Omar Khayyám

Omar Khayyām or Omar Khayyam (b. May 18 1048 Nishapur, (Iran) – d. December 4 1131) was a Persian, mathematician, astronomer and poet.

In mathematics he contributed to the theory of equations, to the understanding of the parallel axiom, and possibly to the generalization of the binomial theorem. As an astronomer he contributed to a calendar reform when Sultan Malik-Shah decided that the calendar needed some adjusting. He is best known for his agnostic and sceptic poetry, largely because of the publication in 1859 of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by the translator Edward Fitzgerald.

Related pages

 * List of Persian poets and authors

Other websites

 * The Persian Poet (http://www.omar-khayyam.org) - Contains the translations by Edward FitzGerald and a biography.
 * The Rubaiyat
 * On Omar's solutions to cubic equations
 * Khayyam, Umar. A biography by Professor Iraj Bashiri, University of Minnesota.
 * The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam
 * The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam
 * The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam