The great scholars of our land

The 9th–12th centuries were a high point for learning in our land. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (about 780–850) was born in Khorezm and worked in Merv and Baghdad, at the “House of Wisdom”. Using the Indian digits 0 to 9 he explained how to write any number and carry out the four operations, and in his book “Al-jabr wal-muqabala” he described how to solve equations; the word “algebra” comes from “al-jabr” in the title, and the word “algorithm” comes from his name. Ahmad al-Farghani (born in the late 8th or early 9th century in the Fergana valley) worked in Baghdad on astronomy, mathematics and geography; his astronomy book was translated into Latin in the 12th century, and in Europe he became known as “Alfraganus”. Abu Rayhan Beruni (973–1048) was born in Kath in Khorezm and studied astronomy, mathematics, geography, mineralogy, history and languages; his works “Remains of Ancient Nations” and “India” are important sources for history. Abu Ali ibn Sina (980–1037) was born in the village of Afshona near Bukhara; his “Canon of Medicine” was translated into Latin and for several centuries was a textbook in European universities, and in Europe he was known as “Avicenna”.