Muslim Mathematicians and Astronomers,

and Why We Need to Thank Them

2
1
4
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011

Fozia S. Qazi
Saint Mary’s College
February 9, 2009
 Can you add?
251
538
789

CCLI + DXXXVIII
=DCCLXXXIX

(CXII )× (MMCXXXVII)=????

(CXII ) ÷ (MMCXXXVII)=????
This system was used in Europe for centuries. So
how was it replaced and why?
Map of the Islamic World
9th Century
 Islamic Scholarship
• Knowledge is a collective pursuit to which all cultures have contributed.
• Islamic contribution began with the House of Wisdom – a library and
research center built in Baghdad in the 8th century.
• Translation of books from many cultures including Greek, Chinese,
Indian, Persian etc
• Paper mill founded in Baghdad. Transmission of knowledge became easy
• The time period 700-1200 C.E. is regarded as the Golden Age of Islamic
civilization and Baghdad was its intellectual center.
• Many important contributions made after 1200 C.E. as well
• Muslims made significant contributions in many fields
• This knowledge was later transmitted to Europe and Arabic books were
translated into Latin
• Sharing is a good thing!
 Number Systems
• What does 323 mean?
– 3 hundreds, 2 tens and 3 units
(3×100 + 2×10 + 3×1)

• In Roman numerals – CCC XXI II (C=1 00, X=1 0,

I=1 )

• In Arabic – ٣٢٣
Let us add again!

٢١٥٤
٤٢
٢٣
٥٧٧
2154
423
2577
 Decimal System
• Only10 symbols used

• We can use any set of 10 symbols to represent

0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 e.g.
,∩
∅ , ◊, ⊃, ∈, £, ∂, ♥
, •, ϖ
◊♥∅♥= 2707

• Position or place of the number is important

• These are the reasons why calculations easier

with this system
 Thank you Khwarizmi!
• Al-Khwarizmi was the first to write a book about the
decimal number system in about 825 C.E.

• Decimal system was developed by Muslim

mathematicians from an older and incomplete Indian
system

• Muslim mathematicians extended the system to fractions.

• Other major contributors were Al-Samawal, Al-Karaji,

Al- Uqlidisi and Al-Kashi

• Transmitted to Europe mainly in the 13th century by

Fibonacci. It took over 200 years for Europeans to adapt
this system fully.
 Uqlidisi’s Use of Decimal Fractions

The first recorded of the use

of decimal fractions appears
in Abul Hassan Al-Uqlidisi’s
book written in 952 C.E.
Short vertical mark points
out the units place.

162.85
 Al-Khwarizmi- The Father of Algebra
• Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi
• Born in 780 C.E. in Kwarizm (now Khiva,
Uzbekistan). He was a scholar at the House
of Wisdom in Baghdad.
• He invented Algebra and wrote a book about
it called ‘Kitab al-jabr wal-muqabala’
‫( الجبرولمقابله كتاب‬Book of Restoring and
Balancing)
• He was also an astronomer and a geographer
and constructed a map of the known world
 Algebra
• Finding the unknown quantity

• Using equations to describe real world problems and

solving these equations to find the unknown quantity

• Symbols are used to represent unknown quantities and

we treat them just like numbers
e.g. I have a bag of oranges and I give you 5 oranges from it. If I now have
3 oranges left, how many were in the bag?
Sol: x - 5 = 3
x-5+5=3+5
x=8

• More complex equations can also be solved using

techniques of algebra
 A Page from Al-Khwarizmi’s Algebra
• First ever algebra book

• The word algebra is a derived from al-

jabr from the title of this book and the
word algorithm is derived from Al-
Khwarizmi

• Other major contributors to Algebra were

Khayyam, Ibn-Qurra, Al-Samawal and
Al-Karaji among others
 Astronomy and Copernicus
• Study of planets, stars etc and their motion. It is one of the
oldest sciences
• Math is an important tool for astronomers and many old
mathematicians were also astronomers
• For a long time people believed that the Earth was the
center of our universe
• 16th century olish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus is
considered to be the first astronomer who showed that the
Sun was the center of our universe
• In his most important book he uses several math theorems
and planetary models of Muslim astronomers to prove his
theory (Tusi, Ibn-Shatir, Urdi)
• He makes no reference to these astronomers
 Nasir-u-Din Tusi
(1201-1274)
• Born in Tus, present day Iran. Worked in
Maragha, Iran

• An astronomer and mathematician of high

caliber.
• Major contribution in trigonometry

• Developed Tusi Couple – a method for

transforming circular motion into linear
motion.
• Established a famous observatory at Maragha
and started the ‘Maragha Revolution’. Urdi
and Ibn-Shatir a product of this revolution
Tusi Couple
Copernicus’ Use
 Computational Math – Al-Kashi
(about 1380-1429 C.E.).

• Jamshid Mas’ud al-Kashi. Born in Kashan,

Iran. Worked in Samarkand
• Calculated π to 16 decimal places!
• Designed and wrote a book on an analog
computer called equatorium for finding the
position of planets
• Wrote a famous book The Calculator’s Key
that became a standard math textbook for
the next 300 years
• Gave a systematic exposition of arithmetic
• Could calculate the 5th root of a number
larger than a trillion!
There are many other Muslim mathematicians,
astronomers and scientists who made great
contributions. Too many of them to list here!

There was also one female astrolabist Al-Ijliya.

Astrolabe is an astronomical instrument used for
predicting the position of planets and stars and has
many other uses. One needs considerable
mathematical skill to be able to build a good
astrolabe.
Multiplication with the Decimal System

74×2=148
Multiplication Technique Developed by
Muslim Mathematicians
752439×1680=1264097520