Al-Khawarizmi

Mohammad Bin Musa Al-Khawarizmi (~800 A.D. to ~840 A.D.) practised mathematics, astronomy and geometry.

Famous Works

• Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah from whose title came the name "Algebra"
• Kitab al-Jam'a wal-Tafreeq bil Hisab al-Hindi (on Arithmatic, which survived in a Latin translation but was lost in the original Arabic)
• Kitab Surat-al-Ard (on geography)
• Istikhraj Tarikh al-Yahud (about the Jewish calendar)
• Kitab al-Tarikh
• Kitab al-Rukhmat (about sun-dials)

Interesting Contributions

• Explained the use of zero
• Developed tables containing the sine functions
• Perfected the geometric representation of conic sections
• Calculus of two errors
• Revised Ptolemy's views on geography