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Islamic Mathematics

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Mathematics Across Cultures

Part of the book series: Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science ((SACH,volume 2))

Abstract

Less than 150 years after Muhammad’s flight to Medina in 622 (which marked the beginning of the Islamic era), the vast territories which in the meantime had been conquered by the Arabs received a new capital: Baghdad, founded in 762 by Caliph al-Mansur. This was not just a political event, for among the institutions to be established in Baghdad was the ‘house of wisdom’ (bayt al-hikma), a kind of academy similar to the one created by the Greeks a millennium before in Alexandria which had remained the foremost scientific centre until late antiquity. The first task of the Baghdad Academy was to collect and synthesize the scientific knowledge available at that time.

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Authors
  1. Jacques Sesiano
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Helaine Selin

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Sesiano, J. (2000). Islamic Mathematics. In: Selin, H. (eds) Mathematics Across Cultures. Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4301-1_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4301-1_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-0260-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4301-1

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