Ome writers on the history of mathematics call al-Khwarizmi as the father of algebra, other give that title to Diophantus. Al-Khwarizmi's algebra is undoubtedly foundation and cornerstone of the sciences. He was the first to teach algebra in an elementary form and for its own sake.

In his own words, al-Khwarizmi described what he wanted to teach with his work Hisab al-jabr w'al-musqabala :

"... what is easiest and most useful in arithmetic, such as men constantly require in cases of inheritance, legacies, partition, lawsuits, and trade, and in all their dealings with one another, or where the measuring of lands, the digging of canals, geometrical computations, and other objects of various sorts and kinds are concerned."

Al-Khwarizmi's algebra was more involved with what we today call algebraic manipulation, Diophantus' algebra was more involved with the theory of numbers.

One of the most important of mathematical writings on Algebra were precisely the works of the Persi ...more

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