Al-Khwarizmi

The Father of Algebra

Al-Khwarizmi

A Portrait
of
AlKhwarizmi

Portrait of Al-Khwarizmi
This is
taken from
a stamp
from the
former
USSR

MUHAMMAD BIN MUSA

AL-KHWARIZMI
(Algorizm) (770 - 840

Abu
Abdullah
C.E.)

Muhammad Ibn
Musa al-Khwarizmi
was born at
Khwarizm (Kheva),
a town south of the
river Oxus in
present day
Uzbekistan.

Abu Jafar Muhammad Ibn

Musa al-Khwarizmi
21st Century is the age of
Information Technology (IT)
Modern Computers are
indispensable in everyday life.
Al-Khwarizmi is the grandfather of
Computer Science.
He is the Father of Algebra.

TEXTBOOK OF ALGEBRA

A Page from alKhwarizmi's

Kitab al-Jabr walMuqabala , the
oldest Arabic
work
on algebra
produced in the
9th
century

BAYT AL-HIKMA-Center for

Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn
Study and Research Musa al-Khwarizmi lived
in Baghdad(Gift of God)
in the early ninth century.
Baghdad at that time was
at cultural crossroads,
and, under the patronage
of the Abbasid caliphs, the
so-called House of
Wisdom at Baghdad,
produced a Golden Age of
Arabic science and
mathematics. In Baghdad,
scholars encountered and
built upon the ideas of
ancient Greek and Indian
mathematicians

BAYT AL-HIKMA
There, al-Khwarizmi encountered the
Indian numeral system (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9), and he wrote a treatise on what we
call Arabic numerals. It was translated
into Latin in the twelfth century as
Algoritmi de numero Indorum (that is, AlKhwarizmi on the Hindu Art of Reckoning)
and was crucial in the introduction of
Arabic numerals to medieval Europe. It
may well represent the first use of zero as
a positional place holder. From that title,
we have the word "algorithm."

Al-Khwarizmi's most important work:

al-Kitab al-mukhtasar fi hisab
al-jabr w'al-muqabala
or The Compendious Book on
Calculation by Completion
[or Restoring] and Balancing.
This book is an explanation of the
solution to quadratic and linear equations
of six varieties. Al-jabr refers to the
process of moving a subtracted quantity
to the other side of an equation;
al-muqabala involves subtracting
equal quantities from both sides of
an equation.

Textbook of Algebra
Hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala
was translated into Latin(Robert Chestetr) in 1145
as Liber algebrae et almucabala,
from which we have the word "algebra"
for the whole process.
But don't expect al-Khwarizmi's al-jabr
to look anything like our algebra.
Al-Kwharizmi's book is written
entirely in prose, with none of the
symbols we use today.

Al-Khwarizmi's concept of algebra can

now be grasped with greater precision:
it concerns the theory of linear and
quadratic equations with a single
unknown and the elementary arithmetic
of relative binomials and trinomials. ...
The solution had to be general and
calculable at the same time and in a mathematical
fashion, that is, geometrically founded. ...
The restriction of degree, as well as that of the number of
unsophisticated terms, is instantly explained.
From its true emergence, algebra can be seen as a theory
of equations solved by means of radicals, and of
algebraic calculations on related expressions...

GEORGE SARTON(18841956) Author of Introduction

to History of Science
Wrote
on
Al-Khwarizmi
as
(3 Volumes)
... the greatest mathematician
Former Prof. At Harvard Univ.

of the time, and if one takes

all the circumstances into
account,
one of the greatest of all
time....

Al-Khwarizmi wrote on

Algoritmi de numero Indorum (Al-Khwarizmi on

the Hindu Art of Reckoning) gave ALGORITHM
deriving from his name in the title of the book.

He explained the use of ZERO

He developed the decimal system
Developed several arithmetical procedures
including operations on fractions.
He developed in detail Trigonometric tables
containing Sine functions and tangent functions
Developed calculus of two errors, which led him

Al-Kwarizmi's Books
Kitab al-Jama wal-Tafreeq bil
Hisab al-Hindi and
Kitab al-Jabr wa al-Muqabala

Were translated into Latin and

were used for several hundred
years in Europe

Al-Khwarizmi's works
influenced Leonardo of
Fibonacci was the "greatest
Pisa

European
Mathematician
of the middle ages",
his
full name was Leonardo of
Pisa.
Discovered the enormous
practical advantages of Zero
and the Decimal System
compared to the
Roman numerals, which
were still current in Western
Europe.

ASTRONOMY
Al-Khwarizmi wrote on

Calendars
True positions of the sun, moon, and planets
Spherical astronomy
Parallax and eclipse calculations
Visibility of the moon (21ST CENTURY
Muslims are confused on the sighting of the
moon)
Wrote a book on Astronomical Tables-A
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE
SCIENCE OF ASTRONOMY

GEOGRAPHY

Kitab surat al-ard (book of the

form of the earth)
Gave latitudes and longitudes
for 2,402 cities and landmarks,
forming the basis for a world
map.
Corrected in detail Ptolemy's
views on Geography

GEOGRAPHY

Supervised 70 geographers to
create a map of the then known
world which shows the pacific
coast of South America about
700 years before Columbus
discovered America.
Measured volume and
circumference of the earth.
Wrote Kitab al-Tarikh and Kitab
al-Rukhmat (on sundials)

Al-Khwarizmi's World
Map
Al-Khwarizmi's Map

actually includes the

whole coast of Peru
and part of the coast of
Chile. We find rivers
and capes, in particular
two especially
characteristic capes
lying on the PeruEcuador coast; the
Satyrorum
Promontorium or the
Cape of Satyrs, which
is Punta Aguja, and the
Notium Promontorium
or Southern Cape
which is Punta Paria,

Turkish Admiral Piri Reis's World Map-1513 CE

is on the left side(Antarctica discovered in 1820).
On the Right Side is Muhammad Al-Idris's map
of 1154 CE

Satellite Photo Vs Piri Map

IMPACT ON EUROPE
Adelard of Bath (England)
was born in 1075. He studied
and taught in France and
visited Syria, Sicily and Spain
He died in 1160. He translated
several works on Mathematics
and Astronomy. Among the
most important works he
translated was the
Astronomical tables AlMajriti (1126). He translated
Al-Khwarizmi's tables and
other works on the abacus
and astrolabe. His
'Quaestiones naturales'
consists of 76 scientific
discussions derived from
Muslim sciences.

IMPACT ON EUROPE
Gerard born in 1114 in Cremona
(Italy). In Toledo, Spain he learnt
Arabic so he could translate
available Arabic works into Latin.
He died in 1187 in Toledo, Spain
(Andalusia). Among his translations
were the surgical part of Al-Tasrif
of Al-Zahravi (Albucasis), the Kitab
al-Mansuri of AL-Razi (Rhazes)
and the Qanun of Ibn Sina
(Avicenna), Banu Musa's works, AlBiruni's commentry on AlKhawarizmi (after whom concept
"Algorithm" is named), the tables
of Jabir b. Aflah and Zarqali.

Al-Khwarizmi's books
translated into Latin
Kitab al-Jam'a wal-Tafreeq bil Hisab
al-Hindi (on Arithmetic)
Al-Maqala fi Hisab al-Jabr wa-alMuqabilah ( on Algebra) by
Englishman, Robert of Chester (1145
CE)
Arabic numerals and number system
assisted progress in science,
accounting and bookkeeping.

NUMBER ZERO
Muslim mathematical study
concentrated in three areas: ongoing
progress in algebra, the development of
arithmetic algorithms, and the
increasing complexity in geometry.
The number zero and decimal system in
Europe was the basis for the Scientific
revolution.
Problems that took days (using Roman
Numerals) to solve could now be solved
in minutes (using Arabic numerals).

FAMOUS WORKS
Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah from whose title came
the name "Algebra"
Kitab al-Jam'a wal-Tafreeq bil Hisab al-Hindi
(on Arithmetic, which survived in a Latin
translation but was lost in the original Arabic)
Kitab Surat-al-Ard (on geography)
Istikhraj Tarikh al-Yahud (about the Jewish
calendar)
Kitab al-Tarikh
Kitab al-Rukhmat (about sun-dials)

Breaking the Boundaries

The Renaissance, the
Enlightenment and the Industrial
Revolution were great
achievements. These
developments drew on the
experience of the Muslim world,
India and China.
Today a mathematician in Boston
invokes algorithm to solve a
difficult computational problem,
then he/she is commemorating
Al-Khwarizmi

The square root of math

itself
Al-Khwarizmi is one of many
whose works influenced the
European Renaissance, the
Enlightenment and the
Industrial Revolution.
Modern prosperity is due to
science and technology,
which have delivered better
lives for people, longer lives,
and for larger populations.

CONCLUSION

Algebra and algorithms are

enabling the building of
computers, and the creation of
encryption.
The modern technology
industry would not exist
without the contributions of
Muslim mathematicians like
Al-Khwarizmi.

THE END
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!

THE END
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!