ken@ihuxq.UUCP (ken perlow) (02/02/84)
-- >>> While I'm at it, "algebra" >>> is from the author of a very old algebra text, Al Jabr, or something >>> like that (no, not Kareem). >>> Roger Noe ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe Not quite. "Al-jabr" (which is Arabic) means "the reduction." -- *** *** JE MAINTIENDRAI ***** ***** ****** ****** 02 Feb 84 [13 Pluviose An CXCII] ken perlow ***** ***** (312)979-7261 ** ** ** ** ..ihnp4!ihuxq!ken *** ***
ntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader) (02/09/84)
According to page 1 of Knuth volume 1, "algebra" comes from the *title* of Kitab al jabr w'al muqabala which means Rules of restoration and reduction. The book was written in the 9th century by ^ ^ ^ ^ Abu Ja`far Mohammed ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi from whose name the word "algorithm" is derived, as noted previously. "Abu" means "father of", "ibn" means "son of", and "Khowa^rizm" is now Khiva, in the Uzbek SSR. Knuth adds that the book "isn't really very algebraic". Mark Brader