The Muslim Contribution To Mathematics

This book, first published in 1977, discusses the Muslim contribution to mathematics during the golden age of Muslim learning from the seventh to the thirteenth century. It was during this period that Muslim culture exerted powerful economic, political and religious influence over a large part of the civilised world. The work of the Muslim scholars was by no means limited to religion, business and government. They researched and extended the theoretical and applied science of the Greeks and Romans of an earlier era in ways that preserved and strengthened man’s knowledge in these important fields. Although the main object of this book is to trace the history of the Muslim contribution to mathematics during the European Dark Ages, some effort is made to explain the progress of mathematical thought and its effects upon present day culture. Certain Muslim mathematicians are mentioned because of the important nature of their ideas in the evolution of mathematical thinking during this earlier era. Muslim mathematicians invented the present arithmetical decimal system and the fundamental operations connected with it – addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, raising to a power, and extracting the square root and the cubic root. They also introduced the ‘zero’ symbol to Western culture which simplified considerably the entire arithmetical system and its fundamental operations; it is no exaggeration if it is said that this specific invention marks the turning point in the development of mathematics into a science.

This book presents detailed accounts and analysis of the lives and world view of selected mathematicians of the Islamic period, their place in the world of science, the popularization of their lives, and their contributions specifically in mathematics and astronomy.

This book presents an account of selected topics from key mathematical works of medieval Islam, based on the Arabic texts themselves. Many of these works had a great influence on mathematics in Western Europe. Topics covered in the first edition include arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and numerical approximation; this second edition adds number theory and combinatorics. Additionally, the author has included selections from the western regions of medieval Islam—both North Africa and Spain. The author puts the works into their historical context and includes numerous examples of how mathematics interacted with Islamic society.

In recent decades it has become obvious that mathematics has always been a worldwide activity. But this is the first book to provide a substantial collection of English translations of key mathematical texts from the five most important ancient and medieval non-Western mathematical cultures, and to put them into full historical and mathematical context. The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam gives English readers a firsthand understanding and appreciation of these cultures' important contributions to world mathematics. The five section authors--Annette Imhausen (Egypt), Eleanor Robson (Mesopotamia), Joseph Dauben (China), Kim Plofker (India), and J. Lennart Berggren (Islam)--are experts in their fields. Each author has selected key texts and in many cases provided new translations. The authors have also written substantial section introductions that give an overview of each mathematical culture and explanatory notes that put each selection into context. This authoritative commentary allows readers to understand the sometimes unfamiliar mathematics of these civilizations and the purpose and significance of each text. Addressing a critical gap in the mathematics literature in English, this book is an essential resource for anyone with at least an undergraduate degree in mathematics who wants to learn about non-Western mathematical developments and how they helped shape and enrich world mathematics. The book is also an indispensable guide for mathematics teachers who want to use non-Western mathematical ideas in the classroom.

This anthology reviews the history, current states, and plans for the development of mathematics education in the Muslim States in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. There is an introduction by Ahmed Djebbar, the most prominent contemporary scholar of Muslim mathematics. The chapters are written by respective national experts in mathematics education.