Al-Battani Facts
Al-Battani Facts
|
| Interesting Al-Battani Facts: |
|---|
| Very little is known about Al-Battani's life, which is interesting because even later astronomers like Copernicus knew of him and quoted his writings. |
| It is known that he was born in Upper Mesopotamia in what is now modern-day Turkey. |
| He lived and did most of his work in a part of Syria. |
| His father was a craftsman of scientific tools, which may have contributed to his early interest in science. |
| Certain parts of Al-Battani's name suggest that he was of Sabian heritage, but also implies that he was a Muslim. |
| There is some suggestion that he was also a member of the nobility, but that hasn't been confirmed historically. |
| Al-Battani was able to improve on the earlier calculations conducted by Ptolomy, what were then considered true about the solar year. |
| Some theories suggest that he was simply in a better geographical location to more accurately track and record the earth's movement, which also led to his more accurate calculations of the equinoxes and the direction of the sun's apogee. |
| In the field of mathematics, Al-Battani made important contributions to trigonometry, as he is believed to be one of the first to introduce sines and tangents. |
| He compiled entire tables of calculations for tangents, cotangents, secants, and cosecants. |
| Al-Battani's most noted book is the Kitabaz-Zij, a book of astronomical tables, whose original manuscript is stored in the Vatican library. |
| It has been translated many times since its writing and has been referenced by a number of great scientists over the centuries, including Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo. |
| Key honors have been bestowed on Al-Battani, including having a crater on the moon named after him, as well as being immortalized on the popular Star Trek television series with an Excelsior class starship named after him. |
|
Related Links: Facts Scientists Facts Animals Facts Scientists Facts for Kids |