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Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī(refactored from name) (Persian: أبو عبد الله محمد بن موسى الخوارزمي) was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer and author. Few details are known about his life but he was born in Persia around 780, and died around 850.
Because of his book on the systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations, al-Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī hīsāb al-ğabr wa’l-muqābala,(refactored from al-kitab) al-Khwarizmi is, together with Diophantus, considered to be the father of algebra.(refactored from Gandz) The word algebra is derived from al-ğabr,(refactored from al-jabr) one of the two operations used to solve quadratic equations, as described in his book. Algoritmi de numero Indorum, the Latin translation of his other major work, on the Indian numerals, introduced the positional number system and the number zero to the Western world in the 12th century. The words algorism and algorithm stem from Algoritmi, the Latinization of his name.(refactored from al'Daffa)
Biography
It is not certain where al-Khwarizmi was born. His name indicates he might have came from Khwarizm in the Khorasan province of Persia (now Khiva, Uzbekistan), however the historian al-Tabari gave him the epithet al-Qutrubbulli, indicating he might instead have came from Qutrubbull, a small town near Baghdad. Al-Tabari also gave him the epithet al-Majusi, meaning that al-Khwarizmi was a Zoroastrian. The preface to his Algebra suggests that he was an orthodox Muslim, however.
Al-Khwarizmi accomplished most of his work in the period between 813 and 833. After the Arab conquest of Persia, Baghdad became the centre of scientific studies and trade, and many merchants and scientists, from as far as China and India traveled to this city--as such apparently so did Al-Khwarizmi. He worked in Baghdad as a scholar at the House of Wisdom established by Caliph al-Ma'mūn, where he studied and translated Greek scientific manuscripts.
Contributions
He made major contributions to the fields of algebra, trigonometry, astronomy/astrology, geography and cartography. His systematic and logical approach to solving linear and quadratic equations gave shape to the discipline of algebra, a word that is derived from the name of his 830 book on the subject, al-Kitab al-mukhtasar fi hisab al-jabr wa'l-muqabala (الكتاب المختصر في حساب الجبر والمقابلة) or: "The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing". The book was first translated into Latin in the twelfth century.
His book On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals written about 825, was principally responsible for the diffusion of the Indian system of numeration in the Middle-East and then Europe. This book also translated into Latin in the twelfth century, as Algoritmi de numero Indorum. From the name of the author, rendered in Latin as algoritmi, originated the term algorithm.
Some of his contributions were based on earlier Persian Astronomy Indian numbers and Greek sources.
Al-Khwarizmi systematized and corrected Ptolemy's data in geography as regards to Africa and the Middle east. Another major book was his Kitab surat al-ard ("The Image of the Earth"; translated as Geography), which presented the coordinates of localities in the known world based, ultimately, on those in the Geography of Ptolemy but with improved values for the length of the Mediterranean Sea and the location of cities in Asia and Africa.
He also assisted in the construction of a world map for the caliph al-Ma'mun and participated in a project to determine the circumference of the Earth, supervising the work of 70 geographers to create the map of the then "known world".
When his work was copied and transferred to Europe through Latin translations, it had a profound impact on the advancement of basic mathematics in Europe. He also wrote on mechanical devices like the clock, astrolabe, and sundial. His other contributions include tables of trigonometric functions, refinements in the geometric representation of conic sections, and aspects of the calculus of two errors.
- Al-Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī hīsāb al-ğabr wa’l-muqābala: (Arabic: كتاب المختصر في حساب الجبر والمقابلة “The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing”) is a mathematical book written approximately 820 AD by the Persian mathematician Al-Khawarizmi. The book is considered to have defined algebra. The word algebra is derived from the name of one of the basic operations with equations (al-jabr) described in this book. The book was translated in Latin as Liber algebrae et almucabala by Robert of Chester (c. 1145),(refactored from O'Connor) hence "algebra".
- Algoritmi de numero Indorum ("al-Khwarizmi on the Hindu Art of Reckoning") on Arithmetic, which survived in a Latin translation but was lost in the original Arabic.
- Sindhind zīğ Not to be confused with al-Battani's Kitāb al-zīğ.
- Kitāb ṣūrat al-arḍ (Arabic: كتاب صورة الأرض "The image of the Earth" translated as Geography)
- Kitāb istikhrāğ ta’rīkh al-yahūd (Arabic: كتاب استخراج تأريخ اليهود "Book on the Jewish calender")
- Other works by al-Khwarizmi include Kitab al-Tarikh (literally, the book of history) and Kitab al-Rukhmat (about sun-dials). The last two have been lost.
See also
Notes
Template:Ent His name is translaterd, “Father of Abdullah, Mohammed, son of Moses, native of Khwārizm”, His name is also often given as Abū Ğa‘far Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (Arabic: أبو جعفر محمد بن موسى الخوارزمي). Many alternative translations of his name exist: Abu . Template:Ent Arabic: الجبر — “restoring” or “completion” Template:Ent Arabic: الكتاب المختصر في حساب الجبر والمقابلة — “The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing” Template:Ent Khwarizmi's algebra is regarded as the foundation and cornerstone of the sciences. In a sense, Khwarizmi is more entitled to be called "the father of algebra" than Diophantus because Khwarizmi is the first to teach algebra in an elementary form and for its own sake, Diophantus is primarily concerned with the theory of numbers. —Gandz pp. 263–277. Template:Ent In the foremost rank of mathematicians of all time stands Khwarizmi. He composed the oldest works on arithmetic and algebra. They were the principal source of mathematical knowledge for centuries to come in the East and the West. The work on arithmetic first introduced the Hindu numbers to Europe, as the very name algorism signifies; and the work on algebra ... gave the name to this important branch of mathematics in the European world... —A A al'Daffa. Template:Ent O'Connor, Abraham bar Hiyya Ha-Nasi
References
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Abraham bar Hiyya Ha-Nasi", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson. Arabic mathematics: forgotten brilliance? at the MacTutor archive.
- Donald E. Knuth, The Art of Computer Programming: Fundamental Algorithms 3rd edition. Addison-Wesley. 1997. ISBN 0-201-89683-4.
- S Gandz, The sources of al-Khwarizmi's algebra, Osiris, i (1936).
- A A al'Daffa, The Muslim contribution to mathematics (London, 1978).