According to Wikipedia: "Omar Khayyám (born 1048 AD, Neyshapur, Persia—1131 AD, Neyshapur, Iran), was a Persian polymath, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, physician, and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, and music. He became established as one of the major mathematicians and astronomers of the medieval period. Recognized as the author of the most important treatise on algebra before modern times as reflected in his Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra giving a geometric method for solving cubic equations by intersecting a hyperbola with a circle. He also contributed to the calendar reform and may have proposed a heliocentric theory well before Copernicus."
