Mathematics of Medieval Islam

 

One of the interesting things I’ve found from this reading was about a person called Thābit.    Thābit was the person who lived from 836 to 901 and had a gift for languages. Translators were employed by wealthy families as well as by caliphs in that time. Thābit was a member of the sect of star worshippers whose religious beliefs were abhorrent to Muslims. His linguistic talents were discovered by Banū Mūsā. He also had mathematic talents that could make great results in science. Finally, he could earn a place of honor in the caliph’s retinue. By reading this book, I was really impressed onThābit’s various talents. 

 

Another point that interested me was Al-Khwārizmī’s principal contributions. He contributed to the four areas of arithmetic, algebra, geography and astronomy. One of the books he contributed was ‘The Book of Addition and Subtraction According to the Hindu Calculation’ which introduced decimal positional system and made system convenient. Moreover, he contributed to the science of cartography as well. It was interesting to know what kind of contributions that Al-Khwārizmī made in different areas. 

 

Last thing that was interesting was al-Kāshī’s mathematical achievements in 1424. In 1424, he expressed 2π in decimal fraction, corrected to 16 decimal places. Moreover, he calculated the perimeters of inscribed and circumscribed polygons in a given circle having 805,306,368 sides to have an accuracy. This founds made me to be impressed when I was reading this book.   

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