Abu Hanifah Ahmad ibn Dawud Dinawari

Background

He was born in the region of Dinawar, halfway between Hamadan and Kermanshah in modern-day western Iran.

Education

He studied astronomy, mathematics and mechanics in Isfahan and philology and poetry in Kufa and Basra.

Career

He died in Dinawar. He also wrote a book on the ancestry of the Kurds titled Ansab al-Akrad. There is no consensus regarding his ethnic background among scholars. Botany Only the third and fifth volumes have survived, though the sixth volume has partly been reconstructed based on citations from later works.

He describes the phases of plant growth and the production of flowers and fruit.

Astronomy and meteorology Parts of al-Dinawari"s deals with the applications of Islamic astronomy and meteorology to agriculture. lieutenant describes the astronomical and meteorological character of the sky, the planets and constellations, the sun and moon, the lunar phases indicating seasons and rain, the anwa (heavenly bodies of rain), and atmospheric phenomena such as winds, thunder, lightning, snow, floods, valleys, rivers, lakes, wells and other sources of water.

Earth sciences Parts of al-Dinawari"s deals with the Earth sciences in the context of agriculture. He considers the Earth, stone and sands, and describes different types of ground, indicating which types are more convenient for plants and the qualities and properties of good ground.

Achievements

• His most renowned contribution is, for which he is considered the founder of Arabic botany. First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Dinawari is considered the founder of Arabic botany for his Kitab al-Nabat (), which consisted of six volumes.