Thabit ibn Qurra

Known for

Amicable numbers theorem; translations of Euclid, Archimedes and Ptolemy

Biography

Sabian scholar from Harran (in today's Turkey) brought to Baghdad by the Banu Musa brothers; a leading translator of Greek mathematics.

Contributions

• Found a rule for generating pairs of amicable numbers
• Translated and revised Greek works by Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius and Ptolemy
• Contributed to early work on statics and the balance

Major works

• Kitab fi al-Qarastun (on the balance)