"I have decided first to consider the majority of the authors who up to now have written about [algebra], so that I can fill in what they have missed out. They are very many, and among them Mohammed ibn Musa [Al-Khwarizmi], an Arab, is believed to be the first [...] I believe that the word “algebra” came from him, because some years ago, Brother Luca [Pacioli] of Borgo San Sepolcro of the Minorite order, having set himself the task of writing on this science, as much in Latin as in Italian, said that the word “algebra” was Arabic [...] and that the science came from the Arabs. Many who have written after him have believed and said likewise, but in recent years, a Greek work on this discipline has been discovered in the Library of our Lord in the Vatican, composed by a certain Diophantus of Alexandria, a Greek author [...] Antonio Maria Pazzi and I have translated five books (of the seven) [...] In this work we have found that he cites the Indian authors many times, and thus I have been made aware that this discipline belonged to the Indians before the Arabs."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
quoted in Fauvel, J. and J. Gray. The History of Mathematics: A Reader. Macmillan, 1987. quoted in : Bhaskar Kamble, The Imperishable Seed: How Hindu Mathematics Changed the World and why this History was Erased, Garuda Prakashan Private Limited, 2022 ISBN 9798885750189
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_M%C5%ABs%C4%81_al-Khw%C4%81rizm%C4%AB
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī
9 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī →
Related Quotes
"That fondness for science, … that affability and condescension which God shows to the learned, that promptitude with …"
"‘To describe all regions of the earth and to establish all local times would be tedious and unfeasible since, for inn…"
"As regards algebra, the early Arabs failed to adopt either the Diophantine or the Hindu notations. An examination of …"
"al-Khwārizmī “not having taken algebra from the Greeks,. . . must have either invented it himself, or taken it from t…"
"That he [Al-Khwarizmi] should have borrowed from Diophantus is not at all probable; … It is far more probable that th…"
"Multicultural education is certainly important, but it should not be about bundling children into preordained faith s…"
"Of course the Arabs themselves never laid claim to the invention, always recognizing their indebtedness to the Hindus…"
"[T]here is a possibility that some of the works ascribed to Sened ibn 'Alī are really works of Al-KhowarazmI, whose n…"
"The sun moves towards south or north along the ecliptic every moment. Therefore, the direction [determined by the Ind…"
"I would never say I’m a porn star. I would never call myself … I can say porn actress, yes, but porn star? I’m not a …"