Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi

Early Life:

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer

geographer and a scholar in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. He was born in Persia of that
time around 780. Al-Khwarizmi was one of the learned men who worked in the House of
Wisdom. Al-Khwarizmi flourished while working as a member of the House of Wisdom in
Baghdad under the leadership of Kalif al-Mamun, the son of the Khalif Harun al-Rashid, who
was made famous in the Arabian Nights. The House of Wisdom was a scientific research and
teaching center.

Contributions and Achievements:

Al-Khwarizmi developed the concept of the algorithm in mathematics (which is a reason for his
being called the grandfather of computer science by some people).

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Al-Khwarizmi’s algebra is regarded as the foundation and cornerstone of the sciences. To al-
Khwarizmi we owe the world “algebra,” from the title of his greatest mathematical work, Hisab
al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabala. The book, which was twice translated into Latin, by both Gerard of
Cremona and Robert of Chester in the 12th century, works out several hundred simple quadratic
equations by analysis as well as by geometrical example. It also has substantial sections on
methods of dividing up inheritances and surveying plots of land. It is largely concerned with
methods for solving practical computational problems rather than algebra as the term is now
understood.

Al-Khwarizmi confined his discussion to equations of the first and second degrees. He also
wrote an important work on astronomy, covering calendars, calculating true positions of the sun,
moon and planets, tables of sines and tangents, spherical astronomy, astrological tables, parallax
and eclipse calculations, and visibility of the moon. His astronomical work, Zij al-sindhind, is
also based on the work of other scientists. As with the Algebra, its chief interest is as the earliest
Arab work still in existence in Arabic.

His most recognized work as mentioned above and one that is so named after him is the
mathematical concept Algorithm. The modern meaning of the word relates to a specific practice
for solving a particular problem. Today, people use algorithms to do addition and long division,
principles that are found in Al-Khwarizmi’s text written about 1200 years ago. Al-Khwarizmi
was also responsible for introducing the Arabic numbers to the West, setting in motion a process
that led to the use of the nine Arabic numerals, together with the zero sign.

Of great importance also was al-Khwarizmi’s contribution to medieval geography. He

systematized and corrected Ptolemy’s research in geography, using his own original findings that
are entitled as Surat al-Ard (The Shape of the Earth). The text exists in a manuscript; the maps
have unfortunately not been preserved, although modern scholars have been able to reconstruct
them from al-Khwarizmi’s descriptions. He supervised the work of 70 geographers to create a
map of the then “known world”. When his work became known in Europe through Latin
translations, his influence made a permanent mark on the development of science in the West.

Al-Khwarizmi made several important improvements to the theory and construction of sundials,
which he inherited from his Indian and Hellenistic predecessors. He made tables for these
instruments which considerably shortened the time needed to make specific calculations. His
sundial was universal and could be observed from anywhere on the Earth. From then on, sundials
were frequently placed on mosques to determine the time of prayer. The shadow square, an
instrument used to determine the linear height of an object, in conjunction with the alidade for
angular observations, was also invented by al-Khwarizmi in ninth-century Baghdad.

While his major contributions were the result of original research, he also did much to synthesize
the existing knowledge in these fields from Greek, Indian, and other sources. A number of minor
works were written by al-Khwarizmi on topics such as the astrolabe, on which he wrote on the
Jewish calendar. He also wrote a political history containing horoscopes of prominent persons.

Death:

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi died in c. 850 being remembered as one of the most seminal
scientific minds of early Islamic culture.

ISLAMIC MATHEMATICS - AL-KHWARIZMI

One of the first Directors of the House of Wisdom in Bagdad in the
early 9th Century was an outstanding Persian mathematician called
Muhammad Al-Khwarizmi. He oversaw the translation of the major
Greek and Indian mathematical and astronomy works (including those
of Brahmagupta) into Arabic, and produced original work which had a
lasting influence on the advance of Muslim and (after his works spread
to Europe through Latin translations in the 12th Century) later
European mathematics.

The word “algorithm” is derived from the Latinization of his name, and
the word "algebra" is derived from the Latinization of "al-jabr", part of
the title of his most famous book, in which he introduced the
fundamental algebraic methods and techniques for solving equations.

Perhaps his most important contribution to mathematics was his

strong advocacy of the Hindu numerical system, which Al-Khwarizmi
recognized as having the power and efficiency needed to revolutionize
Islamic and Western mathematics. The Hindu numerals 1 - 9 and 0 -
which have since become known as Hindu-Arabic numerals - were
soon adopted by the entire Islamic world. Later, with translations of Al-
Khwarizmi’s work into Latin by Adelard of Bath and others in the 12th Muhammad Al-Khwarizmi (c.780-
Century, and with the influence of Fibonacci’s “Liber Abaci” they would 850 CE)
be adopted throughout Europe as well.

Al-Khwarizmi’s other important

contribution was algebra, a word
derived from the title of a
mathematical text he published in
about 830 called “Al-Kitab al-
mukhtasar fi hisab al-jabr wa'l-
muqabala” (“The Compendious
Book on Calculation by Completion
and Balancing”). Al-Khwarizmi
wanted to go from the specific
problems considered by the Indians
and Chinese to a more general way
of analyzing problems, and in doing
so he created an abstract
mathematical language which is
used across the world today.

His book is considered the

foundational text of modern algebra,
although he did not employ the kind
of algebraic notation used today (he
used words to explain the problem,
and diagrams to solve it). But the
book provided an exhaustive
account of solving polynomial
equations up to the second degree,
and introduced for the first time the
fundamental algebraic methods of
“reduction” (rewriting an expression An example of Al-Khwarizmi’s “completing the square” method for
in a simpler form), “completion” solving quadratic equations
(moving a negative quantity from
one side of the equation to the other side and changing its sign) and “balancing” (subtraction of the same
quantity from both sides of an equation, and the cancellation of like terms on opposite sides).

In particular, Al-Khwarizmi developed a formula for systematically solving quadratic equations (equations
involving unknown numbers to the power of 2, or x2) by using the methods of completion and balancing to
reduce any equation to one of six standard forms, which were then solvable. He described the standard
forms in terms of "squares" (what would today be "x2"), "roots" (what would today be "x") and "numbers"
(regular constants, like 42), and identified the six types as: squares equal roots (ax2 = bx), squares equal
number (ax2 = c), roots equal number (bx = c), squares and roots equal number (ax2 + bx = c), squares and
number equal roots (ax2 + c = bx), and roots and number equal squares (bx + c = ax2).

Al-Khwarizmi is usually credited with the development of lattice (or sieve) multiplication method of
multiplying large numbers, a method algorithmically equivalent to long multiplication. His lattice method
was later introduced into Europe by Fibonacci.

In addition to his work in mathematics, Al-Khwarizmi made important contributions to astronomy, also
largely based on methods from India, and he developed the first quadrant (an instrument used to
determine time by observations of the Sun or stars), the second most widely used astronomical
instrument during the Middle Ages after the astrolabe. He also produced a revised and completed version
of Ptolemy's “Geography”, consisting of a list of 2,402 coordinates of cities throughout the known world.