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Abū'l-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Qurashī al-Qalaṣādī ( ar, أبو الحسن علي بن محمد بن علي القرشي البسطي; 1412–1486) was a Muslim '' . He wrote numerous books on arithmetic and algebra, including ''al-Tabsira fi'lm al-hisab'' ( ar, التبصير في علم الحساب "''Clarification of the science of arithmetic''").
His works dealt with Algebra and contained the precise mathematical answers to problems in everyday life, such as the composition of medicaments, the calculation of the drop of irrigation canals and the explanation of frauds linked to instruments of measurement. The second part belongs to the already ancient tradition of judicial and cultural mathematics and joins a collection of little arithmetical problems presented in the form of poetical riddles
In 1480 the Christian forces of
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
from Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...
specializing in Islamic inheritance jurisprudence
Islamic Inheritance jurisprudence is a field of Islamic jurisprudence ( ar, فقه) that deals with inheritance, a topic that is prominently dealt with in the Qur'an. It is often called ''Mīrāth'', and its branch of Islamic law is technically ...
. Franz Woepcke
Franz Woepcke (6 May 1826 – 25 March 1864) was a historian, Orientalist and mathematician. He is remembered for publishing editions and translations of medieval Arabic mathematical manuscripts and for his research on the propagation of the H ...
stated that al-Qalaṣādī was known as one of the most influential voices in algebraic notation for taking "the first steps toward the introduction of algebra
Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics.
Elementary ...
ic symbolismEarly life
Al-Qalaṣādī was born in Baza, an outpost of theEmirate of Granada
)
, common_languages = Official language: Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino
, capital = Granada
, religion = Majority religion: Sunni IslamMinority religions: Ro ...
. He received education in Granada, but continued to support his family in Baza. He published many works and eventually retired to his native Baza.
His works dealt with Algebra and contained the precise mathematical answers to problems in everyday life, such as the composition of medicaments, the calculation of the drop of irrigation canals and the explanation of frauds linked to instruments of measurement. The second part belongs to the already ancient tradition of judicial and cultural mathematics and joins a collection of little arithmetical problems presented in the form of poetical riddles
In 1480 the Christian forces of Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
and Isabella
Isabella may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Isabella (surname), including a list of people
Places
United States
* Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...
, "The Catholic Monarchs", raided and often pillaged the city, al-Qalasādī himself served in the mountain citadels which were erected in the vicinity of Baza. al-Qalasādī eventually left his homeland and took refuge with his family in Béja
Béja ( ar, باجة ') is a city in Tunisia. It is the capital of the Béja Governorate. It is located from Tunis, between the Medjerdah River and the Mediterranean, against the foothills of the Khroumire, the town of Béja is situated on the ...
, Tunisia
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, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, where he died in 1486. Baza was eventually besieged by the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella and its inhabitants sacked.
Symbolic algebra
Like his predecessors, al-Qalaṣādī used an algebraic notation. While the 19th century writer Franz Woepcke believed that this algebraic symbolism was created by al-Qalaṣādī himself, these symbols had actually been used by other mathematicians in North Africa 100 years earlier. Al-Qalaṣādī representedmathematical symbols
A mathematical symbol is a figure or a combination of figures that is used to represent a mathematical object, an action on mathematical objects, a relation between mathematical objects, or for structuring the other symbols that occur in a formula. ...
using characters from the Arabic alphabet, where:
*ﻭ ('' wa'') means "and" for addition (+)
*إلا ('' illa'') literally, "except"; means "less" for subtraction (-)
*في (''fi'') literally, "in"; means "times" for multiplication (*)
*على (''ala'') means "over" for division
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
(/)
*ﺝ ('' j'') represents ''jadah'' meaning "root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...
"
*ﺵ ('' sh'') represents ''shay meaning "thing" for a variable
Variable may refer to:
* Variable (computer science), a symbolic name associated with a value and whose associated value may be changed
* Variable (mathematics), a symbol that represents a quantity in a mathematical expression, as used in many ...
(x)
*ﻡ ('' m'') represents ''morabba'a'' for a square
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
(x2)
*ﻙ ('' k'') represents ''moka'aab'' for a cube (x3)
*ﻝ ('' l'') represents ''ya'adilu'' for equality
Equality may refer to:
Society
* Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing
** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elit ...
(=)
As an example, the equation would have been written using his notation as:
٢ في شك ﻭ ٣ في شﻡ إﻻ ٤ في ﺵ ﻭ ٥ ﻝ ٠
See also
* Islamic mathematics * List of Muslim scientistsNotes
References
* *External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Qalasadi, Abu Hasan Ali 1412 births 1486 deaths 15th-century Arabs People from the Province of Granada Mathematicians of Al-Andalus 15th-century mathematicians Jurisprudence academics Mathematicians who worked on Islamic inheritance Scholars of the Nasrid period 15th-century Spanish mathematicians