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Al-Battani
Harran (Mesopotamia), Irak
Archival Overview
Astronomer and mathematician known in the West as Albatenius, whose astronomical tables 'Kitab al-Zij' accurately calculated the solar year to 365 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes, and 24 seconds, and introduced fundamental trigonometric functions.
Biographical Record
Al-Battani (c. 858–929) conducted over forty years of observations at the observatory in Raqqa on the Euphrates River. Correcting Ptolemy's Almagest, he discovered that the Sun's apogee is subject to precession, measured the inclination of the ecliptic to 23°35', and calculated the precision of the equinoxes to 54.5 arcseconds per year.
Al-Battani revolutionized mathematics by discarding Greek chord geometry in favor of ratios of sines, cosines, tangents, and cotangents, formulating the law of sines in spherical trigonometry. Copernicus cited Al-Battani extensively in 'De revolutionibus', and a lunar crater bears his name.
Key Life Milestones
Calculation of the Solar Year Length
Measured the solar year with an accuracy within two minutes of modern atomic measurements.
Publication of Kitab al-Zij
Published his monumental 57-chapter astronomical tables and trigonometric treatise translated into Latin as 'De Motu Stellarum'.
Memorial Guestbook & Tributes
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialRaqqa, Syria