| From: Thomas Hockey et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, Springer Reference. New York: Springer, 2007, p. 819 |
|
Courtesy of 
|
Najm al‐Dīn
al‐Miṣrī:
Najm al‐Dīn
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad
ibn Ibrāhīm
al‐Miṣrī
François Charette
Flourished Cairo, (Egypt),
circa 1300–1350
Little is known of the life of the Cairene applied astronomer
Najm al‐Dīn al‐Miṣrī,
who was a contemporary of Mizzī. Several
works, though, help document his scientific activities. Following are some
of them:
| 1. |
A concise treatise on spherical astronomy entitled Treatise
on the Universal Operations [of Timekeeping] by Calculation.
|
| 2. |
A short treatise on approximate methods of timekeeping. |
| 3. |
A huge set of tables covering 419 folios, extant in
two codices, which form the first and second halves of a single copy
that was later split. In the main table, the time since the rising of
the Sun or a star is tabulated in terms of three arguments. With nearly
415,000 entries, this is the single largest mathematical table ever
compiled before the late 19th century. |
| 4. |
An anonymous treatise, which can be attributed to Najm
al‐Dīn al‐Miṣrī, gives detailed instructions
on how to use these as universal auxiliary tables for solving all problems
of spherical trigonometry for any terrestrial latitude. (The tables
and the commentary have been analyzed in Charette, 1998.) |
| 5. |
The previous item forms the prologue of an illustrated
treatise – also anonymous – on the construction of over 100 different
astronomical instruments (astrolabes, quadrants, sundials, etc.).
This work has been recently shown to be by Najm al‐Dīn al‐Miṣrī
(Charette, 2003). The text and its accompanying illustrations represent
one of the richest and most astounding medieval sources on the topic
of astronomical instrumentation. |
Although Najm al‐Dīn's writings suggest that he was not
a first‐rate astronomer, especially on the theoretical level, his intuitive
and practical, “hands‐on” approach to timekeeping (mīqāt)
and instrumentation did yield original results.
Selected References
Charette, François (1998). “A Monumental Medieval Table for
Solving the Problems of Spherical Astronomy for All Latitudes.” Archives
internationales d'histoire des sciences 48: 11–64.
——— (2003). Mathematical Instrumentation in Fourteenth‐Century
Egypt and Syria: The Illustrated Treatise of Najm al‐Dīn al‐Mißrī.
Leiden: E. J. Brill.