Ali Qushji

Life & Legacy

Ala al-Dīn Ali ibn Muhammed (1403 – 18 December 1474), Persian: علاءالدین علی بن محمد سمرقندی known as Ali Qushji (Ottoman Turkish : علی قوشچی, kuşçu – falconer in Turkish; Latin: Ali Kushgii) was a Timurid theologian, jurist, astronomer, mathematician and physicist, who settled in the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Mehmed II some time before 1472. As a disciple of Ulugh Beg, he is best known for the development of astronomical physics independent from natural philosophy, and for providing empirical evidence for the Earth's rotation in his treatise, Concerning the Supposed Dependence of Astronomy upon Philosophy. In addition to his contributions to Ulugh Beg's famous work Zij-i-Sultani and to the founding of Sahn-ı Seman Medrese, one of the first centers for the study of various traditional Islamic sciences in the Ottoman Empire, Ali Kuşçu was also the author of several scientific works and textbooks on astronomy.