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I was told of Algebra coming from Al-Jabr meaning "number games". I was surprised I didn't see this mentioned in the article, until I found the book mentioned i
by Rattled 7y ago
I was told of Algebra coming from Al-Jabr meaning "number games". I was surprised I didn't see this mentioned in the article, until I found the book mentioned in Al-Khwarizmi's biography [1]. The book's title is "Hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala" but no translation is given and Google's translation "Al Jaber account and interview" is not helpful. Can anyone confirm or deny the explanation I was given?
[1] http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Al-Khwarizmi.html http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Al-Kh...
- throwaway542134 7y agoiirc the title translates to something like "the Study|Art|Practice of balancing and restoring." I recall "al jabr" means "of/relating to balancing" This source[1] states it as >the science of restoring what is missing and equating like with like [1] https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/algebra https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/algebra
- ComputerGuru 7y agoجبر, in transliteration, jabr, is the root of the word and the closest meaning is to bring (with a possible connotation of doing so against the entities natural inclination or state) back together parts (in healing). To my mind, mathematically it would be closest to the literal concept of integration, but that is calculus and not what is generally considered to be algebra.
- agumonkey 7y agoI associated al-jabr as classification. The 'back'ness felt more like bring back order by arranging same kinds on same sides.
- ned7 7y agoThe translation you're looking for is: "Calculation by Completion and Balancing" The book's name in English is: "The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing" So Al-jabr meaning is very close to "calculation by Completion" in that context.