Abraham Bar Ḥiyya Ha-Nasi
| Abraham bar Hiyya Ha-Nasi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1070 Barcelona |
| Died | 1136 or 1145 Provence |
| Nationality | Sephardic Jew |
| Fields | Scientist Astronomer Mathematician |
| Known for | Quadratic equation Jewish Calendar |
| Influences | Al-Battani |
| Influenced | Abraham ibn Ezra |
Abraham bar Ḥiyya ha-Nasi (1070 Barcelona,Catalonia – 1136 or 1145Narbonne, France) was a Jewish mathematician, astronomer and philosopher, also known as Savasorda (from the Arabic صاحب الشرطة Ṣāḥib al-Shurṭa "Chief of the Police") or Abraham Judaeus. He was born in Barcelona and scholars suspect he travelled to Narbonne where he is thought to have died.
Abraham bar Ḥiyya's most influential work is his Ḥibbūr ha-meshīḥah we-ha-tishboret ("Treatise on Measurement and Calculation"), a Hebrew treatise on Islamic algebra and practical geometry. It was translated in 1145 into Latin by Plato of Tivoli as Liber Embadorum (the same year Robert of Chester translated al-Khwārizmī's Algebra.) It contains the first complete solution of the quadratic equation x2 - ax + b = 0 known in Europe and influenced the work of Leonardo Fibonacci.
Bar Ḥiyya wrote several more works on mathematics, astronomy and Jewish philosophy.
Abraham bar Hiyya, great-grandson of Hezekiah Gaon is remembered in the world of mathematics for his role in the dissemination of the quadratic equation. Bar Hiyya wrote several scientific works in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, land surveying and calendar calculations. Abraham ben Chiya Albargeloni (b. 1065, d. 1136), also occupied a high position under another Mahometan prince al-Hud. He was a sort of minister of police (Zachib al-Shorta, hence Savasorda which literally means something like 'chief of police' but probably indicates a position of a courtier), and bore the title of prince. Savasorda is a Latinized degeneration of the Arabic title and scholars assume that Bar Hiyya would have obtained this title in the court of Banu Hud of Saragossa-Lerida; there is even a record of a Jewish Savasorda there in the beginning of the 12th century. Zachib al-Shorta, meaning " Chief of the Police" is a large landed proprietor was then named, "Governor" or " Nasi" as he was called in Hebrew. By his name Savasorda he is known through the works of the Middle Ages. He was held in high consideration by the ruler he served on account of his astronomical knowledge, and had disputes with learned priests, to whom he demonstrated the accuracy of the Jewish calendar. He also praised the parasitic science of astrology, and drew a horoscope of favourable and unfavourable days. Abraham Albargeloni reckoned that the Messiah would appear in the year after the Creation 5118 (1358 CE).
...
Wikipedia