Omar Khayyám

Omar Khayyám was a medieval Persian philosopher, poet, astronomer, and mathematician. Born in Nishapur, Khorasan (in present-day Iran) in the year 1048, Khayyám moved to Samarkand (in present-day Uzbekistan) at a young age and received his education there. He then moved to Bukhara (also in present-day Uzbekistan), where he became one of the major astronomers and mathematicians of the day, authoring one of the most important pre-modern treatises on algebra, Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra. In later centuries, Khayyám’s works and poetry were translated for Western audiences; these included the celebrated collection of Khayyám’s poems, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.