Contents
Jamshid al-Kashi
Calculating pi with remarkable accuracy and developing powerful arithmetic methods at Samarkand’s scientific court.
Stairway to the Heavens · Treatise on the Circumference
- Born
- c. 1380
- Birthplace
- Kashan, Iran
- Died
- 22 June 1429
More people
Jamshid al-Kashi
Jamshid al-Kashi was a Persian mathematician and astronomer working under Timurid patronage. His practical manuals, numerical calculations and surviving letters reveal the sophisticated mathematical culture surrounding Ulugh Beg’s observatory in Samarkand.
Early life
Kashan origins
Born around 1380 in Kashan; details of his early education are limited.
Difficult beginnings
Lived through the upheavals of Timur’s conquests before improved patronage supported his astronomical work.
Career
- 1406–1407
Early observations
Recorded a lunar eclipse in Kashan and completed an astronomical treatise.
- 1410s–1420s
Timurid patronage
Prepared astronomical tables and joined Ulugh Beg’s scholars in Samarkand.
- 1424–1427
Major mathematical works
Completed his circle calculation and comprehensive arithmetic manual.
Contributions
Stairway to the Heavens
Examined astronomical distances and the sizes of heavenly bodies.
Treatise on the Circumference
Calculated pi to an accuracy equivalent to about 16 decimal places.
Key to Arithmetic
Explained calculations with integers, fractions, roots and decimal fractions.
Beyond mathematics
Letters home
Correspondence with his father describes scholarly discussions and conditions at Ulugh Beg’s court.
Persian and Arabic
His letters and technical writings preserve different parts of the multilingual scientific world in which he worked.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Institutional biography and career record ↗Photo: Leonid Kaydalov; later artistic depiction, not a contemporary likeness. CC BY 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
