Maslama al-Majriti
Maslama al-Majriti | |
|---|---|
| Born | 950 |
Abu al-Qasim Maslama ibn Ahmad al-Majriti (
Achievements
Al-Majrīṭī took part in the translation of
According to
He edited and made changes to the parts of the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity when it arrived in al-Andalus.[8][9]
Al-Majrīṭī also predicted a futuristic process of scientific interchange and the advent of networks for scientific communication. He built a school of Astronomy and Mathematics and marked the beginning of organized scientific research in al-Andalus. Among his students were
Pseudo-Majrīṭī
From his date of death, inconsistencies result in the dating of two influential works in alchemy attributed to him,[10][6] as either they were published long after his death, or they were the work of someone else claiming some of his glory: the latter is the current general belief.[7]
The two works are the "Sage's Step/The Rank of the Wise" (Rutbat al-hakim, ?1009) and the Picatrix. Both were translated into Latin, in a version somewhat bowdlerised by Christian dogma, in 1252 on the orders of King Alfonso X of Castile; the original Arabic text dates probably from the middle of the eleventh century.
The Rutbat includes alchemical formulae and instructions for purification of precious metals, and was also the first to note the principle of conservation of mass, which he did in the course of his pathbreaking experiment on mercury(II) oxide:
I took natural quivering mercury, free from impurity, and placed it in a glass vessel shaped like an egg. This I put inside another vessel like a cooking pot, and set the whole apparatus over an extremely gentle fire. The outer pot was then in such a degree of heat that I could bear my hand upon it. I heated the apparatus day and night for forty days, after which I opened it. I found that the mercury (the original weight of which was a quarter of a pound) had been completely converted into red powder, soft to touch, the weight remaining as it was originally.[11]
The Picatrix is more concerned with advanced esotericism, principally astrology and talismanic magic, although he also goes into prophecy. The author considers this the advanced level of work, occasionally referring to the Rutbat as the foundation text.
Supposed daughter
Several modern sources state that al-Majriti had a daughter, Fátima de Madrid, who was also an astronomer. However, the earliest known mention of her is a short biographical article on her in the Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana, published in the 1920s.[12]
References
- ISBN 978-1-4020-4559-2.
- ISBN 978-0-87099-637-5.
- ISBN 978-1-85043-740-6.
- ISBN 978-0-226-30310-9.
- ^ Wiedemann, E. (1993) [1927]. "al- Mad̲j̲rīṭī". In Houtsma, M. Th.; Arnold, T.W.; Basset, R.; Hartmann, R. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (1st ed.). Brill Publishers. p. 96.
- ^ a b c Sarton, George (1927). Introduction to the History of Science. Vol. 1. Carnegie Institution for Science. pp. 668–9.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-292-71139-6. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
- ^ H. Kahane et al. 'Picatrix and the talismans', in Romance Philology, xix, 1966, p 575; E.J. Holmyard, 'Maslama al-Majriti and the Rutba 'l-Hakim', in Isis, vi, 1924, p 294.
- ^ One recent study suggests that the authorship of this work should be attributed to Maslama b. Qasim al-Qurtubi (d. 353/964). See Maribel Fierro, 'Bāṭinism in Al-Andalus. Maslama b. Qāsim al-Qurṭubī (d. 353/964), Author of the "Rutbat al- Ḥakīm" and the "Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm (Picatrix)"', in Studia Islamica, No. 84, (1996), pp. 87-112
- S2CID 144175388.
- ^ (Holmyard, 1924), p. 302.
- ISBN 978-84-9785-707-9.
External links
- Vernet, Juan (2008) [1970-80]. "Al-Majrītī Abu 'L-Qāsim Maslama Ibn Aḥmad Al-Faraḍī". Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Encyclopedia.com.
- Casulleras, Josep (2007). "Majrīṭī: Abū al-Qāsim Maslama ibn Aḥmad al-Ḥāsib al-Faraḍī al-Majrīṭī". In Thomas Hockey; et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. pp. 727–8. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. (PDF version)
