Biography of the Beruni in Russian. Biography of al-Biruni

, natural Sciences, history as a science [d], chronology, linguistics, indology, earth sciences, geography, philosophy, cartography, anthropology, astrology, comparative sociology [d], chemistry, medicine, psychology, theology, pharmacology, history of religion And mineralogy

Abu Reyhan Muhammad ibn Ahmed al-Biruni(Persian ابوریحان بیرونی ‎, Arabic. أبو الريحان البيروني ‎; The 4th of October (0973-10-04 ) , the city of Kyat, Khorezm, Samanid state - 9th December, Ghazni, modern Afghanistan) - a medieval Persian encyclopedic scientist and thinker, author of numerous major works on history, geography, philology, astronomy, mathematics, mechanics, geodesy, mineralogy, pharmacology, geology, etc. Biruni mastered almost all the sciences of his time. The list of works compiled by his students amounted to 60 pages in small print [ ] . He wrote his scientific works in Arabic and Persian

Biography

Al-Biruni was born The 4th of October (0973-10-04 ) year in the Khorezmian city of Kyat (now the city of Beruni in the Republic of Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan). According to other sources, Biruni was born on September 4, 973. Little is known about his parents; in his own notes, Biruni wrote that he did not know his father and grandfather. According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, Biruni was born into an Iranian family

Biruni described the languages ​​he learned as follows:

“Then I moved on to Arabic and Persian, in each of which I am an alien who barely speaks it.”

Abu Reyhan Beruni. Pharmacognosy in medicine. // Abu Reyhan Beruni, Selected Works. v.4. Translation from Arabic by W. Karimov. T., 1973, p.138

According to some orientalists, his native language was the Khwarezmian dialect of the Persian language. IN total, he knew Khorezmian, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Greek and Sanskrit.

Biruni put Arabic above Persian when he wrote: “reproach in Arabic is dearer to me than praise in Persian ... this dialect is suitable only for Khosroev’s stories and night tales.”

Coming out of handicraft circles, he received a broad mathematical and philosophical education. An outstanding mathematician and astronomer Ibn Iraq was his teacher in the ancient capital of Khorezmshahs, Kate. After the capture of Kyat by the Emir of Gurganj in 995 and the transfer of the capital of Khorezm to Gurganj, al-Biruni, who supported the overthrown Afrigid dynasty, left for Rey, where he worked for al-Khojandi. Being at the court of one of the last Samanid rulers, Emir of Bukhara Abu-l-Kharis Mansur ibn Nuh, he entered into an extensive correspondence with Ibn Sina (Avicenna), with whom he discusses issues of natural sciences and the views of Aristotle. Then he worked in Gurgan at the court of the Ziyarid Emir of Tabaristan Shams al-Ma'ali Qaboos, to whom he dedicated the Chronology around 1000. As a result, he returned to Khorezm and worked in Gurganj at the court of the Khorezmshahs Ali (997-1009) and Mamun II.

Biruni devoted 45 works to astronomy. A popular introduction to astronomical science is the Book of Enlightenment to the Elements of the Science of the Stars, written around 1029 and which has come down to us in two versions: in Arabic and in Farsi. This book consists of 530 questions and answers on geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, geography, chronology, astrolabe and astrology.

The Four Directions and Political Divisions of Iran (Abu Reyhan al-Biruni)

Illustration from the book of al-Biruni in Persian. Showing various phases Moon.

Biruni's main work on astronomy is "Masud's Canon on Astronomy and Stars". The plan of this work is close to the standard plan of the Arab zijs, but unlike them, detailed experimental and mathematical proofs of all the stated provisions are given here; a number of provisions of his predecessors, for example, Biruni refutes the assumption of Sabit ibn Korra about the connection between the movement of the apogee of the Sun and the prelude to the equinoxes, and in many issues comes to new conclusions. He considered the hypothesis of the motion of the Earth around the Sun; he asserted the same fiery nature of the sun and stars, in contrast to dark bodies- planets, the mobility of stars and their huge size compared to the Earth, the idea of ​​gravitation. Biruni carried out observations on the wall quadrant with a radius of 7.5 m built by al-Nasavi in ​​Rei, performing them with an accuracy of 2′. He established the angle of inclination of the ecliptic to the equator, calculated the radius of the Earth, described the change in the color of the Moon during lunar eclipses and the solar corona during solar eclipses.

Biruni paid much attention to mathematics, especially trigonometry: in addition to a significant part of the "Canon of Mas'ud", he dedicated to her the works "On the determination of chords in a circle using a broken line inscribed in it" (here, a number of theorems belonging to Archimedes that have not been preserved in Greek manuscripts are considered). ), “On Indian Rashiks” (the so-called triple rule is discussed in this book), “Sphere”, “The Book of Pearls on the Plane of the Sphere”, etc. The treatise “Shadows”, several treatises on the astrolabe and other astronomical instruments are devoted to issues of applied mathematics, a number of essays on geodesy.

As a researcher, Biruni emphasized the need for a thorough verification of knowledge by experience, contrasting experimental knowledge with speculative knowledge. From these positions, he criticized the Aristotelian and Avicenna concept of "natural place" and the argument against the existence of emptiness.

In addition to his native Khorezmian language, Biruni spoke Arabic, Persian, Greek, Syriac, as well as Hebrew, Sanskrit and Hindi. This knowledge contributed to the development of principles for translating natural science terminology from one language into another. The transcription system created by Biruni on the basis of Arabic script in many respects anticipated modern system transferring Indian words into Urdu.

Biruni in his works gives the names of the Turkic months and Turkic medicinal herbs.

Biruni in his work "Monuments past generations” gives the Turkic names of the years according to the animal cycle: sichkan, od, leopard, tushkan, lui, ilan, yunt, kui, pichin, tagigu, tunguz. In the same work, he gives the names of the months in Turkic: Ulug-oh, kichik-oh, birinchi-oh, ikkinchi-oh, uchinchi-oh, turtinchi-oh, beshinchi-oh, oltinchi-oh, yetinchi-oh, sakkizinchi-oh , tokkuzinchi-oh, uninchi-oh.

Academic writings in Persian

Memory

Al-Biruni's writings

• Biruni Abu Reyhan. India. / Per. A. B. Khalidov, Yu. N. Zavadovsky. // Fav. prod. - T. 2. - Tashkent: Fan, 1963. (Reprint. - M .: Ladomir, 1995.)
• Biruni Abu Reyhan. Collection of information for the knowledge of jewelry (Mineralogy)./ Per. A. M. Belenitsky. - L .: Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1963.
• Biruni Abu Reyhan. Geodesy (Determination of the boundaries of places to clarify the distances between settlements) / Issl., Per. and approx. P. G. Bulgakov // Izbr. prod. - T. 3. - Tashkent: Fan, 1966.
• Biruni Abu Reyhan. Pharmacognosy in medicine / Issl., Per. and approx. U. I. Karimova // Chosen. prod. - T. 4. - Tashkent: Fan, 1974.
• Biruni Abu Reyhan. The book of admonishment to the beginnings of the science of the stars = Kitab al-Tafhim / Enter. article, trans. and note. B.A. Rosenfeld and A. Akhmedov. Rep. ed. dr. philol. Sciences A. K. Arends. - Tashkent: Fan, 1975. - V. 6. - (Selected works / Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR. Institute of Oriental Studies named after Abu Reykhan Biruni).
• Biruni Abu Reyhan. Mathematical and astronomical treatises / Prev., Per. and comm. P. G. Bulgakov and B. A. Rosenfeld. // Fav. prod. - T. 7. - Tashkent: Fan, 1987.
• Star catalog of al-Biruni with the application of the catalogs of Khayyam and at-Tusi. Historical and astronomical research. - Issue. 8, 1962. - S. 83–192.
• Biruni Abu Reyhan. Treatise on the definition of chords in a circle using a broken line inscribed in it // From the history of science and technology in the countries of the East.- Issue. 3, 1963. - S. 93–147.
• Biruni Abu Reyhan. A book about Indian rashiki / Per. and approx. B. A. Rosenfeld // From the history of science and technology in the countries of the East. - Issue. 3, 1963. - S. 148-170.
• Beruni and Ibn Sina. Correspondence. Per. Yu. N. Zavadovsky. - Tashkent: Fan, 1973. Beruni's ten questions about the "Book of Heaven" and the answers of Ibn Sina.
• Biruni. On the relationship between metals and precious stones in terms of volume / Per. B. A. Rosenfeld and M. M. Rozhanskaya // From the history of physical and mathematical sciences in the medieval East.- M.: Nauka, 1983. - S. 141–160.

Movies

• Abu Reyhan Beruni, 1974 .

Notes

1. Bosworth, C. E. (1968), "The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000-1217)", J.A. Boyle (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods, Cambridge University Press: 1-202. . Excerpt from page 7:
2. Richard Frye: “The contribution of Iranians to Islamic mathematics is overwhelming. ..The name of Abu Raihan Al-Biruni, from Khwarazm, must be mentioned since he was one of the greatest scientists in World History" (R.N. Frye, "The Golden age of Persia", 2000, Phoenix Press. pg 162)
3. M. A. Saleem Khan, "Al-Biruni's discovery of India: an interpretative study", iAcademicBooks, 2001. pg 11:
4. H. U. Rahman. A Chronology of Islamic History: 570-1000 CE. Mansell Publishing (1995). Retrieved 16 July 2017.
   
5. Al-Bīrūnī (2007). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 22, 2007;
6. David C Lindberg, Science in the Middle Ages, University of Chicago Press (English)Russian", p. 18:
   
7. L. Massignon, "Al-Biruni et la valuer internationale de la science arabe" in Al-Biruni Commemoration Volume, (Calcutta, 1951). pp 217-219.

   In a celebration preface to the book of Drugs, Biruni says, "And if it is true that in all nations one likes to adorn oneself by using the language to which one has remained loyal, having become accustomed to using it with friends and companions according to need, I must judge for myself that in my native Khwarezmian language, science has as much as chance of becoming perpetuated as a camel has of facing Kaaba."

8. Gotthard Strohmaier, "Biruni" in Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach, Medieval Islamic Civilization: A-K, index: Vol. 1 of Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, Taylor & Francis, 2006. excerpt from page 112: “Although his native Khwarezmian was also an Iranian language, he rejected the emerging neo-Persian literature of his time (Firdawsi), preferring Arabic instead as the only adequate medium of science.”
9. D. N. MacKenzie, Encyclopaedia Iranica, "CHORASMIA iii. The Chorasmian Language". Excerpt: "Chorasmian, the original Iranian language of Chorasmia, is attested at two stages of its development..The earliest examples have been left by the great scholar Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī."
10. A.L. Samian, "Al-Biruni" in Helaine Selin (ed.), "Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures", Springer, 1997. excerpt from page 157: „his native language was the Khwarizmian dialect
11. D.J. Boilot, "Al-Biruni (Beruni), Abu'l Rayhan Muhammad b. Ahmad", in Encyclopaedia of Islam (Leiden), New Ed., vol. 1:1236-1238. Excerpt 1: He was born of an Iranian family in 362/973 (according to al-Ghadanfar, on 3 Dhu'l-Hididja/ 4 September - see Eduard Sachau, Chronology, xivxvi), in the suburb (birun) of Kath, capital of Khwarizm". Excerpt 2:"was one of the greatest scholars of mediaeval Islam, and certainly the most original and profound. He was equally well versed in the mathematical, astronomical, physical and natural sciences and also distinguished himself as a geographer and historian, chronologist and linguist and as an impartial observer of customs and creeds.
12. J.L. Berggren, Jonathan Borwein, Peter Borwein.(English) . Springer (2014). Retrieved 16 July 2017.
13. Mathematical encyclopedia.
14. Biruni // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov
15. S.H. Nasr, "An introduction to Islamic cosmological doctrines: conceptions of nature and methods used for its study by the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, al-Bīrūnī, and Ibn Sīnā", 2nd edition, Revised. SUNY press, 1993. pp. 111:

    Kitab al-Tafhim Persian Kitab al-Tafhim

16. , With. 26.
17. Krachkovsky I. Yu. Selected works. T. 4. Ed. IV vol. G. V. Tsereteli. M.-L.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1957. S. 245.
18. "He was born of an Iranian family" - Boilet D. J. Al-Biruni // Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, ed. H. A. R. Gibb , J. H. Kramers, E. Levi-Provencal , J. Schacht (English)Russian. Brill (English)Russian, 1986. - P. 1236.
19. Yano, Michio, "al-Bīrūnī" Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE.
20. Science and Life // Pravda Publishing House. - 1973. - S. 52.
21. Frolova E. A. Arabic Philosophy: Past and Present. - M.: Languages ​​of Slavic cultures, 2010. - S. 173. - 461 p.
22. Rybakov B. A. Culture of peoples Central Asia // History of the USSR / Ch. ed. Academician B. N. Ponomarev; . - Science, 1966. - S. 664.
23. Biruni: collection of articles / ed. S. P. Tolstova. M.-L.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1950.
24. Blinova K.F. and others. Botanical-pharmacognostic dictionary: Ref. allowance / Ed. K. F. Blinova, G. P. Yakovlev. - M.: Higher. school, 1990. - S. 265. - ISBN 5-06-000085-0.
25. Abu Reyhan Beruni, Selected Works. v.4. Translation from Arabic by W. Karimov. T., 1973, p.312
26. Abu Reyhan Biruni. Selected works, I. Tashkent. Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR. 1957, pp. 87-89.
27. "He was born of an Iranian family"- Boilet D. J. Al-Biruni // Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, ed. H. A. R. Gibb , J. H. Kramers, E. Levi-Provencal , J. Schacht (English)Russian. Brill (English)Russian, 1986. - P. 1236.
28. Nasr S. H. An introduction to Islamic cosmological doctrines: conceptions of nature and methods used for its study by the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, al-Bīrūnī, and Ibn Sīnā, 2nd edition, Revised. SUNY Press, 1993. P. 111:

    "Al-Biruni wrote one of the masterpieces of medieval science, Kitab al-Tafhim, apparently in both Arabic and Persian, demonstrating how conversant he was in both tongues. The Kitab al-Tafhim is without doubt the most important of the early works of science in Persian and serves as a rich source for Persian prose and lexicography as well as for the knowledge of the Quadrivium whose subjects it covers in a masterly fashion"

29. UNIS Monument to Be Inaugurated at the Vienna International Centre, ‘Scholars Pavilion’ donated to International Organizations in Vienna by Iran . Retrieved 3 August 2017.
30. Muminov I.M. The great encyclopedist from Khorezm. Tashkent, 1973.
31. Tolstov S.P., In the footsteps of ancient Khorezmian civilization. M.-L.: 1948

Literature

In Russian

• Biruni // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
• Biruni / L. B. Alaev // Soviet Historical Encyclopedia: in 16 volumes / ed. E. M. Zhukova. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1961-1976.

Beruni's childhood and youth were spent in the house of the cousin of Khorezmshah Abu Abdallah from the local dynasty of Irakids - one of the outstanding mathematicians of Khorezm of that time - Abu Nasr Mansur ibn Ali ibn Iraq (he owns one of the first proofs of the sine theorem for flat and spherical triangles).
Abu Nasr was sincerely attached to his pupil, and he retained this attachment for the rest of his life, continuing to patronize him touchingly and give instructions, even when the scientific fame of the student far exceeded his own. Over the years, mentoring gave way to cooperation, and the spiritual closeness of these two people, who put the selfless service of truth above all earthly blessings, will determine the amazing similarity of their human paths - fate, which separated them often and for a long time, will eventually bring both into exile, where both will end their lives. life without seeing native land.

The inquisitive Beruni from childhood tried to expand the information about the world he received from the teacher. In his work "Pharmacognosy in Medicine", he wrote that by his nature, from an early age he was endowed with excessive greed to the acquisition of knowledge. As evidence of this, Beruni gives the following example: when he was about seven years old, a Greek settled in their district, to whom he brought various grains, seeds, fruits, plants, etc., asked what they were called in his language, and wrote down the names. Then the Greek introduced Beruni to another knowledgeable person by the name of Masihi, who recommended books necessary for him to read and explained incomprehensible things. Beruni wrote his first work "The Chronology of Ancient Peoples", in which he collected and described all the calendar systems known in his time, used by various peoples, when he was a little over twenty years old.

Also surprising is the similarity earthly path Beruni with the fate of his other greatest contemporary - Abu Ali Ibn Sina, with whom, by the way, they actively exchanged letters, discussing the natural philosophical views of Aristotle.
Like Ibn Sina, fate sometimes exalted Beruni, then beat him to the ground: years of a quiet life, filled with scientific research and palace honors, were replaced by years of poverty and exile.
Beruni several times had to endure the loss of all his manuscripts, and start everything from scratch in a new place. But the strength of mind and the desire for scientific research did not allow Beruni to give up even in hopeless situations.

Since 1017, after the conquest of Khorezm by Sultan Mahmud Gaznevi, Beruni lived in Ghazna at the court of Sultan Mahmud and his successors Masud and Maudud. Under the compulsion of the Sultan, Beruni participated in Mahmud's campaigns in India, where he lived the second half of his life. There are many legends about the circumstances of his move to Ghazna. Did he voluntarily go to the capital of Sultan Mahmud in search of a good income, or was he forcibly taken there in custody and in shackles, like a dangerous criminal? Most researchers are inclined to the second version: when the capital of the Khorezm principality was destroyed in 1017, the great scientist was captured and "as a captive-hostage, he, along with other prominent Khorezmians, was taken to Ghazna" and was even imprisoned there. After his release in Ghazna, the scientist led a secluded life, and only work remained his only joy.
Only for two days a year - on New Year's Day and on the holiday of Mihrjan - he devoted himself to the care of acquiring supplies of food and clothing, and on the remaining days of the year he devoted himself entirely to science.

There is a legend that once Sultan Mahmud himself decided to test the logic and knowledge of Beruni. To do this, he arranged an audience in the great hall of his palace, which had four doors. And he ordered him to guess through which of them he would enter the hall. Beruni immediately asked for paper and ink, and, having written a note containing the answer, he hid it under the pillow on which the sultan usually sat. He ordered to break part of the wall in the hall and entered this gap. Taking out a note from Beruni from under the pillow, he found in it the answer that the Sultan should enter the hall through a hole in the wall.
Enraged, Mahmud ordered the scientist to be immediately thrown out the window, but Beruni ordered ahead of time to prepare a ramp under the window, along which he rolled down without any harm to himself.

In old age, Beruni lost his sight, but until the last minute of his life he considered a cheerful spirit to be the main "mechanism" for continuing life. Dying on December 9, 1048 in Ghazna, Beruni was in full consciousness and, although he was weak, he talked on scientific topics. Saying goodbye to his friends, he asked the latter: “Oh yes, I wanted to ask everyone, what did you tell me once about the methods of counting unrighteous profits?” The amazed friend exclaimed: “Is this what to talk about now!”. Biruni, already losing his voice, whispered: “Oh, you! I think that it is better to leave the world having learned the answer to this question than to leave ignorant ... ".

Beruni was an encyclopedically literate person, with diverse interests. Beruni learned the Arabic language, grammar and style himself. In addition, he knew nine languages ​​of the East (in addition to Khorezmian and Arabic), including Sanskrit and Hindi, as well as Greek and Latin.

In total, he wrote 45 works in various disciplines: medicine, pharmacology, pharmacognosy, history, geography, mathematics, astronomy, geodesy, philology, mineralogy. He calculated the radius of the Earth, set the angle of inclination of the ecliptic to the equator, described lunar eclipses with a change in the color of the Moon during them, as well as solar eclipses, having analyzed the nature of the solar corona, expressed the idea of ​​the fiery nature of the stars and the sun, in contrast to the planets.

As a reward for compiling star tables, the Sultan sent Beruni as a gift of an elephant loaded with silver. But the scientist returned the gift to the treasury, saying: “I don’t need silver, I have the highest wealth - knowledge”.

Capital labor Beruni "Pharmacognosy in medicine"(“Kitab as-Saidana fit-t-tibb”) is of great importance at the present time. In this book, he details described about 880 plants, their separate parts and selections; gave their exact descriptions, streamlined the terminology. The description of plants is accompanied by drawings with their images. "Saidana" ("Pharmacognosy") also contains rich material on the distribution of medicinal plants and their ranges.

Beruni collected and explained about 4500 Arabic, Greek, Syrian, Indian, Persian, Khorezmian, Sogdian, Turkic, and other plant names. These synonyms are still used in modern pharmacognosy when deciphering ancient treatises.

Beruni's aphorism: "A scientist acts consciously even when he spends money."

Another aphorism: « No nation is spared from ignorant people and leaders, still moreignorant».

Famous philosopher, scientist-encyclopedist, author research work in many disciplines (geography, astronomy, mathematics, mineralogy, philology, etc.) - Abu Reihan Muhammad ibn Ahmed al-Biruni. He lived in the 10th - 11th century AD.

Biography and getting started

Born in September or October 973 in the city of Kyat (now it is the city of Beruni in Uzbekistan). He was a student of the astronomer and mathematician Ibn Iraqi. He often changed his place of residence: he left Kyat for Rey, then for Gurgan, then for Gurganj and India. The last refuge for al-Biruni was Ghazna.

The first work was an essay in which the scientist collected all the calendar systems available in the world. There he also included a chronological tablet for all eras (from the reign of the biblical patriarchs).

Al-Biruni created a work describing the life, science and culture of the ancient Indians. It outlines the systems of philosophy, religion, the doctrine of the connection between the soul and the body. There is also a legend about the creation of the game of chess and its author.

More than the thinker was interested in astronomy. Proof of this - 45 essays dedicated to this particular science. In general, the number of Biruni's works is beyond enumeration: the list of titles of works was written down by his students on 60 pages in small print.

In his work on pharmacognosy, Biruni listed more than 4,500 names of plants from different countries(Persia, Syria, India, territories Turkic peoples etc.) and separately explained the properties of each of them.

Curious facts

Biruni is first and foremost a man of science. Irrefutable evidence of this is the legend of his death. He realized that he was dying. Friends crowded in front of his bed. Saying goodbye to everyone, the scientist asked one of them about “methods of counting unrighteous profits” and explained his interest simply: he did not want to leave the world as an ignoramus.

A huge loss for science was the treatise "Key to Astronomy": it was either destroyed or hidden. In this work, Biruni outlined the foundations of astronomy and mathematics. All that remains of the book is the introduction.

In addition to the craving for research, al-Biruni was also attracted by languages. He knew perfectly well:

1. Arabic (works were created on it);
2. Persian;
3. Latin;
4. Hindi;
5. Greek;
6. Turkic;
7. Hebrew;
8. Sanskrit;
9. Syriac dialects.

This knowledge has become the key to successful translation of international terms.

Interestingly, in the work on trigonometry, modern scientists have discovered a number of theorems, the authorship of which belongs to Archimedes. They are not found in the works of Archimedes himself.

In his research, Biruni adhered to one principle: all theory must be tested by practice and proved by experience.

Abu Reyhan Muhammad ibn Ahmed al-Biruni(Khorezm and Persian; October 4, 973, the city of Kyat, Khorezm - December 9, 1048, Ghazni, modern Afghanistan) - a medieval Persian encyclopedic scientist and thinker, author of numerous major works on history, geography, philology, astronomy, mathematics, mechanics, geodesy, mineralogy, pharmacology, geology, etc. Biruni mastered almost all the sciences of his time. The list of works compiled by his students amounted to 60 pages in small print. Wrote in Arabic.

Biography

Al-Biruni was born on October 4, 973 in the Khorezmian city of Kyat (now the city of Beruni in the Republic of Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan). According to other sources, Biruni was born on September 4, 973.

Biruni distinguished his native Khorezmian language from Persian when he wrote: "reproach in Arabic is dearer to me than praise in Persian ... this dialect is suitable only for Khosroev's stories and night tales." In total, he knew Khorezmian, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Greek and Sanskrit.

Coming out of handicraft circles, he received a broad mathematical and philosophical education. An outstanding mathematician and astronomer Ibn Iraq was his teacher in the ancient capital of the Khorezmshahs, Kate. After the capture of Kyat by the emir of Gurganj in 995 and the transfer of the capital of Khorezm to Gurganj, al-Biruni, who supported the overthrown Afrigids dynasty, left for Rey, where he worked for al-Khojandi. Being at the court of one of the last Samanid rulers, Emir of Bukhara Abu-l-Kharis Mansur ibn Nukh, he entered into an extensive correspondence with Ibn Sina (Avicenna), with whom he discussed issues of natural sciences and the views of Aristotle. Then he worked in Gurgan at the court of the Ziyarid Emir of Tabaristan Shams al-Ma'ali Qaboos, to whom he dedicated the Chronology around 1000. As a result, he returned to Khorezm and worked in Gurganj at the court of the Khorezmshahs Ali (997-1009) and Mamun II.

Since 1017, after the conquest of Khorezm by Sultan Mahmud Gaznevi, he, along with other captured scientists, was forced to move to Ghazna, where he worked at the court of Sultan Mahmud and his successors Masud and Maudud. Al-Biruni participated in Mahmud's campaigns in India, where he lived for several years. Masud al-Biruni, who patronized him, dedicated an essay on astronomy and spherical trigonometry, known as the “Canon of Masud”.

He was dying in full consciousness and, saying goodbye to all his friends, asked the latter: “What did you once explain to me about the methods of counting unrighteous profits?” "How can you think about it in such a state?" he exclaimed. "Oh you! - said Biruni barely audibly. “I think that leaving this world knowing the answer to this question is better than leaving it ignorant…”

Scientific works

In the very first work “Chronology, or Monuments of Past Generations” (1000), al-Biruni collected and described all the calendar systems known in his time, used by various peoples of the world, and compiled chronological table of all eras, starting from the biblical patriarchs.

In the work “India, or the Book containing an explanation of the teachings belonging to the Indians, acceptable or rejected by reason”, completed in 1030, al-Biruni gave a detailed scientific and critical description of the life, culture and science of the Indians, outlined their religious and philosophical systems, quite accurately shifting the teachings classical Samkhya, the theory of cosmic evolution, the doctrine of the connection of the soul with " thin body» and others. famous legend about the creator of the game of chess.

Biruni devoted more than 45 works to astronomy. A popular introduction to astronomical science is the Book of Enlightenment to the Elements of the Science of the Stars, written around 1029 and which has come down to us in two versions: in Arabic and in Farsi. This book consists of 530 questions and answers on geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, geography, chronology, astrolabe and astrology.

Biruni's main work on astronomy is "Masud's Canon on Astronomy and Stars". The plan of this work is close to the standard plan of the Arab zijs, but unlike them, detailed experimental and mathematical proofs of all the stated provisions are given here; a number of provisions of his predecessors, for example, Biruni refutes the assumption of Sabit ibn Korra about the connection between the movement of the apogee of the Sun and the prelude to the equinoxes, and in many issues comes to new conclusions. He considered the hypothesis of the motion of the Earth around the Sun; he asserted the same fiery nature of the Sun and stars, in contrast to the dark bodies - planets, the mobility of stars and their huge size compared to the Earth, the idea of ​​gravitation. Biruni made observations on a wall quadrant with a radius of 7.5 m built by al-Nasawi in Rei, performing them with an accuracy of 2. He established the angle of inclination of the ecliptic to the equator, calculated the radius of the Earth, described the change in the color of the Moon during lunar eclipses and the solar corona during solar eclipses .

BIROUNI (BERUNI, AL-BIROUNI) ABU REIKHAN MUHAMMED IBN AHMED AL-BIROUNI

(973 - 1048)

“Real courage lies in contempt for death (whether it is expressed in speech or action), in the struggle against lies. Only he who eschews lies and adheres to the truth is worthy of trust and praise even in the opinion of liars ... "

Abu Reyhan Mohammed ibn Ahmed al-Biruni was born on September 4, 973 on the outskirts of the city of Kyat, which at that time was the capital of Khorezm (now Kyat has been renamed in honor of the great scientist and is called Biruni, located in Uzbekistan). There is practically no information about the scientist's childhood. It is known that with early years Biruni studied with the famous mathematician and astronomer Abu Nasr Mansur ibn Ali ibn Iraq, who was also the cousin of the Shah of Khorezm Abu Abdallah. In one of his poems, Biruni wrote: “In truth, I don’t know my genealogy. After all, I don’t really know my grandfather, and how can I know my grandfather, since I don’t know my father! At the same time, from other works of the scientist it becomes clear that he knew the date of his own birth. Such a contradiction, of course, seems strange. Trying to draw some conclusions about the origin of Biruni, researchers resort to the standard method in such cases - the study of the names of the scientist. But in this case, this method gives little. For example, disputes flared up about the nickname, which was often given by the place of birth of a person. "Biruni" in translation means "outside, outside." The 12th-century historian Samani translated this part of the name as "a man from the suburbs". Following him, many researchers began to assume that Biruni was born outside the walls of the city. From the fact that artisans usually settled outside the fortress wall, in turn, it is concluded that Biruni was born into a family belonging to this social group. For obvious reasons, this point of view was especially widespread in the USSR. But then it is not clear how Biruni in early childhood was able to get into a family that belonged to the ruling dynasty in Khorezm. Therefore, there is another interpretation of the appearance of this nickname. The word "Biruni" was often used to refer to non-indigenous residents of a particular area. It is possible that the scientist received this nickname when he returned to Khorezm after long wanderings. The name Mohammed and the name of the father Ahmed also give us little information, since sometimes such names were given to children whose father is unknown.

We can say with confidence that already at the age of seventeen Biruni was engaged in serious scientific activity- in 990 he calculated the latitude at which the city of Kyat is located. By 995, when the young scientist was 22 years old, he was already the author a large number scientific works. Of these, "Cartography" has survived to this day, in which the young scientist considered methods for projecting an image of the surface of the globe onto a plane.

In 995, the calm course of the life of a young scientist was disturbed. The fact is that at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century, the situation in the Arab world was turbulent. In Khorezm and the territories adjacent to it, civil strife broke out every now and then. During the next of them, the ruler Abu Abdallah was overthrown by the emir of Gurganj, the second largest city in Khorezm. How Abu Nasr survived these events is unknown. His own student, Biruni, was forced to flee. Where exactly - the same is unclear. It is only known that some time after his flight, he settled in Rey (present-day Tehran). Biruni wrote that he did not have a patron in Ray (which was very important for a scientist at that time) and he was forced to live in poverty.

Nevertheless, he continued to engage in scientific activities, in particular, he regularly made and recorded astronomical observations. This gave modern researchers the opportunity to determine some of the dates of Biruni's life. For example, the scientist describes the eclipse of the Moon, which he observed on May 24 in Kyat. Consequently, at that time Biruni visited Khorezm. But then he again own will or forced to leave their homeland. It is possible that the scientist came to Kyat only to observe the eclipse. The fact is that at the same time, by agreement with Biruni, another astronomer observed the eclipse in Baghdad. According to the timing of the eclipse, scientists have determined the difference in the longitude of these cities. This means that Biruni traveled again and lived for some time in Gurgan, on the southeastern coast of the Caspian Sea. When exactly he settled there, it is not exactly known, but around the year 1000 he wrote the book "Chronology", which he dedicated to the ruler of Gurgana. In this work, the author refers to seven of his earlier works. On August 14, 1003, Biruni, while still in Gurgan, observed the eclipse of the Moon, but on June 4, 1004, he was already at home, as he described a similar phenomenon he saw there.

This time in Khorezm, the scientist was received with dignity. In Gurganj, the new capital of Khorezm, Ali ibn Mamun ruled first, and then his brother Abu Abbas Mamun. Both rulers were patrons of science and kept at their court a large staff of the best scientists, among whom Biruni took an honorary position. In addition, here the young scientist was able to work with his former teacher Abu Nasr Mansur, for whom he had the warmest feelings.

Happy and fruitful cooperation with the former teacher at home continued until 1017. This year, Mahmud of Ghazni, the ruler of the Ghaznavid state, which reached its peak at that time, captured Khorezm. Most likely, Biruni and Abu Nasr were taken away by Mahmud. There is no reliable information about how the relationship between scientists and the new ruler developed. But in one of the texts written by Biruni, there is a mention of some serious difficulties that he encountered at the beginning of his work under the auspices of Mahmud. The astronomical observations made by him can again testify to where exactly the scientist continued his work immediately after his departure from Khorezm. For example, the recorded results of observations made on October 14, 1018 in Kabul. The fact that Biruni used instruments made independently from improvised means most likely indicates that Mahmud Ghaznevi was not a very generous patron. By the fall of 1019, Biruni was in Ghazna ( modern city Ghazni in Afghanistan), which is also evidenced by the records of his observations of celestial phenomena. Here, most likely as a prisoner, Biruni lived and worked until the end of his life, except for the fact that he accompanied Mahmud on some of his military campaigns. Around 1022, the sovereign included the northern parts of India in his sphere of influence, and by 1026 his army had reached the coast of the Indian Ocean. Biruni is supposed to have visited the northern regions of India and even lived there for several years. He calculated the latitudes of eleven major cities in the Punjab and Kashmir region. But the main result of the trip to India was big work"An Explanation of the Teachings of the Indians, Acceptable by Reason or Rejected."

In 1030, Mahmud died, and power passed to his son Masud. It seems that the new ruler treated Biruni much better than his father. Much indicates that the scientist was able to travel freely. Tellingly, Biruni named one of his most famous astronomical works, Masuda's Canon on Astronomy and the Stars, after his new patron. The scientist died in 1048 at the age of 75. Until his death, he continued to engage in scientific activities and wrote scientific papers.

This is practically all the facts from the life of one of the greatest scientists of the Middle Ages. We have already noted that usually much more is known about the works of ancient scientists than about themselves. Biruni is no exception. Due to constant wanderings and a semi-free life, he had neither a family nor children. main value books made up his life. “All my books are my children, and most people are fascinated by their children and poetry,” he wrote.

In total, Biruni belongs to about 150 scientific papers. Like most of his predecessors and contemporaries, he was a generalist scientist. The range of his scientific interests included almost all contemporary sciences. No wonder Biruni is often called the "great encyclopedist". He is the author of works on history, mathematics, astronomy, physics, geography, geology, medicine, ethnography. Important role in the development of science, both the data obtained by Biruni himself and the fact that he was able to systematize and present the knowledge accumulated before him by scientists from the Arab world, Greece, Rome, and India played. In addition to Arabic, the scientist spoke Persian, Sanskrit, Greek, possibly Syriac and Hebrew. This gave him a unique opportunity to compare and compile knowledge different peoples. Here is what Biruni himself wrote about this: “I cite the theories of the Indians as they are, and in parallel with them I touch on the theories of the Greeks to show their mutual closeness.” When translating texts, he worked very carefully, which favorably distinguished him from many contemporary translators. If most of the translations of that time contributed to the accumulation of errors and inaccuracies in the texts, then Biruni, on the contrary, often corrected the mistakes made earlier.

From the works of Biruni, twenty-seven books have survived to this day. We will briefly describe the most significant of them.

One of the first major works of Biruni wrote around 1000. This is the “Chronology” (“Monuments left over from past generations”), which we have already mentioned. In this book, the scientist refers to his more early work- "Astrolabe" ("The book of exhaustion of possible ways of constructing astrolabes"). Around 1021, Biruni compiled the fundamental work “Shadows” (“The Book on the Separation of Everything Said on the Question of Shadows”). In 1025, he wrote the treatise "Geodesy" ("The book of determining the boundaries to clarify the distances between settlements"), and the book "Science of the Stars" ("Kliga of admonition in the beginnings of the science of the stars") dates back to 1030.

Particularly noteworthy is the previously mentioned work "An Explanation of the Teachings Belonging to the Indians, Acceptable by Reason or Rejected." It can be said without exaggeration that this book, written on the basis of materials collected during the Indian military campaigns of Mahmud Ghazni, has become the most important source telling about the history of India, the development of its culture and science. In "Explanations ..." Biruni compares the religion, culture and scientific achievements of the Hindus: "I will add that the Greeks in the era of paganism, before the advent of Christianity, adhered to beliefs similar to those held by the Indians: worldview Greek nobility was close to the worldview of the Indian nobility, and the idolatry of the common people in Greece is similar to the idolatry of the common people in India.

Great importance Among the works of Biruni, he also has a treatise "Masud's Canon on Astronomy and the Stars." Firstly, this work is a kind of encyclopedia of astronomical knowledge. Secondly, the author places special emphasis on mathematical proofs of certain theories and on experimental data. Biruni considered the results of observations and calculations not as biased as many of his astronomer predecessors, who often neglected data that did not fit into one theory or another. Apart from astronomical theories and information, "Masuda's Canon" contains a large number of mathematical calculations, which played an important role in the development of mathematics.

Already after 1041, Biruni wrote the works "Mineralogy" and "Pharmacognosy". Last work included a description of more than 1000 medicines, information about which Biruni learned from the writings of 250 authors.

Of course, the famous Arab scientist not only studied and systematized the results of research by other scientists, but also conducted his own research and put forward scientific theories. Biruni the researcher was very careful about the results obtained and encouraged his colleagues to do so. Here are his words, which may well be the motto of modern scientists: “The observer must be attentive, carefully review the results of his work, recheck himself.”

Among the most significant theories put forward by Biruni is the idea that the Sun is a hot fiery body, and the planets and the Moon glow with reflected light. He argued that the speed of the rays of light cannot be felt, since there is nothing that would move faster than the rays of light; believed that the solar corona is similar in nature to smoke. Biruni adhered to the Ptolemaic system of the world, but at the same time believed that the theory of heliocentrism was also mathematically acceptable. He also explained the nature of morning and evening dawn, suggesting that it is the result of the glow of dust particles.

The merits of Biruni are also great in the development of new scientific methods in the design of measuring instruments. In the Canon of Masuda, Biruni describes his own way of calculating the radius of the Earth. For this purpose, the scientist climbed a mountain of a known height and determined the angle formed by the line of sight directed to the horizon, and its plane. Having the height of the mountain and this angle, Biruni quite accurately calculated the size of the globe. The scientist is the author of many methods of geodetic measurements. He perfected the quadrant, the sextant, and the astrolabe. For example, the fixed quadrant with a radius of 7.5 meters built by him made it possible to carry out measurements with an accuracy of up to two arc minutes and remained the most perfect in the world for four centuries. Many of his measurements, such as the angle of the ecliptic to the equator, also remained the most accurate data for hundreds of years. While working on the book "Mineralogy", Biruni determined the specific gravity of many minerals with exceptional accuracy and even introduced a method for determining minerals by their density.

In his books, Biruni also paid attention to astrology. But, as many quotations from his works show, he was very skeptical about this "science". Apparently, he was forced into astrology, as required by the interests of his patrons. “Once I saw a man who considered himself famous and most learned in the art of divination by the stars,” Biruni wrote. “Because he wanted to get the results of what the stars predetermine, he sincerely believed, in his ignorance, in the combination of the luminaries and sought in their connection the results of influencing a person and society.”

Obviously, in the works of Biruni, not only the theories and data presented by him are of great value, but also the demonstration to the followers of the very approach to science, which consisted in accuracy, accuracy and repeated verification of theoretical calculations with data obtained experimentally. Biruni also talked about science in general and its place in the world.

We will finish our story about the great encyclopedist with another quote from his works: “There are many areas of knowledge, and there are even more of them when the minds of people of the era of ascending development turn to them in a continuous series: a sign of the latter is the desire of people for the sciences, their respect for them and their representatives. This is, first of all, the duty of those who govern people, since it is they who must free their hearts from worries about everything necessary for earthly life and excite the spirit to seek the greatest possible praise and approval: after all, hearts are created to love this and hate the opposite. However, for our time, rather, the reverse situation is typical. It remains only to regret that these words, spoken a thousand years ago, are still relevant today. I would like to believe that over time, scientists will have less and less reason to speak in the same way about those in power.