Ali Qushji

Ala al-Din Ali ibn Muhammad al-Qushji (805-879H / 1403-1474 CE) was an Ottoman astronomer, mathematician, and theologian who began his career at the Samarkand observatory of Ulugh Beg. After Ulugh Beg's assassination, he traveled to Rome and then settled in Istanbul under Sultan Mehmed II, who appointed him head of the Sahn-i Thaman (the eight medrese complex). He is significant for separating astronomy from natural philosophy in Islamic intellectual tradition — arguing that astronomy can reach its conclusions without metaphysical assumptions. He also wrote important works on theology and mathematics.