Al-Khwarizmi
The Algebra of Mohammed ben Musa — Al-Khwarizmi
The Algebra of Mohammed ben Musa — Al-Khwarizmi
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Description
Written in Baghdad in the early 9th century under the patronage of the Caliph al-Ma'mun, al-Khwarizmi's al-Kitab al-Mukhtasar fi Hisab al-Jabr wal-Muqabala ("The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing") is the founding text of algebra as a distinct branch of mathematics — the word "algebra" comes directly from its title, and the word "algorithm" from a Latinization of the author's own name. The book systematically works through linear and quadratic equations by geometric proof, then applies the method to practical problems in mensuration, mercantile transactions, and above all Islamic inheritance law, which occupies roughly half the treatise. It was a primary channel through which the Hindu-Arabic numeral system reached medieval Europe. This edition is Frederic Rosen's landmark 1831 English translation, the first to make the Arabic text and Rosen's own explanatory notes available to English readers.
Author: Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi
Genre: History of Mathematics / Islamic Golden Age
Excerpt
I observed that the numbers which are required in calculating by Completion and Reduction are of three kinds, namely, roots, squares, and simple numbers relative to neither root nor square. A root is any quantity which is to be multiplied by itself. A square is the whole amount of the root multiplied by itself.
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