Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Middle Age

Algebra as an autonomous discipline — Al-Khwarizmi

820 AD · Transmission: Global
MathematicsMethodArab

Al-Khwarizmi writes the Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-jabr waʾl-muqābala (c.820). Founds algebra as a discipline separate from geometry and arithmetic. "Algebra" derives from al-jabr; "algorithm" is a Latinization of his name. The book was a university text in Europe until the 16th century.

InstitutionHouse of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) — Baghdad
Historical regionAbbasid Caliphate (present-day Iraq)
Primary sourceAl-Khwarizmi — Al-Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-jabr waʾl-muqābala (c.820). Manuscript: Bodleian Library, Oxford (MS. Arab. d. 138)
Secondary sourceMacTutor, St Andrews — Al-Khwarizmi; Rosen, F. (trans.) — The Algebra of Mohammed ben Musa (1831, Oriental Translation Fund)
Original languageClassical Arabic
View this entry in the interactive atlas → View in graph →