Brilliant mathematician and Persian-Muslim astronomer probably born in the Khwarizm region, south of the Aral Sea, in central Asia, discoverer of the System of Decimal numbering and ten symbols, which are now known as Indo-Arabic numerals, and an introduction to these numerals and the concepts of algebra in mathematics European. Caliph al-Mamum occupied the throne of the Arab Empire and decided to turn his kingdom into a great center of teaching where all areas of knowledge could be mastered, giving rise to the first golden age of science islamic. And to achieve this goal, he hired and brought to Baghdad the great Muslim sages of that time. Among these sages was al-Khowarizmi, the greatest Arab mathematician of all time.
Living under the caliphates of al-Mamun and al-Mutasim, little is known about his life before Baghdad, but he wrote mostly about astronomy, geography and mathematics. The word algebra (al-jabr = gather) also originated from the importance of his work. His Extraordinary Work on Elementary Mathematics Kitab Al-jabr w'al-mukabalah (The Art of Bringing the Unknown to Equate the Known, 820), a compilation of rules for arithmetic solution of linear and second degree equations, based on the works of Diophantus, was translated in the 12th century into Latin and when it gave rise to the term algebra.
In charge of translating mathematics books from India into Arabic, in one of these translations the mathematician became came across what is still considered today, the greatest discovery in the field of mathematics: The Numbering System Decimal. He was so impressed with the usefulness of those ten symbols, which are now known as: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, that he wrote a book explaining how this system works. This important work (825) has been preserved in an Algoritmi Latin translation of numero Indorum (975) a text on the Hindu art of calculating, a work that disseminated symbols and the numerical system Indo-Arabic.
This book bibliographically introduced in Europe the number system of the Hindus, which came to be known as Arabic numerals, in addition to important algebraic concepts. From this text came the term algorithm. He also compiled astronomical tables, based on the Sind-hind, Arabic version of the original Sanskrit Brahma-siddhanta, in the 7th century AD, and died in Baghdad. The term number comes from al-Khowarizmi, used to name the symbols from 0 to 9, an homage to that Arab mathematician who showed humanity the usefulness of these ten magnificent symbols.
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GRADE E SP E C I A L:
(adaptation of Dbelz HP)
the zero
Zero came about with the creation by the Hindus of the positional numbering system, as a result of which many calculations performed by they were performed with the help of an abacus, an instrument that for the time could be considered a true calculate. The abacus used initially by the Hindus consisted of mere grooves made in the sand, where stones were placed. Each groove represented an order.
So, from right to left, the first groove represented the units; the second the tens and the third the hundreds. For example, a representation of the number 401, in the groove of hundreds, four stones appeared, the one of tens appeared empty, indicating that there were no tens, and the units contained one more stone.
As for writing that empty digit, a symbol was missing to indicate the inexistence of quantity, in the example by the dozens, the Hindus created a symbol similar to the outline of the edges of the empty furrow and called it Sunya (empty). In other words, to write the number representing the empty space on the sand abacus, they drew the empty furrow, to indicate that there were no ten in the number, for example. In this way they created the zero, whose spelling since that time already resembled what is used today.
Source: Biographies - Academic Unit of Civil Engineering / UFCG
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