Born in 1941 in Aïn Defla, Algeria, Ahmed Djebbar first studied mathematics at the University of Algiers, where he obtained a licence degree, and then at Paris-Sud University (Orsay), where he pursued a 3rd-cycle doctorate in functional analysis (Solving Cauchy problems using Ovcyannikov’s method, 1972). He also holds a doctorate in the history of mathematics, completed at the University of Nantes (*Mathematics and mathematicians of the medieval Maghreb (9th–16th centuries),* 1990). His academic career took him first to Paris-Sud University and then to the University of Science and Technology of Lille, where he became a professor of the history of mathematics.
His commitment to the history of Arab science led him to supervise four doctoral theses on the subject, including Marc Moyon’s (Practical geometry in Europe and its relationship with the Arabic tradition: the example of measurement and dissection, 2008).
A major exhibition
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In 2005, Ahmed Djebbar curated the exhibition "The Golden Age of Arab Science" at the Institut du monde arabe in Paris. It showcased not only mathematical research but also the sciences of the heavens, the Earth and living things, as well as engineering—for example, the work of scholars in Damascus, who developed hydraulic machines for irrigating the countryside around the city: the celebrated Ghouta.
He also edited the exhibition’s splendid catalogue, published as L’âge d’or des sciences arabes (Actes Sud, 2005). Art and mathematics lie at the heart of the book: sometimes art leads the way, through all the craftsmanship of Arab artisans, as in the celebrated Alhambra tilings; at other times, mathematics, with all its geometric models, influences art.
