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Ja'far ibn Muḥammad Abū Ma'shar al-Balkhī (10 August 787 in the Persian province of Balkh, (now in Afghanistan) – 9 March 886 in al-Wasit, Iraq), also known as al-Falaki or Albumasar was a South Asian Afghan mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and Islamic philosopher. Many of his works were translated into Latin and were well known in amongst many European astrologers, astronomers, and mathematicians (Mathematici) during the European Middle Ages.
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Astrology and natural philosophy
Richard Lemay has argued that the writings of Albumasar were very likely the single most important original source of Aristotle's theories of nature for European scholars, starting a little before the middle of the 12th century.1
It was not until later in the 12th century that the original books of Aristotle on nature began to become available in Latin. The works of Aristotle on logic had been known earlier, and Aristotle was generally recognized as "the master of logic." But during the course of the 12th century, Aristotle was transformed into the "master of those who know," and in particular a master of natural philosophy. It is especially interesting that the work of Albumasar (or Balkhi) in question is a treatise on astrology. Its Latin title is Introductorium in Astronmiam, a translation of the Arabic Kitab al-mudkhal al-kabir ila 'ilm ahkam an-nujjum, written in Baghdad in the year 848 A.D. It was translated into Latin first by John of Seville in 1133, and again, less literally and abridged, by Hermann of Carinthia in 1140 A.D. Amir Khusrav mentions that Abu Mashar came to Benaras (Varanasi) and studied astronomy there for ten years.
Astronomy
Abu Ma'shar has been credited as the first astronomer to define astrological ages - the Age of Pisces, the Age of Aquarius, etc. - on the basis of the precession of the equinoxes through the zodiac.2
Abu Ma'shar developed a planetary model which some have interpreted as a heliocentric model. This is due to his orbital revolutions of the planets being given as heliocentric revolutions rather than geocentric revolutions, and the only known planetary theory in which this occurs is in the heliocentric theory. His work on planetary theory has not survived, but his astronomical data was later recorded by al-Hashimi and al-Biruni.3
Works
- De magnis coniunctionibus, éd.-trad. K. Yamamoto, Ch. Burnett, Leiden, 2000, 2 vols. (textes arabe et latin)
- De revolutionibus nativitatum, éd. D. Pingree, Leipzig, 1968 (texte grec)
- Introductorium maius, éd. R. Lemay, Napoli, 1995-1996, 9 vols. (texte arabe et les deux traductions latines)
- Ysagoga minor, éd.-trad. Ch. Burnett, K. Yamamoto, M. Yano, Leiden-New York, 1994 (textes arabe et latin)
See also
External links
- Regarding his astrological works
- Discovery of the prevalence of the Śāradā Script in Bahlk, Afghanistan
References
- ^ Richard Lemay, Abu Ma'shar and Latin Aristotelianism in the Twelfth Century, The Recovery of Aristotle's Natural Philosophy through Iranian Astrology, 1962.
- ^ Olav Hammer, Claiming Knowledge, ISBN 90 04 13638. p. 73
- ^ Bartel Leendert van der Waerden (1987). "The Heliocentric System in Greek, Persian and Hindu Astronomy", Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 500 (1), 525–545 [534-537].
Further reading
- Pingree, David (1970). "Abū Ma'shar al-Balkhī, Ja'far ibn Muḥammad". Dictionary of Scientific Biography 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 32-39. ISBN 0684101149.
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