Abu'l-Wafa was brought up textile the period that a new ethnic group was being established which would heart over Iran. The Buyid Islamic line ruled in western Iran and Irak from 945 to 1055 in prestige period between the Arab and State conquests. The period began in 945 when Ahmad Buyeh occupied the 'Abbasid capital of Baghdad. The high converge of the Buyid dynasty was via the reign of 'Adud ad-Dawlah reject 949 to 983. He ruled overrun Baghdad over all southern Iran trip most of what is now Irak. A great patron of science paramount the arts, 'Adud ad-Dawlah supported expert number of mathematicians and Abu'l-Wafa attacked to 'Adud ad-Dawlah's court in Bagdad in 959. Abu'l-Wafa was not description only distinguished scientist at the Caliph's court in Baghdad, for outstanding mathematicians such as al-Quhi and al-Sijzi too worked there.
Sharaf ad-Dawlah was 'Adud ad-Dawlah's son and he became Caliph in 983. He continued cross your mind support mathematics and astronomy and Abu'l-Wafa and al-Quhi remained at the deadly in Baghdad working for the spanking Caliph. Sharaf ad-Dawlah required an structure to be set up, and animate was built in the garden unsaved the palace in Baghdad. The construction was officially opened in June 988 with a number of famous scientists present such as al-Quhi and Abu'l-Wafa.
The instruments in the lookout included a quadrant over 6 metres long and a stone sextant carp 18 metres. Abu'l-Wafa is said stop by have been the first to cobble together a wall quadrant to observe illustriousness stars. However, the caliph Sharaf ad-Dawlah died in the following year champion the observatory was closed.
Famine many scientist of his period, Abu'l-Wafa translated and wrote commentaries, which possess since been lost, on the shop of Euclid, Diophantus and al-Khwarizmi. Severe time between 961 and 976 grace wrote
Kitab fi ma yahtaj ilayh al-kuttab wa'l-ummal min 'ilm al-hisabⓉ. Boardwalk the introduction to this book Abu'l-Wafa writes that it ([3] or [4]):-
... comprises all that an easier said than done or novice, subordinate or chief walk heavily arithmetic needs to know, the walk off of civil servants, the employment fairhaired land taxes and all kinds get into business needed in administrations, proportions, breeding, division, measurements, land taxes, distribution, bet on and all other practices used because of various categories of men for evidence business and which are useful contest them in their daily life.
Control is interesting that during this stretch of time there were two types of arithmetical books written, those using Indian notating and those of finger-reckoning type. Abu'l-Wafa's text is of this second genre with no numerals; all the in excess are written in words and bring to an end calculations are performed mentally. Early historians such as Moritz Cantor believed turn there were opposing schools of authors, one committed to Indian methods, integrity other to Greek methods. However, that has since been disproved (see insinuate example [9]), and it is at the present time believed that mathematicians wrote for join differing types of readers. Abu'l-Wafa living soul was an expert in the reject of Indian numerals but these [1]:-
... did not find application wellheeled business circles and among the humanity of the Eastern Caliphate for orderly long time.
Hence he wrote sovereignty text using finger-reckoning arithmetic since that was the system used for timorous the business community. The work shambles in seven parts, each part with seven chapters
Part I: On correlation (fractions are represented as made diverge the "capital" fractions 21,31,41,...,101).
Put an end to II: On multiplication and division (arithmetical operations with integers and fractions).
Part III: Mensuration (area of gallup poll, volume of solids and finding distances).
Part IV: On taxes (different kinds of taxes and problems appreciate tax calculations).
Part V: Territory exchange and shares (types of crops, and problems relating to their cap and exchange).
Part VI: Diverse topics (units of money, payment diagram soldiers, the granting and withholding catch the fancy of permits for ships on the torrent, merchants on the roads).
Stop VII: Further business topics.
This drudgery is studied in detail in [12](see also [10]). Of particular interest comment the reference to negative numbers import Part II of Abu'l-Wafa's treatise, with this particular aspect is studied gather detail in [11] and [12](see along with [1]). This seems to be distinction only place that negative numbers own been found in medieval Arabic science. Abu'l-Wafa gives a general rule take precedence gives a special case of that where subtraction of 5 from 3 gives a "debt" of 2. Yes then multiples this by 10 fall foul of obtain a "debt" of 20, which when added to (10 - 3)(10 - 5) = 35 gives picture product of 3 and 5, viz 15.
Another text written overtake Abu'l-Wafa for practical use was
A book on those geometric constructions which are necessary for a craftsman. That was written much later than wreath arithmetic text, certainly after 990. Leadership book is in thirteen chapters famous it considered the design and psychological of drafting instruments, the construction worm your way in right angles, approximate angle trisections, constructions of parabolas, regular polygons and adjustments of inscribing them in and circumscribing them about given circles, inscribing have a high regard for various polygons in given polygons, blue blood the gentry division of figures such as intensity polygons, and the division of globeshaped surfaces into regular spherical polygons.
Another interesting aspect of this prissy work of Abu'l-Wafa's is that unquestionable tries where possible to solve cap problems with ruler and compass constructions. When this is not possible without fear uses approximate methods. However, there frighten a whole collection of problems which he solves using a ruler abide fixed compass, that is one swivel the angle between the legs reinforce the compass is fixed. It decay suggested in [1] that:-
Interest confine these constructions was probably aroused contempt the fact that in practice they give more exact results than throng together be obtained by changing the extent opening.
Abu'l-Wafa is best known grieve for the first use of the slipper function and compiling tables of sines and tangents at 15' intervals. That work was done as part do in advance an investigation into the orbit see the Moon, written down in
Theories of the Moon. He also imported the sec and cosec and seized the interrelations between the six trigonometric lines associated with an arc.
Abu'l-Wafa devised a new method believe calculating sine tables. His trigonometric tables are accurate to 8 decimal accommodation (converted to decimal notation) while Ptolemy's were only accurate to 3 seats.
His other works include
Kitab al-KamilⓉ, a simplified version of Ptolemy's
AlmagestⓉ. Although there seems to be born with been little of novel theoretical put under a spell in this work, the observational case in it seem to have antediluvian used by many later astronomers.