Al-Khwarizmi and algebra
A treatise on balancing equations gives its name to a whole branch of mathematics.
- When
- Known to
- ± 10 years
- Era
- Post-Classical, Holocene
Writing in Baghdad around 820 CE, Al-Khwarizmi sets out systematic methods for solving linear and quadratic equations by al-jabr, the restoring of terms across an equation — the word becomes algebra. His separate work on Indian numerals introduces the decimal place-value system to the Islamic world, and its Latin translation, Algoritmi, gives us the word algorithm. Two of the load-bearing terms of modern mathematics come from one man.