Abu’l-Rayhan Muhammad B . Ahmad Al-Biruni was the most original brilliant scholar of his times , known as al-Ustadh , “The Master” . He was distinguished in mathematics , astronomy , geography , history , chronology , physical and natural sciences . His 180 writings range from brief treatises on a specific subject to major works that encompass a wide field of knowledge .

Al-Biruni was born in an Iranian family in Kath , the capital of Khwarizm , on the southern shores of the Aral Sea . Until he was twenty-five years old , he remained in Khwarizm , where he studied with masters such as the mathematician , Abu Nasr Mansur b . `Ali b . `Irak Djilani and corresponded with Ibn Sina . Thereafter he traveled widely , taught and wrote . His mother tongue was Persian , but he wrote his scientific works in Arabic . In a work on medicinal drugs , he said he exceeded 80 lunar years of age . Al-Biruni probably died in Ghazna around 442/1050 .

Some of Al-Biruni’s works:

( 390/ 1000 ) , K . al-Athar al-Bakiya `an al-Kurun al-Khaliya ( The Chronology of Ancient Nations )

( 421/1030 ) , Description of India

( 420/ 1029 ) , K . al-Tafhim li-Awa’il Sina`at al-Tandjim ( abstract of geometry , arithmetic , astronomy and astrology )

( 421/1030 ) , K . . al-Kanun al-Mas`udi fi’l-Hay`a wa ’l-Nudjum ( Canon Masudicus )

K . al-Djamihir fi Ma`arifat al-Djawahir ( treatise on mineralogy )

K al-Saydala fi ‘l-Tibb

Risala fi aFihrist kutub Muhammad b . Zakariyya al-Razi ( wherein he includes the Fihrist of his own writings )