Who Invented Algebra
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Who invented algebra?
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The word "algebra" is named after the Arabic word "al-jabr" from the title of the book [al-Kitāb al-muḫtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-ğabr wa-l-muqābala' , (The book of Summary Concerning Calculating by Transposition and Reduction), a book written by the Muslim mathematician, Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 820. The word Al-Jabr means "reunion. In fact, many ancient civilizations developed some sort of algebraic methods of solving problems, as far back as the Babylonians, Diophantus of Alexandria and the Indian mathematicians such as Brahmagupta, but al-Khwarizmi is considered by many to be the "father of algebra" because some of his techniques on solving quadratic equations are still in use today. He was the first to solve equations using general methods. He solved the linear indeterminate equations, quadratic equations, second order indeterminate equations and equations with multiple variable.
J. J. O'Conner and E. F. Robertson wrote in the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive:
"Perhaps one of the most significant advances made by Arabic mathematics began at this time with the work of al-Khwarizmi, namely the beginnings of algebra. It is important to understand just how significant this new idea was. It was a revolutionary move away from the Greek concept of mathematics which was essentially geometry. Algebra was a unifying theory which allowed rational numbers, irrational numbers geometrical magnitudes, etc., to all be treated as "algebraic objects". It gave mathematics a whole new development path so much broader in concept to that which had existed before, and provided a vehicle for future development of the subject. Another important aspect of the introduction of algebraic ideas was that it allowed mathematics to be applied to itself in a way which had not happened before.
Isaac Newton was one of the two inventors of what we now call calculus. (And he did start to dabble in alchemy at the end, but saying he spent the rest of his life working on it after inventing calculus might be a stretch. ;-) )
If you're looking for the greatest mathematician of all time, Al-Khwarizmi would be a good candidate and he is also considered the greatest mathematician of all time
Who was the first person to discover algebra?
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The word algebra is a Latin variant of the Arabic word al-jabr. This came from the title of a book, "Hidab al-jabr wal-muqubala", written in Baghdad about 825 A.D. by the Arab mathematician Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi.
The words jabr (JAH-ber) and muqubalah (moo-KAH-ba-lah) were used by al-Khowarizmi to designate two basic operations in solving equations. Jabr was to transpose subtracted terms to the other side of the equation. Muqubalah was to cancel like terms on opposite sides of the equation. In fact, the title has been translated to mean "science of restoration (or reunion) and opposition" or "science of transposition and cancellation" and "The Book of Completion and Cancellation" or "The Book of Restoration and Balancing."
Jabr is used in the step where x - 2 = 12 becomes x = 14. The left-side of the first equation, where x is lessened by 2, is "restored" or "completed" back to x in the second equation.
Muqabalah takes us from x + y = y + 7 to x = 7 by "cancelling" or "balancing" the two sides of the equation.
Eventually the muqabalah was left behind, and this type of math became known as algebra in many languages.
However, algebra was not invented by any single person or civilization. It is a reasoning skill that is most likely as old as human beings. The concept of algebra began as a reasoning skill to determine unknown quantities.
For example, an early human being (living nearly 7 million years ago) probably ran across the problem of food being stolen from him by other animals... He may have had 5 berries laying on the ground, but then, suddenly a bird flew by and now only had 2. He probably wondered how many berries the bird ate (an unknown quantity). He could probably reason that 3 berries were missing and thus 3 berries were eaten by the bird.
If you perceive algebra in this way, then no one invented algebra because it is a natural instinct encoded in our genetics... it is our ability to reason out quantities that produce algebra. However, the elaboration of this reasoning into structured symbolization and manipulation is not credited to any single individual. Many people, throughout the world and throughout the ages, have developed parts of what is now known as ALGEBRA. The word itself -algebra- comes from a book called Kitab al-Jabr wa-l Muqabala (translated: Calculation by Way of Restoration and Confrontation or Calculation by Completion and Balance), written by Persian mathematician Muhammad ibn Mosa al-Khwarizmi (approximately) in the year 820 AD. However, this was not the first written record of algebraic concepts or manipulation. Ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Indians, Chinese, and Greeks all have written records of algebra dating far before this date. No one can specify any one time, place, or person solely responsible for the elaboration of algebra as a mathematical discipline.