From the House of Wisdom in Baghdad to modern Nobel laureates: the mathematicians, physicians, astronomers, chemists and engineers asked about in General Science, Everyday Science and Islamic Studies papers. Select a name for their discoveries and major works.
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Languages & Literature
Pakistan
World & History
30 of 30 scientists
| Scientist | Born – Died | Fields | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) | c. 721 – c. 815 | Chemistry | Early experimental chemistry: distillation, crystallization and the classification of substances |
| Al-Khwarizmi | c. 780 – c. 850 | MathematicsAstronomyGeography | Founded algebra as a discipline; the word 'algorithm' comes from his name |
| Al-Farghani (Alfraganus) | c. 800 – c. 870 | AstronomyEngineering | A widely read summary of Ptolemaic astronomy; supervised the Nilometer in Cairo |
| Al-Kindi | c. 801 – c. 873 | MathematicsPhysicsMedicine | Founded cryptanalysis by frequency analysis; wrote on optics, medicine and music |
| Abbas ibn Firnas | c. 810 – 887 | EngineeringPhysics | An early attempt at controlled gliding flight |
| Thabit ibn Qurra | 826 – 901 | MathematicsAstronomy | Amicable numbers theorem; translations of Euclid, Archimedes and Ptolemy |
| Al-Battani (Albategnius) | c. 858 – 929 | AstronomyMathematics | Very accurate measurement of the solar year; use of trigonometry in astronomy |
| Al-Razi (Rhazes) | c. 865 – c. 925 | MedicineChemistry | First clear distinction between smallpox and measles; huge medical encyclopedia Al-Hawi |
| Al-Sufi (Azophi) | 903 – 986 | Astronomy | Book of Fixed Stars; first recorded description of the Andromeda Galaxy |
| Al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) | c. 936 – c. 1013 | Medicine | Al-Tasrif, a 30-volume medical encyclopedia with an illustrated surgery section |
| Abu al-Wafa al-Buzjani | 940 – 998 | MathematicsAstronomy | Advanced trigonometry: the tangent function and the spherical law of sines |
| Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) | c. 965 – c. 1040 | PhysicsMathematicsAstronomy | Book of Optics; explained vision by light entering the eye; pioneer of the experimental method |
| Al-Biruni | 973 – c. 1050 | AstronomyGeographyPhysicsMathematics | Measured the Earth's radius from a hill near Nandana fort (Punjab, Pakistan); wrote Kitab al-Hind |
| Ibn Sina (Avicenna) | 980 – 1037 | MedicinePhysics | The Canon of Medicine, a standard medical textbook in Europe and the Islamic world for centuries |
| Al-Zarqali (Arzachel) | 1029 – 1087 | AstronomyEngineering | Toledan Tables and a universal astrolabe |
| Omar Khayyam | 1048 – 1131 | MathematicsAstronomy | Geometric solution of cubic equations; the Jalali calendar |
| Al-Idrisi | 1100 – c. 1165 | Geography | The Tabula Rogeriana, one of the most advanced world maps of the Middle Ages |
| Al-Jazari | 1136 – 1206 | Engineering | Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (1206): clocks, pumps and automata |
| Ibn al-Baitar | 1197 – 1248 | Botany & PharmacologyMedicine | Encyclopedia of medicinal plants and simple drugs, with about 1,400 entries |
| Nasir al-Din al-Tusi | 1201 – 1274 | AstronomyMathematics | Maragha observatory; the 'Tusi couple'; trigonometry as an independent subject |
| Ibn al-Nafis | 1213 – 1288 | Medicine | First known description of pulmonary (lung) circulation of blood |
| Jamshid al-Kashi | c. 1380 – 1429 | MathematicsAstronomy | Calculated π correct to 16 decimal places (1424); work on decimal fractions |
| Ulugh Beg | 1394 – 1449 | AstronomyMathematics | Samarkand observatory and one of the most accurate star catalogues before the telescope |
| Piri Reis | c. 1465 – 1553 | Geography | The Piri Reis map of 1513, which includes the Atlantic coasts of the Americas |
| Taqi al-Din | 1526 – 1585 | AstronomyEngineering | Istanbul observatory (1577); early description of a steam turbine |
| Salimuzzaman Siddiqui | 1897 – 1994 | ChemistryBotany & Pharmacology | Isolated ajmaline and other alkaloids from the Rauvolfia plant; founded PCSIR |
| Dr Abdus Salam | 1926 – 1996 | Physics | Nobel Prize in Physics 1979 for the electroweak theory; first Pakistani Nobel laureate |
| Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan | 1936 – 2021 | EngineeringPhysics | Led Pakistan's uranium enrichment programme at Kahuta |
| Ahmed Zewail | 1946 – 2016 | ChemistryPhysics | Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1999 for femtochemistry |
| Aziz Sancar | 1946 – — | ChemistryMedicine | Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 for explaining how cells repair damaged DNA |