Math
The
greatest scientific contribution Muslims made
to the world is the creation of mathematical science.
Algebra, geometry, algorithm and arithmetic are
at the heart of every scientific and social aspect
of life.
There
is hardly a single device, business entity, industry,
architecture built without the Arabic numerals,
the decimal point, the sign and cosine, the ruler
and the compass, all of which are Islamic inventions.
Abulwafaa
was the first person to demonistrate the sine
theorom for spherical triangle: sin (a+b) = sin
a cos b - cos a sin b. The word 'sine' is the
exact translation of the arabic word Jayb.
al Kahwarizmi
(780-850 CE)
Muhammad
Ibn Musa Al-Khowarizmi, the father of algebra,
was a mathematician and astronomer. He was summoned
to Baghdad by Al-Mamun and appointed court astronomer.
The
first book on algebra was written by al Khawarzmi,
Kitab al Mukhtasir fi Hisab al Jabr wa 'l-muqabalah'
The book of Summary Concerning the Process of
Calculating Compulsion and Equatin. Al jaber is
the restoration and amplification of something
incomplete, and Muqabalah is the balancing of
the two sides of an equation.
Al-Khowarizmi
emphasised that he wrote his algebra book to serve
the practical needs of the people concerning matters
of inheritance, legacies, partition, lawsuits
and commerce.
In
the twelfth century Gerard of Cremona and Roberts
of Chester translated the algebra of Al-Khowarizmi
into Latin. Mathematicians used it all over the
world until the sixteenth century.
Later
part of the 12th century.
Mathematics as a science was found during the
10th century.
Among
those mathematician are: Al-Kharaji flourished,
1000, Ibn al-Haytham, (d1040), Umar al-Khayyam
(d1130).
Ibn
al-Haytham
(d1040)
Ibn
al-Haytham, who was a physicist, astronomer and
mathmatician used his math genius for the development
of optics. In his book Kitab al-Manazir (the Book
of Optics), he demonstrated the second law of
refraction, or the incident ray. In a masterly
faction he described the functions of the eye
such as the connectives, iris, corona and lens.
He also showed the interrelation between the various
parts.
Ibn
Al Haytham proved that the light enters the eye
from an object or a "form" and he provided
the mathematic models to prove it. He applied
a geometrical method to the physical doctrine
of "Forms." He discussed whether the
"form" large or small in color can enter
through the pupil and make its way to the brain.
His theory of vision is the correct theory of
today's physiology.
In
the history of mathematics, Ibn al Haytham secured
a notable place by his treatment of the problem
now bearing his Latinised name, Alhazen. He figured
out the mathematical formula governing the entry
and reflection of light at given three points
such as the eye and a point on a spherical convex
mirror and the retina.
Many
of the intellectual sciences were developed as
a direct result of Muslim needs to fulfill the
ritual and duties of worship.
The
Islamic duty of Zakah or alms giving, and the
distribution of properties in the will are yet
other Islamic duties that laid the foundation
of geometry and arithmetic.
A Muslim is to give annually in charity and in
taxation detailed amounts of currency and/or crops.
Figuring
out the exact distribution of Zakah and property
does not come without complicated math.
Each
commodity requires precise scale and percentage.
For example, for an acre of an irregular piece
of land is to be split among a family of two boys
and two girls with the male share twice as that
of the girl, a complicated formula and exact-geometry
must take place before this duty is accomplished.
Thus, mathematics and geometry came to an invention. The
prominent historian, De Vaux, in his book, "The
Philosophers of Islam" said:
"they (the Muslims) were indisputably the
founders of plane and spherical geometry."
He
further stated: "By
using ciphers, (Arabic for zero) the Arabs became
the founders of the arithmetic of everyday life;
they made algebra an exact science. The Arabs
kept alive higher intellectual life and the study
of science in a period when the Christian West
was fighting desperately with barbarism."
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