Home > Al-Khwarizmi

also called Muhammad ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi, Muhammad ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi, Mohammad Bin Musa Al-Khawarizmi, and Abu Ja'Far Muhammad ibn-Musa Al-Khowarizmi, (flourished early 9^th century), was a Persian scientist, mathematician, astronomer/ astrologer, and author. He may have been born in 780, or around 800; he may have died in 845, or around 840.

He was born in the town of Khwarizm (now Khiva), in Khorasan province of Persia (now in Uzbekistan). The name al-Khwarizmi means the person from Khwarizm. His family moved soon afterward, to a place near BaghdadCapitals in Asia Baghdad is the capital of Iraq and the Baghdad Province. It is the second largest city in Southwest Asia after Tehran, with the 2003 population estimated at 5,772,000. Situated on the Tigris River at 33°20 north and 44°26 east, the city w, where he accomplished most of his work in the period between 813Events June 22 Byzantine Emperor Michael I is defeated in a war against the Bulgarians. July 12 A revolt puts Leo V on the throne; Michael becomes a monk. Beginning of the Second Iconoclastic Period. Louis the Pious crowned co-emperor with his father Char and 833Events End of the reign of caliph Mamun Nimmyo succeeds Junna as emperor of Japan Creation of Great Moravia Births Deaths 833.. There are various guesses at his native languages, including PersianPersian , also known as Farsi (local name), Parsi Tajiki or Dari is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. It has official-language status in the first three countries. There are over 75 million native speakers. It belongs to t or more probably KhwarezmianChorasmian also known as Khwarezmian or Khwarazmian is the name of an extinct northeastern Iranian language closely related to Sogdian. The language was spoken in the area of Chorasmian/ Khwarazm on the northern banks of the river Jaxartes in Transoxiana (an extinct Iranian languageIranian languages are a part of the Indo European language family. The Iranian language group is part of the larger Indo-Iranian language subfamily, and accounts for some of the oldest recorded Indo-European languages. Indo-Iranian languages originated ar). Al-Khwarizmi wrote all his works in Arabic, the language of science in the Islamic world of his time.

He developed the concept of an algorithmFlowcharts were often used to represent algorithms. An algorithm is a finite set of well-defined instructions for accomplishing some task which, given an initial state, will result in a corresponding recognisable end-state (contrast with heuristic). Algor in mathematics, and is thus sometimes given the title of "grandfather of computer science". The words "algorithm" and " algorism" derive ultimately from his name.

He also made major contributions to the fields of algebra, trigonometry, astronomy/ astrology, geography and cartography. His systematic and logical approach to solving linear and quadratic equations gave shape to the discipline of algebra, a word that is derived from the name of his 830 book on the subject, Hisab al-jabr wa al-muqabala (حساب الجبر و المقابلة).

While his major contributions were the result of original research, he also did much to synthesize the existing knowledge in these fields from Greek, Indian, and other sources. He appropriated the place-marker symbol of zero, which originated in India, and he is also responsible for the use of Arabic numerals in mathematics.

Al-Khwarizmi systematized and corrected Ptolemy's research in geography and astronomy/ astrology, using his own original findings. He supervised the work of 70 geographers to create a map of the then "known world". When his work became known in Europe through Latin translations, his influence made an indelible mark on the development of science in the West: his algebra book introduced that discipline to Europe and became the standard mathematical text at European universities until the 16th century. He also wrote on mechanical devices like the clock, astrolabe, and sundial. His other contributions include tables of trigonometric functions, refinements in the geometric representation of conic sections, and aspects of the calculus of two errors .