ʿALĪ B. AḤMAD BALḴĪ

 

ʿALĪ B. AḤMAD BALḴĪ, ABU’L-QĀSEM NŪR-AL-DĪN, post-3rd/9th century astronomer. Like his more famous fellow townsman, he was known as Abū Maʿšar. He wrote a Ketāb al-madḵal fī ʿelm al-aḥkām al-falakīya (“Book of the introduction to the science of astrological judgments”) in seventy-three chapters (Krause, 450), and a Ketāb al-madḵal fī ʿelm al-noǰūm (“Book of the introduction to the science of the stars”) in sixty chapters (Krause, 514); there is said to be a Persian translation of the latter. He also composed a Ketāb al-ṯamad fī bayān anna al-samāwāt be ḡayr ʿamad (“Book of the dregs [?] in explanation of the fact that the heavens are without supports”).

Bibliography:

Brockelmann, GAL S. II, p. 298.

M. Krause, “Stambuler Handschriften islamischer Mathematiker,” Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte der Mathematik, Astronomie und Physik B, 2, 1936, pp. 437-532.

(D. Pingree)

Originally Published: December 15, 1985

Last Updated: August 1, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 8, p. 848

Cite this entry:

D. Pingree, “ʿALĪ B. AḤMAD BALḴĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/8, p. 848, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ali-b-ahmad-balki (accessed on 30 December 2012).