Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi

Ibn al‐Bannāʾ al‐Marrākushī al-Azdi, also known as Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Azdi. (Arabic: ابن البنّاء‎) [29) December 1256 – c. 1321), was a Moroccan mathematician, astronomer, Islamic scholar, Sufi, and a one-time astrologer.

The crater Al-Marrakushi on the Moon is named after him.

Biography

Ibn al-Banna' (lit. the son of an architect) was born in Marrakesh in 1256.^[1] Having learned basic mathematical and geometrical skills he proceeded to translate Euclid's Elements into Arabic.^[1]

Works

Ibn al-Banna' wrote between 51 to 74 treatises, encompassing such varied topics as Algebra, Astronomy, Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Logic. One of his works, called Talkhīṣ ʿamal al-ḥisāb (Arabic, تلخيص عمل الحساب ) (Summary of arithmetical operations), includes topics such as fractions, sums of squares and cubes etc. Another, called Tanbīh al-Albāb,^[2] covers topics related to:

• calculations regarding the drop in irrigation canal levels,
• arithmetical explanation of the Muslim laws of inheritance
• determination of the hour of the Asr prayer,
• explanation of frauds linked to instruments of measurement,
• enumeration of delayed prayers which have to be said in a precise order,and
• calculation of legal tax in the case of a delayed payment

Yet another work by Ibn al-Banna' was Rafʿ al-Ḥijāb (Lifting the Veil) which included topics such as computing square roots of a number and theory of continued fractions.^[1] This work was also the first mathematical work since Brahmagupta to use an algebraic notation, which was then further developed by his successor Abū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī two centuries later.^[3]

See also

• List of Arab scientists and scholars
• Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Gazi

Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 G. Sarton: Introduction to the History of Science; The Carnegie Institution; Washington; 1927; vol 2; p. 998.
2. ↑ A Djebbar: Mathematics in medieval Maghreb; AMUCHMA-Newsletter 15; Universidade Pedagógico (UP), Maputo (Mozambique), 15.9.1995.
3. ↑ O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "al-Marrakushi ibn Al-Banna", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews .

References

• O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "al-Marrakushi ibn Al-Banna", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews .

Further reading

• Ahmed Jabbar and Mohammed Ablagh : "Life and Works of Ibn al-Banaa al-Murrakushi", Publication of the Faculty of Letters, Rabat, 2001

External links

• Samsó, Julio (2007). "Ibn al‐Bannāʾ: Abū al‐ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān al‐Azdī al‐Marrākushī". In Thomas Hockey et al. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. pp. 551–2. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0.  CS1 maint: Explicit use of et al. (link) (PDF version)
• Vernet, J. (2008) [1970-80]. "Ibn Al-Bannā Al Marrākushī". Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Encyclopedia.com. 
• The Filāḥa Texts Project: Ibn al-Bannā’