Al Khwarizmi
Al-Khwarizmi who gave his name, died about 850 in Baghdad , is a mathematician , geographer , astrologer and astronomer Islamic Persian whose writings, written in Arabic , have enabled the introduction of algebra into Europe . His life took place in full at the time of the dynasty Abbasid. It is the origin of the words " algorithm "(which is her name Latinized "Algorithm" ) and " algebra "(derived from a method and the title of one of his books) or yet the use of Arabic numerals whose distribution in the Middle East and Europe comes from another of his books (which itself deals with Indian mathematics ).
His contribution in mathematics was such that he is also nicknamed "the father of algebra" with Diophantus of Alexandria , where he will resume work. Indeed, it was the first to systematically identify methods of solving equations by classifying them.
It should not be confused with another scholar Persian mathematician: 'Abdollh Mohammad Abu-Khwarizmi (in) that he is the author of al-Maftih'Olum (mathematical work written around 976).
A crater of the Moon was named in his honor: the crater Al-Khwarizmi.
Summary |
Contributions
He did not invent the algorithms (the oldest known algorithm then was that of Euclid , and we discovered in the twentieth century in the ancient tablets of Babylon , for calculating the tax), but it formalizes the theory combining their common features, particularly the need for a stopping criterion.
In mathematics
He is the author of several works on mathematics, one of whose most famous is titled Kitb al-Mukhtasar fi al-Jabr wa'l hisab-muqbalah ( ), or Abstract of computation by restoring and comparison , published in 825. This book contains six chapters, each devoted to a particular type of equation. It contains no figures. All equations are expressed in words. The square of the unknown is called the "square" or evil, the unknown is "the thing" or shay (Say) or jidhr, the constant is the dirham or add. The word al-Jabr was taken by Europeans and later became the word algebra.
Another book, which does not reach us, Kitab al-Jami `wa'l-Tafriq h'isb bi 'al-Hind ( ," Book of addition and subtraction after calculating Indian "), which describes the system of numerals "Arab" (actually borrowed from the Indians) was the vehicle for the dissemination of these figures in the Middle East and in the Caliphate of Cordoba , where Gerbert Aurillac ( Sylvester II ) forward them to the Christian world .
In astronomy
Al-Khwarizmi is the author of a zij , published in 820 , and known by the name of al-Zij Sindhind (Indian tabla).
The principle of the algorithms was known since antiquity ( Euclidean algorithm ), and Donald Knuth even mention their use by the Babylonians.
References
- or Al-Khwarizmi, whose full name is Persian : or ( Arabic , also spelled as and
- It is unknown if he was born in Khiva and then migrated to Baghdad or whether they are his parents emigrated in which case it could be born in Baghdad.
- a and b Encyclopedia Britannica, al-Khwarizmi.
- Al-Jabr stayed with its original meaning of in the Spanish word that means a "healer" who gives up the joints and bones removed. View (es) algebrista (2) in Diccionario de la lengua espaola
- See Andr Allard (Ed. sc.) Muhammad Ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi. The calculation of India (Algorismus), Scientific and Technical Library A. Blanchard, Paris; Society of Classical Studies, Namur, 1992. ( ISBN 2-87037-174-8 )
See also
Internal Links
External Links
- (En) Resources and bibliography on the website of the Inter-American Institutes for Research in Mathematics Education (Inter-IREM) "Epistemology and History of Mathematics" (av. 2007).
- (In) John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson, " Al-Khwarizmi ", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive , University of St Andrews.
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