Al-Khwārizmī
Al-Khwārizmī, from a U.S.S.R. postage stamp, 1983.
al-Khwārizmī
Muslim mathematician
Also known as: Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī
al-Khwārizmī (born c. 780 —died c. 850) was a Muslim mathematician and astronomer whose major works introduced Hindu-Arabic numerals and the concepts of algebra into European mathematics. Latinized versions of his name and of his most famous book title live on in the terms algorithm and algebra. Al-Khwārizmī lived in Baghdad, where he worked at the “House of Wisdom” (Dār al-Ḥikma) under the caliphate of al-Maʾmūn. The House of Wisdom acquired and translated scientific and...