Arabic Mathematics

Arabic Mathematics

Question 1 -- what is the source of the following words: algebra, algorithm, zenith, nadir, atlas, azimuth, cipher?

Question 2 -- who wrote the words, "Here with a toasted bagel beneath the bough/ A book of number theory, a thermos of coffee,  a graduate student to help with the calculations/ And paradise is even now."?

Question 3 -- Can you create a complex mosaic pattern using only a ruler and compass?

Question 4 -- Who first solved the equation x^3 + a x = b^2 ?

Solution

Recently I came across a reference to a conference held last May at the University of Oslo, Norway. The title of the conference was "Custodian, Creator AND Communicator: ARABIC Mathematics and Science in the Period 700-1200." Perhaps you remember from your algebra class some reference to the derivation of "algebra" from "al-Jabr," or remember wondering why 1, 2, 3, ... are called "Arabic numerals." (More accurately, they are called "Hindu-Arabic.") If you were really curious, you might have wondered how the theorems of Greek mathematicians came down to us today, since these ancient theorists were often portrayed as drawing their diagrams in sand.

We can thank the Arabic mathematicians, who included Christians and Jews as well as Muslims. Arabic mathematicians not only kept the ancient Greek manuscripts intact -- and thus were custodians -- but they created new fields of mathematics and translated and communicated the scientific and mathematical thought of the Middle East and northern Africa.

The terms in Question 1 are all of Arabic origin. A relatively simple approach to Question 3 is shown above. Two excellent Web sites for integrating art, mathematics, and Islamic culture are the following: http://www.askasia.org/image/drawing/i000531a.htm, and http://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/math5.pattern/lesson5math.html.

Questions 2 is from my rather free translation of a poem by the mathematician who also solved the equation in Question 4.  al-Khayyami 'Umar, or Omar Khayyam, as we sometimes refer to him, was first of all a mathematician, and as Paul Erdos said, "A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems." As true then, I'm certain, as now.

Created by Mathematica  (February 20, 2006)