From: Michael J. Hußmann (michael_at_michael-hussmann.de)
Date: Wed Mar 24 2004 - 15:14:12 PST
Norman Palardy (palardyn_at_shaw.ca) wrote:
> The word Algorithm comes from Arabic roots if I recall correctly
Well, sort of. It's a proper name. Abu Jafar Mohammed ibn Musa Al
Khwarizmi was a mathematician who first described a mechanical method of
adding two numbers. When his book on algebra was translated into Latin,
his name was latinized as "Algorithmus". Later, his name got to be
applied to the kind of mechanical methods he had described. The thing
itself is older than the word, though, the Euclidean algorithm being the
oldest algorithm known. As others have noted, Arabic mathematics drew
from Greek and Indian sources; Egypt didn't play a role here.
- Michael
Michael J. Hußmann
E-mail: michael_at_michael-hussmann.de
WWW (personal): http://michael-hussmann.de
WWW (professional): http://digicam-experts.de
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