Al-Khwārizmī: The Beginnings of Algebra

Al-Khwārizmī was a mathematician, astronomer and geographer. He worked most of his life as a scholar in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad during the first half of the 9th century and is considered by many to be the father of algebra.His Algebra (Kitab al-Jabr wa-al-muqabala), written around 820 AD, was the first scientific text in history to systematically present algebra as a mathematical discipline that is independent of geometry and arithmetic. This groundbreaking work is divided into two main sections: one, dealing with algebraic theory, and the other focusing on the calculation of inheritances and legacies.Al-Khwārizmī’s book laid down the groundwork for a scientific field where mathematics and juridical learning meet, which was further developed...