Abu Nasri Mansur ibn Ali ibn Iraq ( fa, أبو نصر منصور بن علی بن عراق; c. 960 – 1036) was a
Persian Muslim mathematician and
astronomer. He is well known for his work with the spherical
sine law
In trigonometry, the law of sines, sine law, sine formula, or sine rule is an equation relating the lengths of the sides of any triangle to the sines of its angles. According to the law,
\frac \,=\, \frac \,=\, \frac \,=\, 2R,
where , and are ...
.
[Bijli suggests that three mathematicians are in contention for the honor, Alkhujandi, Abdul-Wafa and Mansur, leaving out Nasiruddin Tusi. Bijli, Shah Muhammad and Delli, Idarah-i Adabiyāt-i (2004) ''Early Muslims and their contribution to science: ninth to fourteenth century'' Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli, Delhi, India, page 44, ]
Abu Nasr Mansur was born in
Gilan,
Persia, to the ruling family of
Khwarezm
Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ...
, the
Afrighids.
He was thus a prince within the political sphere. He was a student of
Abu'l-Wafa and a teacher of and also an important colleague of the mathematician,
Al-Biruni. Together, they were responsible for great discoveries in mathematics and dedicated many works to one another.
Most of Abu Nasri's work focused on math, but some of his writings were
on astronomy. In mathematics, he had many important writings on
trigonometry, which were developed from the writings of
Ptolemy. He also preserved the writings of
Menelaus of Alexandria
Menelaus of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Μενέλαος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, ''Menelaos ho Alexandreus''; c. 70 – 140 CE) was a Greek Encyclopædia Britannica "Greek mathematician and astronomer who first conceived and defined a sphe ...
and reworked many of the Greeks theorems.
He died in the
Ghaznavid Empire (modern-day
Afghanistan) near the city of
Ghazna.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansur, Abu Nasr
10th-century Iranian mathematicians
960s births
1036 deaths
Scientists who worked on qibla determination
10th-century Iranian astronomers
11th-century Iranian astronomers
Ghaznavid scholars
People from Gilan Province