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I learned recently that Algebra comes from Al-Jabr named by its Arabic inventor Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi.
by andrewstuart 1y ago
I learned recently that Algebra comes from Al-Jabr named by its Arabic inventor Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi.
- mangodrunk 1y agoAl-Khwarizmi was Persian, not Arab. Though he did produce much of his work in Arabic which might cause the confusion.
- rpastuszak 1y agoI remember an anecdote about a Persian scholar who said that he preferred receiving invectives in Arabic than compliments in Persian (his mother tongue). Was it him? (The context being - Arabic was associated with precision, Persian with poetry) I’m oversimplifying and likely misquoting here so please don’t take that at a face value and put my in historical context. (I love Persian poetry, esp. early New Persian, which I find easier to understand than its later stages; I used to translate Middle Persian on occasion, perhaps because my Arabic is non-existent at this stage).
- elashri 1y agoThe one who said that is "Al-Biruni" which is another scientist from the same place [1]. And actually I think arabic is more suitable for poetry than persian. It is more about it being the language of quran [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Biruni https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Biruni
- elashri 1y agoIt is also how the word "Algorithm" came from. It is basically a variation of the Latin translation of his name -algoritmi- [1] [1] https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/91544/how-algorithm-got-its-name https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/91544/how-algorithm...
- fakedang 1y agoWhose last name lent the etymology for algorithm.