Who was Omar Khayyam, the mathematical genius who pays tribute to Google – ElSol.com.ar – Diario de Mendoza, Argentina

Omar Khayyam He was born on May 18, 1048, but his legacy was so powerful that we still remember his character 971 years after that day. It is a Persian mathematician, astronomer and poet who has left contributions of considerable importance in these fields. Among all that he left, there is the jalali calendar, which laid some foundation for how to measure time, cubic equations and more than a thousand still-recognized verses.

Google has decided to honor this huge figure with one of its clbadic Doodle, the drawing that appears at the opening of the search engine to celebrate the anniversary of his birth and thus highlight a genius whose name has traveled around the world and went through history.

Originally from the city of Nishapur (Iran) and the Afghan city of Balj, he grew up and formed with a strong scientific and philosophical influence. He also lived in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), where he wrote his thesis on Algebra Demonstrations and Comparison with which he achieved recognition and prestige, to the point that the sultan ordered the construction of an astronomical observatory.

Back in Nishapur, he died on December 4, 1131, at the age of 83. His discoveries however remain in force until today.

His research in astronomy was of fundamental importance. Especially the correction that he brought to the old Zoroastrian calendar. Thanks to Khayyam, a new era, known as Jalalí or Seliuk, was adopted and the precision of his work made it possible to calculate the error of the Persian calendar, which counted exactly 365 days. For the new calendar, this genius of mathematics was calculating the length of the year with striking accuracy. Its margin of error is one day in 3770 years, even less than that of the Gregorian calendar (one day in 3330 years), which began to be used in Europe from 15 October 1582.

His mind also managed to change the world of mathematical numbers and through his work he discovered the concept of fractions as a digital field with properties broader than the domain of natural numbers, the only ones known at that time.

In 1094, after the death of his father, he wrote a literary work in his mother tongue, Persian. His poems have gained historical recognition because they are distinguished by the finesse and subtlety of his language.

TheThe most remarkable poetic work of Khayyam is the Rubaiyat, compilation of a thousand quartets talking about nature and the human being. Rubaiyat is the plural of ruba & # 39; i, which means precisely quatrain.

Reading Rubaiyat means an approach to oriental literature. It contains a profound human meaning that sings the delights of love and the joys of life, which, with the transpositions of bitterness and optimism, constitute the character of the individual accentuated in his reality. Life requires sacrifices on the part of man because he is the slave of his own prejudices. Among so many absurdities, he does not enjoy his ephemeral existence. Khayyam wants to convince the man that he is wrong and invites him to get rid of the dogmas and doctrines in order to take advantage of the tangible values ​​of nature.