Abul Wafa Ibn Ismail al-Buzjani was a scholar noted for his expertise in both mathematics and astronomy. Born in Nishapur in 940 A.D., he later found his home in Iraq.
His mental agility with geometry includes the construction of parabolas by points, geometric solutions such as x4 = a and x4 + ax3 = b. ( O.K. I am already lost.)
Regarding trigonometry, he was the first to show the generality of the sine theorem relative to spherical triangles. He was the first to introduce the concept of secant and cosecant. He developed a new method of constructing sine tables and also calculated a table of tangents.
He was an Arabic translator and commentator of Greek words. His books include practical books on arithmetic, such as Kitab 'Ilm al-Hisab and al-Kitab al-Kamil. He wrote a book on applied geometry and produced commentaries on Euclid, Diophantos and al-Khawarizimi.
*My gratitude is extended to the Association of Muslim Social Scientists for the information on al-Buzjani and other noted Islamic Medieval scholars. As for myself, I need to take an aspirin. Just writing this gave me a headache. smile
Tammy Swofford
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