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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