Muhammad ibn Musa alKhwarizmi Muhammad ibn Musa alKhwarizmi

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi • Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (approx 800 -847 CE) • Born around 800 CE in Khwarizm, now in Uzbekistan. • Al-Khwarizmi lived in Baghdad, where he worked at the “House of Wisdom” (Dar al-Hikma) under the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. • What is the origin of the word Algorithm? Fundamentals of Software Development 1 1

Algorithm • The English word "algorithm" derives from the Latin form of al. Khwarizmi's name. • He developed the concept of an algorithm in mathematics, and is thus sometimes given the title of "grandfather of computer science". Fundamentals of Software Development 1 2

Some Contributions • Wrote a book in Arabic titled al-jabr that gave Algebra its name – arithmetic of variables – describes the natural numbers – introduces geometric proofs for algebra • Al-Khwarizmi called variables “shay” – – Arabic for “thing”. Spanish wrote xay (“x” was “sh” in Spain). In time this word was abbreviated as x. • In addition to this treatise, al-Khwarizmi wrote works on astronomy, on the Jewish calendar, and on the Hindu numeration system. • He also made major contributions to the fields of algebra, trigonometry, astronomy, geography and cartography. Fundamentals of Software Development 1 3

Sources • http: //www. pbs. org/empires/islam/ • http: //www-groups. dcs. stand. ac. uk/~history/Mathematicians/Al. Khwarizmi. html • http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Al-Khwarizmi Fundamentals of Software Development 1 4