A branch of
mathematics developed by the medieval
Islamic scholars. The word 'algebra' comes from the
Arabic term,
al-Jabr, which first appeared in
The Book of al-Jabr and al-Muqâbalah written by the
Persian mathematician, al-Khwârizmî (whose name is the root of the word
algorithm) around 825 C.E.
Al-Jabr means the removal of
negative terms from an
equation, and
al-Muqâbalah means the combination of similar terms - both of which are central functions in algebra.
Because numerals were not invented at the time, the "Book of Algebra" is acutally a huge collection of word problems what contain many diagrams. A number of these problems are solved geometrically.
Al-Khwârizmî wrote his book for the Abbâsid caliph al-Ma'mûn, a patron of science and a founder of the Bayt al-Hikmah ("House of Wisdom"), the library and the translation academy of Baghdad. The intercultural contacts that took place in this period led to two important devlopments in the history of mathematics. First was the adoption of the Indian numeral system (which included zero) by the Arabs, making it possible to write out long numbers using zero as a placeholder. The second great devlopment was the translation of Greek works on mathematics, geometry and astronomy into Arabic. Drawing on the geometrical techniques of Euclid, Archimedes and Apollonius enabled Islamic mathematicians to discover non-Euclidian geometry.
The Book of Algebra was first translated into Latin by Robert of Chester in 1145 and later by Gerard of Cremona in 1187. Given its practical utility and fundamental importance in mathematics, the development of algebra by medieval Islamic scholars is a great and lasting contribution to scientific knowledge.
source: The Dictionary of Global Culture - Appiah & Gates