Persia was a cradle of science in ancient times. Persian scientists contributed to the current understanding of nature, medicine, mathematics, and philosophy.

Iran is an example of a country that has made considerable advances through education and training. Seventy percent of its science and engineering students are women.

The 12th century mathematician Muhammad Ibn Musa-al-Khwarazmi created the Logarithm table, developed algebra and expanded upon Persian and Indian arithmetic systems. The works of Khwarazmi exercised a profound influence on the development of mathematical thought in the medieval West.

In the 10th century, Abu Bakr Muhammad Bin Zakaria Razi is considered the founder of practical physics and the inventor of the special or net weight of matter. His student, Abu Bakr Joveini, wrote the first comprehensive medical book in Persian language.

In 1000 AD, Biruni wrote an astronomical encyclopedia which discussed the possibility that the earth might rotate around the sun. This was before Tycho Brahe drew the first maps of the sky, using stylized animals to depict the constellations. In the tenth century, the Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi cast his eyes upwards to the awning of stars overhead and was the first to record a galaxy out with our own.

Tusi believed that a body of matter is able to change but is not able to disappear entirely. He wrote “a body of matter cannot disappear completely. It only changes its form, condition, composition, color, and other properties, and turns into a different complex or elementary matter”.

Jaber Ibn Hayyam, the famous Iranian chemist who died in 804 at Tous in Khorasan, was the father of a number of discoveries recorded in an encyclopedia and of many treatises covering two thousand topics, and these became the bible of European chemists of the 18th century, particularly of Lavoisier. Jabir ibn Hayyam, is widely regarded as the founder of chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes and equipment still used by chemists today such as distillation.

Abu Ali al-Hassan ibn al-Haytham is known in the West as Alhazen, born in 965 in Persia and dying in 1039 in Egypt. He is known as the father of optics for his writings on, and experiments with, lenses, mirrors, refraction, and reflection.

Biruni was the first scientist to formally propose that the speed of light is finite, before Galileo tried to experimentally prove this.

Kamal al-Din Al-Farisi (1267–1318) born in Tabriz, Iran, is known for giving the first mathematically satisfactory explanation of the rainbow, and an explication of the nature of colors that reformed the theory of Ibn al-Haytham. Al-Farisi also “proposed a model where the ray of light from the sun was refracted twice by a water droplet, one or more reflections occurring between the two refractions.” Source

Pre-modern Era Persian Scholars and Scientists

A

Abdol-Hamid (?–756), founder of Arabic prose along with the fellow Persian Ibn Muqaffa. Abhari (?–1262/1265), mathematician. Abu Dawood (c. 817–889), Islamic scholar. Abū Ḥanīfa (699–767), Islamic scholar. Abu Nasr e Mansur (c. 960–1036), mathematician. • Abu Sa'id al-Darir al-Jurajani (9th century) • Abu Wafa Buzjani (940–998), mathematician. • Azod al-Dowleh (936–983), prominent scientific patron • Ahmad ibn Farrokh (12th century), physician. • Ahmad Ibn Imad ul-din (11th century), physician and chemist. • Alavi Shirazi (1670–1747), royal physician to Mughal Empire of South Asia. Alhazen (965–1040), or Ebne Heisam in Persian. • Amuli, Muhammad ibn Mahmud (c. 1300–1352), physician. • Abū Ja'far al-Khāzin (900–971) • Ansari, Khwaja Abdullah (1006–1088), Islamic scholar. • Aqa-Kermani (18th century), physician. • Aqsara'i (?–1379), physician. • Arzani, Muqim (18th century), physician. • Astarabadi (15th century), physician. • Aufi, Muhammad (1171–1242), scientist and historian Avicenna (Ibn Sina, 980–1037), physician, philosopher • Azophi (903–986), a.k.a. Abdorrahman Sufi, astronomer from Ray that invented the meridian ring. • Ghiyāth al-Dīn Jamshīd ibn Masʾūd al-Kāshī (c. 1380–1429), astronomer and mathematician.

B

• Baghawi (c. 1041–1122), Islamic scholar • Bahai, Sheikh (1547–1621) poet, mathematician, and astronomer,engineer,designer,faghih(religious scientist),Architect • Baladhuri (?–892), historian • Balkhi (787–886), a.k.a. Albumasar, mathematician • Balkhi, Ibn Sahl (850–934), geographer and mathematician • Balkhi, Ibn • Banū Mūsā Brothers (9th century) • Barmak, Khaled (705–782), Bhuddist from Khorasan in the court of al-Mansur, initiated the Greek translation movement of the Abbasid House of Wisdom • Bayhaqi (994–1066), historian • Behbahani, Vahid (1706–1791), theologian • Ibn Bibi (13th century), historian of the Seljuks of Rum • Biruni (973–1048), astronomer and mathematician • Bukhari (810–870), prominent Islamic scholar • Bukhtishu (8th century?), Persian Christian physician of Academy of Gundishapur • Bukhtishu, Abdollah ibn (c. 940–1058), Christian physician in Persia • Bukhtishu, Gabriel ibn (9th century), Christian physician • Bukhtishu, Yuhanna (9th century), Christian physician • Burzoe (6th century), a.k.a. Borzouyeh-i Tabib, physician of Academy of Gundishapur • Birjandi (?–1528) astronomer and mathematician

D

• Dīnawarī, Abū Ḥanīfa (828–896) polymath • Dinawaree, ibn Qutaybah (828–885) historian

E

• Esfarayeni (13th century?), physician

F

• Farghani (?–880) a.k.a. Alfraganus, astronomer • Farabi (872–950) (Al-Farabi, Pharabius), philosopher • Kamal al-Din Farisi (1267–1319) mathematician • Fazari, Ibrahim (?–777) mathematician and astronomer • Fazari, Mohammad (?–796) mathematician and astronomer • Ferdowsi (934–1027) the famous poet • Feyz Kashani, Mohsen (?–1680) theologian

G

• Geber; Jaber ibn Hayan (721–815) chemist. Known as Geber in English. • Gardezi, Abu Said (?–1061) geographer and historian • Ghazali (Algazel, 1058–1111) philosopher • Gilani, Hakim (?–1609) royal physician • Gorgani, Zayn al-Din Isma‘il ibn (1041–1136) royal physician • Gorgani, Abu Saeed (9th century) astronomer and mathematician • Gorgani, Rostam (16th century) physician • Gorgani e Masihi, see Masihi Gorgani (?–999) Avicenn'a master

H

• Hakim Ghulam Imam, physician • Hakim Muhammad Mehdi Naqi (18th century), physician • Hakim Muhammad Sharif Khan (18th century), physician • Hakim Nishaburi (933–1012), Islamic scholar • Hallaj (858–922), Mystic-philosopher • Haly Abbas (?–c. 990), prominent physician • Hamadani, Ali, physician • Hamadani, Mir Sayyid Ali (1314–1384), poet and philosopher • Hanbal, Ahmad Ibn (780–855), Islamic scholar • Harawi, Abolfadl (10th century), astronomer of Buyid dynasty • Harawi, Muwaffak: See Al-Muwaffak (10th century), pharmacologist • Harawi, Muhammad ibn Yusuf (died 1542), physician • Harawi, Ali (died 1215), traveller • Majid Hassanizadeh (born 1952), professor of hydrogeology, theories of porous media (Utrecht University, The Netherlands).[1] • Hasani, Qavameddin (17th century), physician • Hedayat, Habibollah (1927–2013), nutritionist and obstetrician gynecologist • Hessaby, Mahmoud (1903–1992), scientist, physicist

I

• Ibn Abi Sadiq (11th century), "The Second Hippocrates", Avicenna's disciple • Ibn Haytham (965–1040), physicist • Ibn Khaseb (9th century), physician • Ibn Khordadbeh (c. 820–912), geographer • Ibn Rustah (9th century) • Ilaqi, Yusef (11th century), Avicenna's pupil • Mansur ibn Ilyas (14th century), physician • Isfahani Abol-fath (10th century), mathematician • Ibn Sina, (Avicenna, 980–1037), Philosopher and Physician • Isfahani, Jalaleddin (19th century), physician • Isfahani, Husayn (15th century), physician • Istakhri (?–957), geographer, gives the earliest known account of windmills • Iranshahri (9th century), philosopher, the teacher of Muhammad Zakaria Razi.

J

• Ali Javan (born 1926), inventor of helium–neon laser • Jābir ibn Hayyān (821–915), a polymath who is considered the father of chemistry. He emphasized systematic experimentation, and did much to free alchemy from superstition and turn it into a science. • Ja'far ibn Muhammad Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi[2] (787–886) • Jaghmini (14th century), physician • Jaldaki (?–1342), physician • Juvayni (1226–1283), historian • Juwayni (1028–1085), philosopher • Juzjani, Abu Ubaid (?–1070), physician • Jamasb, philosopher

K

• Karaji (953–1029), mathematician • Kashani (Kashi) (c. 1380–1429), mathematician • Kashfi, Jafar (1775/6–1850/1), theologian • Kazerouni, Masoud (14th century), physician • Kermani, Iwad (15th century), physician • Kermani, Shams-ud-Din, Islamic scholar • Khademhosseini, Alireza (born 1975), Pioneer in Biomedical and Bioengineering • Khazeni, Abu Jafar (900–971), mathematician • Khazeni, Abolfath (c. 1130), physicist • Khayyám, Omar (1048–1131), poet, mathematician, and astronomer • Khorasani, Sultan Ali (16th century), physician • Khujandi (c. 940–c. 1000), mathematician and astronomer Khwarizmi (a.k.a. Al-Khwarazmi, c. 780–c. 850) creator of algorithm and algebra, mathematician and astronomer • Kushyar ibn Labban (971–1029), mathematician, Nasavi's master • Kuhi, Rostam, mathematician • Kubra, Najmeddin (1145–1220)

M

• Mahani (9th century), mathematician • Muhammad al-Fazari (?–796) • Muhammad Baqir Yazdi (17th century), he gave the pair of amicable numbers 9,363,584 and 9,437,056. • Majusi, Ibn Abbas (?–c. 890), physician • Marvazi (?–869), astronomer and mathematician • Marvazi, Abu Taher (12th century), philosopher • Masawaiyh (777–857) or Masuya • Mashallah ibn Athari (740–815), of Jewish origins, from Khorasan who designed the city of Baghdad based on Firouzabad • Masihi Gorgani (10th century), Avicenna's master • Mirza Ali Hakim (17th century), physician • Miskawayh (932–1030), philosopher • Modarressi, architect • Mostowfi Qazvini (1281–1349), geographer • Mullasadra (1572–1640), philosopher • Muqaffa, Ibn (?–756), founder of Arabic prose along with Abdol-Hamid. • bin Musa, Hasan (9th century), astronomer • bin Musa, Ahmad (9th century), astronomer • bin Musa, Muhammad (9th century), astronomer • Muwaffaq, Abu mansur (10th century), pharmacologist • Muhammad ibn Muhammad Tabrizi (13th century), philosopher

N

• Nagawri (14th century), physician • Nahavandi, Benjamin, Jewish scholar • Nahavandi, Ahmad (9th century), astronomer • Nakhshabi (14th century), physician • Nasir Gebelli (born 1957), computer scientist and video game developer • Nasir Khusraw (1004–1088), scientist, Ismaili scholar, mathematician, philosopher, Traveler and poet • Nasavi (c. 1010–c. 1075), mathematician • Natili Tabari (10th century), physician • Naubakht (9th century), Designer of the city of Baghdad • Naubakht, Fadhl ibn (8th century) • Nawbakhty (4th century), Islamic scholar, philosopher • Nawbakhti, Ruh (10th century), Islamic scholar • Nayrizi (865–1022), mathematician • Naqshband, Baha ud-Din (1318–1389), philosopher • Neishaburi (18th century), physician • Neishaburi (c. 815–875), prominent Islamic scholar • Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209), romantic poet • Nurbakhshi (16th century), physician

P

• Paul the Persian (6th century), philosopher.

Q

• Qazwini, Zakariya (1203–1283), physician • Qumi, Qazi Sa’id (1633–1692), theologian • Qumri (10th century), physician • Qushayri, Abd al-Karīm ibn Hawāzin (986–1074), philosopher

R

• Razi, Amin (16th century), geographer • Razi Amoli, Fakhreddin (1149–1209), philosopher • Razi, Zakariya (Rhazes) (854–932), chemist and physicist • Razi, Najmeddin (1177–1256) • Rumi, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad (1207–1273) • Rashid-al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318), historian, physician and politician

S

• Sabzevari, Mulla Hadi (1797–1873), poet and philosopher • Saghani Ostorlabi (?–990), astronomer • Sahl, Fadl ibn (?–818) • Sahl, Shapur ibn (?–869), physician • Salman the Persian, religion commentator, companion of Prophet Muhammad • Samarqandi, Najibeddin (13th century), physician • Samarqandi, Ashraf (c. 1250–c. 1310), mathematician, astronomer. • Sarakhsi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad (?–1096), Islamic scholar • Seifzadeh, Hossein,S. (born 1950) political scientist, Iranian studies • Shahrastani (1086–1153) historian of religions • Shahrazuri (13th century), philosopher and physician • Shahrazuri, Ibn al-Salah (1181–1245), Islamic scholar • Shaykh Tusi (996–1067), famous Islamic scholar • Shaykh Saduq (923–991), theologian • Shirazi, Imad al-Din Mas'ud (16th century), physician • Shirazi, Muhammad Hadi Khorasani (18th century), physician • Shirazi, Qutbeddin (1236–1311), astronomer • Shirazi, Mahmud ibn Ilyas (18th century), physician • Shirazi, Najm al-Din Mahmud ibn Ilyas (?–1330), physician • Shirazi, Qurayshi (17th century), physician • Shirazi, Sultan Waezin (1894–1971), theologian • Sijzi (c. 945–c. 1020), mathematician • Sijzi, Mas'ud (14th century), physician • Soleiman ibn Hasan (17th century), physician • Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (903–986): see Azophi • Suhrawardi, Shahab al-Din (1155–1191), philosopher

T

• Tabarani, Abu al-Qasim (873–970), Islamic scholar • Tabari Amoli (839–923), prominent historian • Tabari, Natili Amoli: See Al-Natili • Tabari, ibn Farrukhan (?–815), astrologer and architect • Tabari, Abul Hasan (10th century), physician. • Tabari, Ibn Sahl (c. 783–c. 858), Jewish convert physician. Master of Rhazes • Tabrizi, Maqsud Ali (17th century), physician. • Taftazani (1322–1390), theologian, linguist • Tayfur, Ibn Abi Tahir (819–893), linguist • Tāriq, Yaqub ibn (?–796) • Tirmidhi (824–892), Islamic scholar • Tunakabuni (17th century), physician • Tughra'i (c. 1061–1122), physician • Tusi, Nizam ol-Molk (1018–1092), the great vizier • Tusi, Nasireddin (1201–1274), mathematician, philosopher • Tusi, Sharafeddin (?–1213/4), mathematician

V

• Amin al-Din Rashid al-Din Vatvat (13th century), scholar and physician.

W

• Waqidi (748–822), historian

Y

• Yaqūb ibn Tāriq (?–796) • Yumn, Nazif ibn (?–990)

Z

• Zamakhshari (1074/5–1143/4), scholar and geographer. • Zarrin dast (11th century), oculist. • Zayn-e-Attar (?–c. 1043), physician

Contemporary Iranian Scholars and Scientists

A

Akbar Adibi, electronic engineer, VLSI researcher, professor of engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology Majid Adibzadeh, scholar and Political scientist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haleh_Afshar Haleh Afshar], academic and peer, University of York • Masoud Alimohammadi, assassinated quantum field theorist and elementary-particle physicist • Anousheh Ansari, the world's first female space tourist, co-founder and chairman of Prodea Systems, Inc., former co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. (TTI) • Farhad Ardalan, physicist, IPM • Nima Arkani-Hamed, professor, Institute for Advanced Study • Nasser Ashgriz, Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto. • Touraj Atabaki, Professor of the "Social History of the Middle East and Central Asia", Department of History, University of Amsterdam.[4]

B

• Mehdi Bahadori, Professor of Mechanical Engineering • Shaul Bakhash, historian, George Mason University • Asef Bayat, Professor of Sociology and Middle East Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • Nariman Behravesh, Chief Economist and Executive Vice President, Global Insight. • Mahmoud Behzad, the father of Persian modern biology science • Mina Bissell, Director of UC Berkeley Life Sciences Division

C

• Rama Cont, Professor of Mathematics at Imperial College London, Senior Research Scientist at Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Paris, recipient of the Louis Bachelier Prize of the French Academy of Sciences (2010).

D

• Touraj Daryaee, Iranologist and historian, University of California, Irvine

E

• Abbas Edalat, Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics, Imperial College London. • Kamran Elahian, entrepreneur • Kamran Eshraghian, VLSI pioneer in Australia

F

• Fereydoon Family, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Physics, Emory University.

G

• Nasir Gebelli, computer scientist and video game developer • Mohammed Ghanbari, professor, University of Essex • Vartan Gregorian, president, Carnegie Corporation of New York • Zoubin Ghahramani, Professor of Information Engineering Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge • Shahin Gavanji, ACE-Academy Council Executive at World Academy of Medical Sciences(WAMS)

H

• Mohammad Reza Hafeznia, professor, University of Tehran • Ali Hajimiri, Caltech, co-founder of Axiom Microdevices Inc.[19] • Majid Hassanizadeh, Professor of Hydrogeology, Expertise: theories of porous media (Utrecht University, The Netherlands).[20] • Babak Hassibi, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Caltech[21] • Mahmoud Hessaby, physicist, father of modern physics in Iran (Persia) • Eric Hooglund, professor of political science

I

• Reza Iravani, Professor and the L. Lau Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto.

J

• Hamid Jafarkhani, professor, University of California, Irvine • Ali Jafari, Professor of Computer and Information Technology, Purdue University. • Ali Akbar Jalali, professor, Iran University of Science and Technology. • Ali Javan, physicist and inventor of the gas laser at MIT • Kamaloddin Jenab, pioneering physicist

K

• Mehran Kardar, physicist, MIT. • Kabir Sadeghi, Civil Engineer. Founder of The International Conference on Coasts • Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, Founding Director of Center for Persian Studies, University of Maryland • Homayoon Kazerooni,professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Berkeley Bionics, inventor of the HULC. • Shaygan Kheradpir, Chief Operating Office, Barclays • Omid Kordestani, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Field Operations, Google

L

• Caro Lucas, scientist, professor and founding director of the Center of Excellence for Control and Intelligent Processing (CIPCE), School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tehran,[29] and a researcher at the School of Cognitive Sciences (SCS), Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IPM), Tehran, Iran.

M

• Esfandiar Maasoumi, Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, Southern Methodist University • Vahak Marghussian, Founder of the Modern Ceramics Science and Technology in Iran. Professor, School of Metallurgy & Materials Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST). • Mahmoud Masaeli, Professor of Global Ethics, University of Ottawa and the founder and executive director of Alternative Perspectives and Global Concerns. • Maryam Mirzakhani, Professor of Mathematics, Stanford University and the first woman recipient of the Fields Medal (2014). • Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. • Abbas Milani, Director of Iranian Studies Program, Stanford University • Farzaneh Milani, Director of Studies in Women and Gender, University of Virginia • Parviz Moin, Franklin P. and Caroline M. Johnson Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University. • Hamid Mowlana, Director of the Division of International Communication at American University in Washington D.C., and former President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research[34]

N

• Firouz Naderi, associate director, Project Formulation and Strategy, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA • Azar Nafisi, writer • Hossein Nasr, philosopher, George Washington University • Farzad Nazem, former Chief Technical Officer and Executive Vice President, Yahoo! • Camran Nezhat, Director, Stanford Endoscopy Center for Training & Technology, Stanford University. • Mehrdad Nikoonahad, Vice-president, Business Development, PDF Solutions, Inc.

O

• Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay

P

• Kaveh Pahlavan, Professor and Director of CWINS, Worcester Polytechnic Institute • Hashem Pesaran, Fellow of Trinity College, Fellow of The British Academy, former Director of the Applied Econometrics Program at UCLA, founding editor of the Journal of Applied Econometrics, Cambridge University[40][41]

R

Milad Roy Gari • Ali R. Rabi, founding chair of the Middle East Citizens Assembly, University of Maryland • Yahya Rahmat-Samii, professor of electromagnetics at UCLA • Sohrab Rohani, chair, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Western Ontario • Mostafa Ronaghi, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Illumina

S

• Pardis Sabeti, geneticist, Assistant Professor, Center for Systems Biology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University • Hossein Sadri, Dean, Assoc. Prof. of Architectural Theory, Girne American University • Reihaneh Safavi-Naini, cryptographer, Professor in School of Computer Science, University of Wollongong • Muhammad Sahimi, Chair of Chemical Engineering Department, University of Southern California • Kabir Sadeghi,professor of civil engineering, father of marine and offshore structures in Iran, Girne American University, • Farrokh Saidi, medical professor and administrator, permanent member of Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences • Jawad Salehi, inventor of optical code division multiple access, professor of electrical engineering at Sharif University of Technology • Majid Samii, neurosurgeon and scientist, president of the International Society for Neurosurgery • Mohammad-Nabi Sarbolouki, Professor of Macromolecular Physical Chemistry, Tehran University • Hossein Seifzadeh, Professor of Department of Political Sciences, University of Tehran • Alireza Shapour Shahbazi, lecturer in Achaemenid archeology and Iranology at Harvard University, Harvard University, full Professor of history in Eastern Oregon University, Eastern Oregon University • Mohammad Shahidehpour, former Dean of the Graduate College and Associate VP for Research, Illinois Institute of Technology • Freidoon Shahidi, university research professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland • Freydoon Shahidi, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics, Purdue University • Manuchehr Shahrokhi, Craig Fellow/Professor, Editor Global Finance Journal, California State University, Fresno • Shams-Kolahi, Wahid, Solid-state physicist with contribution to CIGS and CdTe solar cells. • Amir Ali Sheibany, Professor of Geology, University of Tehran, founder and chairman of The National Iranian Steel Corporation (ZobAhan AryaMehr) • Amin Shokrollahi, Professor of I&C faculty and the head of ALGO lab, EPFL, Switzerland • Gholam Reza Sinambari, Chair of Department of Environmental Engineering, Fachhochschule Bingen • Hamid Soltanian-Zadeh, senior scientist, Henry Ford Health System, and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tehran. • Abdolkarim Soroush, philosopher • Saeed Shirkavand, Former Vice Minister in Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance (Iran), Assistant Professor in management faculty of University of Tehran

T

• Kamran Talattof, professor, University of Arizona

V

• Cumrun Vafa, physicist, Harvard University • Saba Valadkhan, biomedical scientist, and an Assistant Professor and RNA researcher at Case Western Reserve University

Y

• Alireza Yaghoubi, Materials scientist, designer and entrepreneur • Ehsan Yarshater, Distinguished Professor, Columbia University • Houman Younessi, professor, Assistant Dean of Academics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Hartford Graduate Campus; Director Rensselaer Initiative in Systems Engineering (RISE)

Z