise on the Dominion of the Arabs and its Duration (used to predict the end of Arab rule)
- The Choices of Days (on elections)
- On the Revolutions of the Years (on mundane astrology and natal revolutions)
- De Signis Astronomiae Applicitis as Mediciam ("On the Signs of Astronomy as applied to Medicine")
- Treatise on the Spirituality of the Planets
On medicine:
- De Gradibus
On mathematics:
- 830: Ketab fi Isti'mal al-'Adad al-Hindi ("On the Use of the Indian Numerals")
On cryptography:
- On Deciphering Cryptographic Messages (in which he introduces the concept of frequency analysis)
Also known as
Full name: Abu Yūsuf Yaʻqūb ibn ʼIsḥāq aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ al-Kindī
In Arabic: أبو يوسف يعقوب بن إسحاق الصبّاح الكندي
In Latin: Alkindus.
Sources
- 2008: Ian Stewart: Taming the Infinite ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $3$: Notations and Numbers: Brahmagupta, Mahavira and Bhaskara