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Khwarizmi comemmorated on this Soviet stamp.

Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد بن موسى الخوارزمي) was a Muslim mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. He was born around 780, in either Khwarizm or Baghdad, and died around 850.

He was the author of the book al-Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī hīsāb al-ğabr wa’l-muqābala, on the systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations. Consequently he is considered to be the father of algebra,, a title he has to share with Diophantus. The word algebra is derived from al-ğabr, 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.

Biography

Few details about his life are known: it is not even certain where al-Khwarizmi was born. His name indicates he might have came from Khwarizm in the Khorasan area of central Asia; this area had been under Persian rule for centuries, then independent, then conquered by Arabs. It is now known as Khiva and located in Uzbekistan. The historian al-Tabari gave him the epithet al-Qutrubbulli, indicating that he might instead have came from Qutrubbull, a small town near Baghdad. Al-Tabari also gave him the epithet al-Majusi, suggesting that one of his ancestors had been a Magus or Magi, a Zoroastrian priest. The preface to his Algebra suggests that he was an orthodox Muslim.

He has been described as a Persian, an Arab, and even a Turk.

  • In favor of the Persian designation would be the Zoroastrian ancestor and the possible origin in Khwarizm, which was part of Persia, yet at his time under the Islamic Caliphate. His name certainly also may be an indication that he may have been Persian born. Other evidence may be the fact that many suggest he wrote in Arabic because it was the language of the conquerors of Persia, and he was not allowed, or at best discouraged to write in his native language Persian. Apparently many of his contemporaries, and other scientists such as Al Biruni, Avicenna, and Al Razi were from Khwarizm, Persian as well.
  • In favor of the Arab designation would be the fact that he is not known to have written in any language other than Arabic and that he may have been a native of Qutrubbull, a small town near Baghdad. Even if it is believed that he came from Khwarizm in Khorasan, he may have been descended from the Arabs who settled there after the Arab conquest of Persia. Khorasan's Arab community was crucial in bringing the Abbasid caliphs to power, and many Khorasani's had ties both to Khorasan and Baghdad, the Abbasid capital .
  • Those arguing for a Turkish designation say that he came from the furthest reaches of the Abbasid caliphate, an area that bordered on the lands of Turkic tribes and that is now predominantly Turkish.

In the absence of further information about al-Khwarizmi, it is difficult to say which of these arguments should prevail. It is a testament to the importance of the man that so many ethnicities should compete for the honor of claiming him.

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

File:Al1.png
The frontispiece from Algebra
Main article: al-Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī hīsāb al-ğabr wa’l-muqābala

al-Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī hīsāb al-ğabr wa’l-muqābala (Arabic: الكتاب المختصر في حساب الجبر والمقابلة “The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing”) is a mathematical book written approximately 820 AD by the Muslim mathematician Al-Khawarizmi.

The book extended the work of Indian mathematician Brahmagupta and Greek mathematician Diophantus on algebraic equations. 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), hence "algebra".

The al-jabr operation is subtracting a quantity from one side of the equation and adding it to another. al-muqābala means subtraction of the same quantity from both sides.

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Algoritmi de numero Indorum

Main article: Algoritmi de numero Indorum

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.

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Sindhind zīğ

Not to be confused with al-Battani's Kitāb al-zīğ.

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Kitāb ṣūrat al-arḍ

Kitāb ṣūrat al-arḍ (Arabic: كتاب صورة الأرض "The image of the earth" translated as Geography)

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Kitāb istikhrāğ ta’rīkh al-yahūd

Kitāb istikhrāğ ta’rīkh al-yahūd (Arabic: كتاب استخراج تأريخ اليهود "Book on the Jewish calender")

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Other works

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.

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See also

Notes

  1. His name means “Father of Abdullah, Mohammed, son of Moses, native of Khwārizm”
  2. Persian: موسى خوارزمى Musa Khwarizmi
  3. His name is also often given as Abū Ğa‘far Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (Arabic: أبو جعفر محمد بن موسى الخوارزمي)
  4. Many alternative translations of his name exist: Abu
  5. Arabic: الكتاب المختصر في حساب الجبر والمقابلة — “The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing”
  6. 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.
  7. Arabic: الجبر — “restoring” or “completion”
  8. 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.
  9. Britannica, al-Khwarizmi
  10. O'Connor, Abraham bar Hiyya Ha-Nasi

References

External links

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