Fatima de Madrid, also known as Fatima Al-Majritya, was a muslim astronomer and mathematician who made significant contributions to observational astronomy. Fatima lived in Cordoba, Spain, an intellectual hub at the center of the islamic golden age. It should be noted, however, that scholars have debated whether Fatima really existed or was a fictional character.
Fatimah and her father worked on astronomical calendars, corrected the "Astronomical Tables of Al-Khwarizmi" (by transforming the Persian calendar to the Islamic calendar.), and determined the position of Celestial bodies such as the Sun, Moon, and planets.
Fatima was born to prominent Andalusian (of Spanish descent) astronomer Abu Al-Qasim Maslama al-Majriti. Maslama was considered by some to be the "Euclid of Spain''. Maslama's most significant contribution was determining the longitude of Regulo's star. He also had the ability to pinpoint the signs of the Zodiac and climax of the star, and was well-versed in observational astronomy.
Fatimah worked closely with her father throughout her life on her Astronomical and Mathematical discoveries. Perhaps Fatima's most significant contribution to astronomy and mathematics are "the Corrections of Fatima." These corrections included amendments to her father's discoveries, as well as updates to pervious astronomical and mathematical discoveries. Fatima also coauthored "A Treatise on the Astrolabe", a manuscript on an astronomical device used to determine the position of celestial bodies accurately. The manuscript is available today in the monastery of El Escorial, a former residence of the King of Spain. Fatima even corrected Ptolemy's Almagest, a treatise on the motions of the stars and planets, by fixing Ptolemy's calculations of eclipses.
