AL-KHWARIZMI- THE FOUNDATION FOR MODERN MATHEMATICS

His full name is Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi. In Latin he's known as Algoritmi, hence "algorithm" in modern English. As you might have assumed, the word "algorithm" is Latinization of Al-Khwarizmi. 

Today, he's mostly known for inventing algebra. Many people associate the word "algebra" to his name. However, that is wrong. "Algebra" is derived from the Latinization of "al-jabr", part of the title of Khwarizmi's most famous book “Al-Kitab al-mukhtasar fi hisab al-jabr wa'l-muqabala” (“The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing”), in which he introduced the fundamental algebraic techniques to solving equations. 

Khwarizmi was born in 780 C. and died in 850 C., a Persian-Muslim mathematician, astronomer and geographer during the Abbasid Caliphate. He was one of the first directors of Darul Hikmah (House of Wisdom), a center built for scholarship, both secular and religious, a place where Muslims and non-Muslims worked side by side. Khwarizmi oversaw massive projects that translated Greek and Indian science into Arabic. During his time in Darul Hikmah, he produced work that would forever change the world of science.

His most important contribution, in my humble opinion, is our modern numerals of 0 to 9. Kwharizmi derived these numbers from the Indian numerical system with the addition of the concept of zero and decimal places. They were recognized for their simplicity and accuracy, and thus widely accepted by the Muslim world. Later, they were adopted by Europe with translations of his work into Latin by Adelard of Bath and others in the 12th Century (one of the possible benefits of the Crusades). 

Along with algebra, Khwarizmi developed a  formula for systematically solving quadratic equations. He also developed the lattice multiplication method, a method algorithmically equivalent to long multiplications. This lattice method was introduced into Europe by Fibonacci, one of the most valuable carrier of Islamic knowledge to Europe. 
Al-Khwarizmi, in addition to mathematics, made major contributions to astronomy and geography. He built the quadrant, a device used to accurately measure time based on the position of the sun. He also revised Ptolemy's "Geography" and produced a newer version that coordinated a list of 2,402 cities of the known world. 


Al-Khwarizmi is one of the greatest mathematicians in human history, in fact he's the founding grandfather of modern mathematics. However, most of us know little to nothing about him. Why? The answer to this "why" would require another blog post. 

The main lesson to grasp from this post is that Khwarizmi's passion for science and mathematics stemmed from his devotion to Islam. He developed algebra to accurately calculate the complicated inheritance laws applied by Islam. He invented the quadrant in part to accurately calculate the five daily prayer times. To quote Al-Khwarizmi himself:

That fondness for science, ... that affability and condescension which Allah shows to the learned, that promptitude with which he protects and supports them in the elucidation of obscurities and in the removal of difficulties, has encouraged me to compose a short work on calculating by al-jabr and al-muqabala , confining it to what is easiest and most useful in arithmetic ( Katz, 271).

Islam has inspired hundreds of people that are the likes of Al-Khwarizmi. People like Khwarizmi exemplify what Islam can do to a civilization. If Muslims go back to Islam, if we go back to the Quran and Sunnah and adhere to them, we can gain back the honor we once had.





Citation:

• Katz, Victor J. A History of Mathematics: An Introduction. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. Print.
• Mastin, Luke. "Al-Khwarizmi - Islamic Mathematics - The Story of Mathematics."Al-Khwarizmi - Islamic Mathematics - The Story of Mathematics. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.