Abu al-Qasim Maslama ibn Ahmad al-Majriti (: c. 950–1007), known in Latin as , was a Muslim

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

alchemist Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

, active during the reign of

Al-Hakam II Al-Hakam II, also known as Abū al-ʿĀṣ al-Mustanṣir bi-Llāh al-Hakam b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (; 13 January 915 – 1 October 976), was the Caliph of Córdoba. He was the second Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba in Al-Andalus, and son of Abd-al-R ...

. His full name is Abu 'l-Qāsim Maslama ibn Aḥmad al-Faraḍī al-Ḥāsib al-Maj̲rīṭī al-Qurṭubī al-Andalusī.

Achievements

Al-Majrīṭī took part in the translation of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

's '' Planisphaerium'', improved existing translations of the ''

Almagest The ''Almagest'' ( ) is a 2nd-century Greek mathematics, mathematical and Greek astronomy, astronomical treatise on the apparent motions of the stars and planetary paths, written by Ptolemy, Claudius Ptolemy ( ) in Koine Greek. One of the most i ...

'', introduced and improved the astronomical tables of

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi , or simply al-Khwarizmi, was a mathematician active during the Islamic Golden Age, who produced Arabic-language works in mathematics, astronomy, and geography. Around 820, he worked at the House of Wisdom in B ...

, aided historians by working out tables to convert Persian dates to

Hijri year The Hijri year () or era () is the era used in the Islamic lunar calendar. It begins its count from the Islamic New Year in which Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathrib (now Medina) in 622 CE. This event, known as the Hij ...

s, and introduced the techniques of

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

and

triangulation In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by forming triangles to the point from known points. Applications In surveying Specifically in surveying, triangulation involves only angle m ...

According to

Said al-Andalusi Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī (), in full Abū al-Qāsim Ṣāʿid ibn Abū al-Walīd Aḥmad ibn Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Ṣāʿid ibn ʿUthmān al-Taghlibi al-Qūrtūbi () (1029July 6, 1070 AD; 4206 Shawwal, 462 AH), was an Arab qadi of ...

, he was the best mathematician and astronomer of his time in al-Andalus. He also introduced new surveying methods by working closely with his colleague ibn al-Saffar. He also wrote a book on taxation and the economy of al-Andalus. He edited and made changes to parts of the ''

Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity The ''Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity'' (, Rasā'il Ikhwān al-ṣafā') also variously known as the ''Epistles of the Brethren of Sincerity'', ''Epistles of the Brethren of Purity'' and ''Epistles of the Brethren of Purity and Loyal Frien ...

'' when it arrived in al-Andalus. Al-Majrīṭī also predicted a futuristic process of scientific interchange and the advent of networks for scientific communication. He built a school of Astronomy and Mathematics and marked the beginning of organized scientific research in al-Andalus. Among his students were Ibn al-Saffar,

Abu al-Salt Abū aṣ-Ṣalt Umayya ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī aṣ-Ṣalt ad-Dānī al-Andalusī () (October 23, 1134), known in Latin as Albuzale, was an Andalusian-Arab polymath who wrote about pharmacology, geometry, Aristotelian physics, and astron ...

, and at-Turtushi.

Pseudo-Majrīṭī

From his date of death, inconsistencies result in the dating of two influential works in alchemy attributed to him, as either they were published long after his death, or they were the work of someone else claiming some of his glory: the latter is the current general belief. The two works are the "Sage's Step/The Rank of the Wise" (''Rutbat al-hakim'', ?1009) and the '' Picatrix''. Both were translated into Latin, in a version somewhat bowdlerised by Christian dogma, in 1252 on the orders of King

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, Kingdom of León, León and Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the April 1257 Imperial election, election of 1 ...

; the original Arabic text dates probably from the middle of the eleventh century. The ''Rutbat'' includes alchemical formulae and instructions for purification of precious metals, and was also the first to note the principle of

conservation of mass In physics and chemistry, the law of conservation of mass or principle of mass conservation states that for any system closed to all transfers of matter the mass of the system must remain constant over time. The law implies that mass can neith ...

, which he did in the course of his pathbreaking experiment on

mercury(II) oxide Mercury(II) oxide, also called mercuric oxide or simply mercury oxide, is the inorganic compound with the formula Hg O. It has a red or orange color. Mercury(II) oxide is a solid at room temperature and pressure. The mineral form montroydite is ...

: The ''Picatrix'' is more concerned with advanced esotericism, principally astrology and talismanic magic, although he also goes into prophecy. The author considers this the advanced level of work, occasionally referring to the ''Rutbat'' as the foundation text.

Supposed daughter

Several modern sources state that al-Majriti had a daughter, Fátima de Madrid, who was also an astronomer. However, the earliest known mention of her is a short biographical article on her in the ''

Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana __NOTOC__ The ''Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana'' (also called ''Enciclopedia Espasa'', or ''Enciclopedia Espasa-Calpe'', after its publisher, founded by José Espasa Anguera) is a Spanish encyclopedia. It comprises 72 volume ...

'', published in the 1920s.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Majriti, Maslama 950s births 1007 deaths 10th-century Arab people 11th-century Arab people Astronomers from al-Andalus Mathematicians from al-Andalus 10th-century Muslim scholars of Islam People from Madrid Alchemists of the medieval Islamic world 10th-century writers from al-Andalus Scholars from al-Andalus Mathematicians who worked on Islamic inheritance Year of birth unknown Astrologers from Al-Andalus