format_quote Originally Posted by
Muezzin
True.
I'm pretty sure algebra was invented by Muslims, seeing as the word 'algebra' comes from 'Al Jibr', or something like that.
Yes, you are right about the origin of the word algebra, the spelling is al-jabr.
The first writings and algebraic formulas were devised by Diophantus of Alexandria(Egypt) in the 3rd century AD.
Religion in Egypt at this time was a strange combination of ancient Egyptian mythology (ie. Ra sun-god), worship of deities in animal form (ie. cats, hawks, bulls), and greek, Jewish, and christian concepts. A lot of influence was due to the fact that Egypt was a roman province at this time.
Again though, islam was not founded yet for a few hundred years, so algebra is an arab invention, not a muslim invention. Perhaps some credit could go to egyptian mythology(joking).
Algebra was brought from ancient Babylon, Egypt and India to Europe via Italy by the Arabs.