Archive for September 23rd, 2012

AL-KHWARIZMI (9th Century CE – 2nd/3rd Century AH): MATHMATICIAN AND GEOGRAPHER

By Islam El Shazly

Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi, not a lot is known about his life as a whole, well, except the little fact that he founded Algebra, and introduced the Zero and the Arabic numerals to the world. But he was more than that; he was a mathematician, an astronomer, a geographer, and a cartographer, and he has done a lot more than solve quadratic equations.

Al-Khwarizmi, was born in Khwarizm – Khiva – around 780 CE (164 AH) in modern day Uzbekistan, back then it was part of Greater Khorasan within Persia. He moved with his family to Baghdad, the centre of knowledge and learning in an age that is now known as the Golden Age of Islam, there he would rise in the ranks and eventually be at the head of the House of Wisdom. Read more…