Al-Khazini: Difference between revisions
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Abd Al-Rahman Al-Khazini (fl. 1115-1130) was an Arab[1] Muslim scientist, astronomer, mathematician, physicist and former slave from Merv, Greater Khorasan (in modern day Turkmenistan), who made important contributions to physics and astronomy.
Early life
In his youth, Al-Khazini was a slave boy, whose master gave him the best possible education in mathematical and philosophical subjects. After eventually being freed, he became a mathematical practitioner under the patronage of the Seljuk court, under Sultan Sanjar. Little is known about his life, but it is known that he refused rewards and handed back 1000 Dinars sent to him by the wife of an Emir. He usually lived on 3 Dinars a year.[2]
Astronomy
In astronomy, Al-Khazini gave a description of his construction of a 24 hour water clock designed for astronomical purposes and for his treatise Sinjaric Tables, giving the positions of the stars for the years 1115-16, at the latitude of Merv.[2]
Physics
Al-Khazini is better known for his work on physics in his treatise The Book of the Balance of Wisdom, completed in 1121, and has remained an important part of Muslim physics. The book contains studies of the hydrostatic balance, its construction and uses, and the theories of statics and hydrostatics that lie behind it.[2]
The first of The Book of the Balance of Wisdom's eight chapters deals with his predecessors' theories on the centre of gravity, including Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, Al-Razi (Latinized as Rhazes), and Omar Khayyám. In particular, he draws attention to the failure of the Greeks to clearly differentiate between force, mass, and weight, and he goes on to show awareness of the weight of the air, and of its decrease in density with altitude.[2]
Al-Khazini made many observations and propositions in his book which constitute some of the foundations of modern physics. He states:[2]
"For each heavy body of a known weight positioned at a certain distance from the centre of the universe, its gravity depends on the remoteness from the centre of the universe. For that reason, the gravities of bodies relate as their distances from the centre of the universe."
Al-Khazini was thus the first to propose the theory that the gravities of bodies vary depending on their distances from the centre of the Earth. This phenomenon was not proven until Newton's law of universal gravitation in the 18th century. Al-Khazini also the first to discover that there was greater density of water when nearer to the Earth's centre.[2]