Al-Khwarizmi

[al-khwah riz mee] ( c .800– c .850) Persian mathematician: introduced modern number notation.

Little is known of al-Khwarizmi’s life; he was a member of the Baghdad Academy of Science and wrote on mathematics, astronomy and geography. His book Algebra introduced that name, although much of the book deals with calculations. However, he gives a general method (al-Khwarizmi’s solution) for finding the two roots of a quadratic equation he showed that the roots are and In his book Calculation with the Hindu Numerals he described the Hindu notation (misnamed ‘Arabic’ numerals) in which the digits depend on their position for their value and include zero. The term ‘algorithm’ (a rule of calculation) is said to be named after him. The notation (which came into Europe in a Latin translation after 1240) is of huge practical value and its adoption is one of the great steps in mathematics. The 10 symbols (1–9 and 0) had almost their present shape by the 14th-c, in surviving manuscripts.