Al-Farghani (Alfraganus)

Known for

A widely read summary of Ptolemaic astronomy; supervised the Nilometer in Cairo

Biography

Astronomer from Fergana (Central Asia) who worked for Caliph al-Ma'mun's astronomers in Baghdad and later in Egypt.

Contributions

• Wrote an accessible summary of astronomy that was translated into Latin and used in European universities
• Took part in al-Ma'mun's project to measure the length of a degree of the Earth's meridian
• Supervised building of the Great Nilometer on Roda Island, Cairo (861)

Major works

• Kitab fi Jawami' 'Ilm al-Nujum (Elements of Astronomy)