Omar Khayyam

Can one person be a brilliant scientist and a famous poet? Meet Omar Khayyam — a Persian scholar from about 1,000 years ago who did both!

Omar Khayyam lived around 1048–1131 in Nishapur, in what is now Iran. He was a mathematician and astronomer during the Seljuk era. Today we will focus on his most famous work: the clever math and calendar ideas that helped people measure time and solve tricky problems.

He wrote important math books and showed how to solve cubic equations by using geometry—finding where curved lines cross. Around 1079 he and other astronomers created the Jalali calendar, which kept Nowruz (the Persian New Year) tied closely to the spring equinox. His algebra ideas became stepping stones for later mathematicians, and the calendar helped farmers and festivals stay on time.

Omar Khayyam also wrote short four-line poems called quatrains, later collected as the Rubaiyat. These poems ask big questions about time, choice and happiness. His math work influenced later scientists, and his calendar ideas helped people for centuries. In the 1800s an English translator, Edward FitzGerald, made many of his quatrains famous around the world. Omar Khayyam shows that curiosity can make both beautiful poems and smart discoveries. What will you discover if you ask lots of questions?