Khayyam studied philosophy at Naishapur. In 1070 he moved to Samarkand in Uzbekistan and, under the patronage of the eminent jurist Abu Tahir, wrote his most famous algebra work, Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra. Around 1073, Khyyam was invited by Malik-Shah to go to Esfahan to set up an Observatory there. For 18 years Khayyam led the scientists and produced work of outstanding quality. Khayyam was a brilliant mathematician and made a number of contributions to this field. Outside the world of mathematics, Khayyam is best known as a result of Edward Fitzgerald's popular translation in 1859 of nearly 600 short four line poems, the Rubaiyat. Khayyam's fame as a poet has caused some to forget his scientific achievements which were much more substantial. Only about 120 of the verses can be attributed to him with certainty. |
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