In the year 622 the Muslim Empire resurfaces again with the appearance of Muhammed. As they conquered new empires, they assimilated their knowledge. The center of Muslim civilization moved to Baghdad where in the 9th century the Caliph Al-Mamun founded the so-called “House of Wisdom”. It was a complex successor to the Library of Alexandria. They began to translate all the Greek treatises and to collect everything that could be learned from other civilizations. The translation of Hindu works led them to spread the positional decimal system throughout Europe.
Mohamed ibn Musa Al Khwarizmi was born in the year 780, in what is now Uzbekistan. In his years working in the House of Wisdom he compiled the knowledge of the Greeks and Hindus, mainly in mathematics, but also in astronomy, astrology, geography and history.
The algebra treatise that Al Khwarizmi wrote was an introduction to calculus and explained how to complete and reduce equations. In the treatise, equations of first and second degree were solved, in addition to concepts of geometry, commercial calculations and inheritance. This treatise had the name “Kitab al-jabr wa’l-muqabala” which perhaps gave rise to the word algebra.
Questions
- Which is the name of the place where the translations of books took place?
- Where was Al Khwarizmi born?
- Which mathematical concept we use thanks to the translations of Al Khwarizmi?
- Where does the word algebra come from?
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