al-Idrisi

Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Idris al-Sharif al-Idrisi (493–560 AH) was an Arab geographer, cartographer, and botanist who worked under the patronage of King Roger II of Sicily. He is considered the greatest Arab geographer of the medieval period. His major work Nuzhat al-Mushtaq fi Ikhtiraq al-Afaq (also known as the Book of Roger or Tabula Rogeriana) contains a detailed description of the world along with one of the most accurate world maps of the medieval period. He spent 15 years compiling information from travelers and explorers to create this comprehensive geographic work. His maps were used by explorers for centuries.