Abu Kamil

Abu Kamil
أبو كامل
Bornc. 850
Diedc. 930
Other namesAl-ḥāsib al-miṣrī
Academic background
InfluencesAl-Khwarizmi
Academic work
EraIslamic Golden Age
(Middle Abbasid era)
Main interestsAlgebra, geometry
Notable worksThe Book of Algebra
Notable ideas
  • Use of irrational numbers as solutions and coefficients to equations
InfluencedAl-Karaji, Fibonacci

Abū Kāmil Shujāʿ ibn Aslam ibn Muḥammad Ibn Shujāʿ (Latinized as Auoquamel,[1] Arabic: أبو كامل شجاع بن أسلم بن محمد بن شجاع, also known as Al-ḥāsib al-miṣrī—lit. "The Egyptian Calculator") (c. 850 – c. 930) was a prominent Egyptian mathematician during the Islamic Golden Age. He is considered the first mathematician to systematically use and accept irrational numbers as solutions and coefficients to equations.[2] His mathematical techniques were later adopted by Fibonacci, thus allowing Abu Kamil an important part in introducing algebra to Europe.[3]

Abu Kamil made important contributions to algebra and geometry.[4] He was the first Islamic mathematician to work easily with algebraic equations with powers higher than (up to ),[3][5] and solved sets of non-linear simultaneous equations with three unknown variables.[6] He illustrated the rules of signs for expanding the multiplication .[7] He wrote all problems rhetorically, and some of his books lacked any mathematical notation beside those of integers. For example, he uses the Arabic expression "māl māl shayʾ" ("square-square-thing") for (as ).[3][8] One notable feature of his works was enumerating all the possible solutions to a given equation.[9]

The Muslim encyclopedist Ibn Khaldūn classified Abū Kāmil as the second greatest algebraist chronologically after al-Khwarizmi.[10]

  1. ^ Rāshid, Rushdī; Régis Morelon (1996). Encyclopedia of the history of Arabic science. Vol. 2. Routledge. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-415-12411-9.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sesiano was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference MacTutor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference EI2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Levey2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Berggren, J. Lennart (2007). "Mathematics in Medieval Islam". The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook. Princeton University Press. pp. 518, 550. ISBN 978-0-691-11485-9.
  7. ^ Mat Rofa Bin Ismail (2008), "Algebra in Islamic Mathematics", in Helaine Selin (ed.), Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, vol. 1 (2nd ed.), Springer, p. 114, ISBN 9781402045592
  8. ^ Bashmakova, Izabella Grigorʹevna; Galina S. Smirnova (2000-01-15). The beginnings and evolution of algebra. Cambridge University Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-88385-329-0.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference HSTM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Sesiano, Jacques (2008). "Abū Kāmil". Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer Netherlands: 7–8. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9198. ISBN 978-1-4020-4559-2.