Plato Tiburtinus ( la, Plato Tiburtinus, "Plato of Tivoli"; fl. 12th century) was a 12th-century

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

who lived in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

from 1116 to 1138. He is best known for translating

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

documents into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, and was apparently the first to translate information on the astrolabe (an astronomical instrument) from Arabic. Plato of Tivoli translated the Arab astrologer Albohali's "Book of Birth" into Latin in 1136. He translated

Claudius Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importa ...

Tetrabiblos ''Tetrabiblos'' () 'four books', also known in Greek as ''Apotelesmatiká'' () "Effects", and in Latin as ''Quadripartitum'' "Four Parts", is a text on the philosophy and practice of astrology, written in the 2nd century AD by the Alexandrian ...

from Arabic to Latin in 1138, the astronomical works of

al-Battani Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Jābir ibn Sinān al-Raqqī al-Ḥarrānī aṣ-Ṣābiʾ al-Battānī ( ar, محمد بن جابر بن سنان البتاني) ( Latinized as Albategnius, Albategni or Albatenius) (c. 858 – 929) was an astron ...

, Theodosius' ''Spherics'' and the ''Liber Embadorum'' by Abraham bar Chiia.David Eugene Smith, ''History of Mathematics'', (Dover Publications, Inc, 1951), 201. He has worked together with the Jewish mathematician

Savasorda Abraham bar Ḥiyya ha-Nasi (; – 1136 or 1145), also known as Abraham Savasorda, Abraham Albargeloni, and Abraham Judaeus, was a Catalan Jewish mathematician, astronomer and philosopher who resided in Barcelona. Bar Ḥiyya was active in tr ...

( Abraham Bar Ḥiyya Ha-Nasi). His manuscripts were widely circulated and were among others used by

Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his li ...

and

Fibonacci Fibonacci (; also , ; – ), also known as Leonardo Bonacci, Leonardo of Pisa, or Leonardo Bigollo Pisano ('Leonardo the Traveller from Pisa'), was an Italian mathematician from the Republic of Pisa, considered to be "the most talented Wester ...

Works

To him are attributed four works in

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

- mathematics: *The Liber Embadorum (“

Book of Areas A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many page (paper), pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bookbinding, bound together and protected by a book cover, cover. Th ...

,” or “

Practical Geometry Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that considers words and thought as tools and instruments for prediction, problem solving, and action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. ...

”), it was transferred (after a date

astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxi ...

specified in the text ) in 1145 from the

. The book had an influence on the

Geometry of Fibonacci Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

book and contains one of the first comprehensive treatments of quadratic equations in the

Occident The Occident is a term for the West, traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the Western world. It is the antonym of ''Orient'', the Eastern world. In English, it has largely fallen into disuse. The term ''occidental'' is often used to ...

. *The Spherica by Theodosius of Bithynia, *Al-Battān,i’s al-Zij (“

Astronomical Treatise Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, gal ...

”) *The De usu astrolabii of Abu’l-Qāsim Maslama ( Ibn al-Sạffār), The manuscript contains information about the first astrolabe in the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

. The translations from the Arabic of seven other works (five astrological, one geomantical, and one medical ow lost are ascribed to Plato: *Ptolemy’s Quadripartitum, *The Iudicia Almansoris, *The De electionibus horarum of Ali ibn Aḥmad al-Imrani, *The De nativitatibus or De iudiciis nativitatum of Abu 'Ali al-Khaiyat, *The De revolutionibus nativitatum by Abū Bakr al-Ḥasan (Albubather), *The Questiones geomantice or Liber Arenalis scientie by “ Alfakini, son of Abizarch” or “ son of Abraham”, *A De pulsibus et urinis by “

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...

”.

Notes

External links

*
Translators
by Lorenzo Minio-Paluello {{Authority control People from Tivoli, Lazio 12th-century Italian mathematicians Hebrew–Latin translators Arabic–Latin translators Christian Hebraists 12th-century astronomers 12th-century translators Medieval Italian astronomers

Works

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links