
Google celebrated the 971st birthday of renowned Persian mathematician, astronomer and poet Omar Khayyam with a doodle Saturday.
As a mathematician, Khayyam is known for his work on the classification and solution of cubic equations, where he provided geometric solutions by the intersection of conics. He was the first to give a general method for solving cubic equations. Khayyam also contributed to the understanding of the parallel axiom.
As an astronomer, he designed the Jalali calendar, a solar calendar with a very precise 33-year intercalation cycle. This later became the base of several other calendars.
Also Read: Remembering Omar Khayyam: 10 Rubaiyat by the poet on his birth anniversary
Born on May 18, 1048, in Iran’s Nishapur, Khayyam was also famous for his poetry and verses. He wrote more than a thousand ‘Rubaiyat’ or verses. ‘Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám’, a section of work translated by Edward Fitzgerald, became popular in the West centuries after his death. He was born into a family of tent-makers (Khayyam). His full name, as it appears in the Arabic sources, was Abu’l Fath Omar ibn Ibrāhīm al-Khayyām.
One of the most renowned scholars of his time, Khayyan worked as an advisor and court astrologer to Malik Shah I in Khorasan province.

Khayyam also made major contributions to algebra, including penning down ‘Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra’. He discovered a triangular array of binomial theorem the nth root of natural numbers — his works on this have been lost. He also wrote ‘Problems of Arithmetic’, a book on music and algebra.
He died on December 4, 1131, and was buried in the Khayyam Garden.
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