Ibn al-Akfani

Muhammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Akfani (Arabic: ابن الأكفاني‎) (1286-ca. 1348-49) was an Arab encyclopedist and physician.

Life

Ibn al-Akfani was born in Sinjar, Iraq and lived in Cairo, Egypt. He worked at Al-Mansuri Hospital. He died in either 1348 or 1349 of the bubonic plague.[1]

Work

He wrote at least 22 books.[2] Most of his books were science related, including logic, gemology, mathematics, medicine and astronomy.[1] Specific subjects include bloodletting, slavery and ophthalmology.[3]

His most famous work was a science encyclopedia called Iršād al-qāsid ilā asnā' al-maqāsid.[1] The encyclopedia examines 60 subjects with bibliographies and a glossary of terms.[2] His book, Kitāb nuhab al-dahā'ir fī ahwāl al-jawāhir, is about gemstones, with a focus about jacinth.[1]

gollark: Oh right, two points can't have the same X in this, yes.
gollark: The output has a bunch of infinities and NaNs in it.
gollark: (x - 1) * -1 / 3.6288e+5 * (x - 2) * (x - 3) * (x - 4) * (x - 5) * (x - 6) * (x - 7) * (x - 8) * (x - 9) - x * (x - 1) * (x - 2) * (x - 3) * (x - 4) * (x - 5) * (x - 6) * (x - 7) * (x - 9) + x / 40320 * (x - 2) * (x - 3) * (x - 4) * (x - 5) * (x - 6) * (x - 7) * (x - 8) * (x - 9) + x * -1 / 5040 * (x - 1) * (x - 3) * (x - 4) * (x - 5) * (x - 6) * (x - 7) * (x - 8) * (x - 9) + x / 720 * (x - 1) * (x - 2) * (x - 4) * (x - 5) * (x - 6) * (x - 7) * (x - 8) * (x - 9) + x * -1 / 120 * (x - 1) * (x - 2) * (x - 3) * (x - 5) * (x - 6) * (x - 7) * (x - 8) * (x - 9) + x / 24 * (x - 1) * (x - 2) * (x - 3) * (x - 4) * (x - 6) * (x - 7) * (x - 8) * (x - 9) + x * -1 / 6 * (x - 1) * (x - 2) * (x - 3) * (x - 4) * (x - 5) * (x - 7) * (x - 8) * (x - 9) + x / 2 * (x - 1) * (x - 2) * (x - 3) * (x - 4) * (x - 5) * (x - 6) * (x - 8) * (x - 9) + x * (x - 1) * (x - 2) * (x - 3) * (x - 4) * (x - 5) * (x - 6) * (x - 7) * (x - 8) is the output polynomial.
gollark: I put in factorials from 0 to 10.
gollark: I'll just put in some factorials...

References
  1. "The Selection of Treasures Regarding Precious Stones". World Digital Library. 1700–1800. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
  2. William Charles Brice (1981). An Historical Atlas of Islam [cartographic Material]. BRILL. p. 381. ISBN 978-90-04-06116-3. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  3. "Bio-Bibliographies". Islamic Medical Manuscripts. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
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