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Editorial
The history of mathematics is a fascinating field that allows us to rediscover the discipline as a whole, moving beyond hearsay and urban legends that reduce the complex development of human thought to grossly oversimplified accounts.
Ahmed Djebbar, champion of the history of Arab science | Tangente
If the history of Arab science attracts interest today, it is largely thanks to Ahmed Djebbar, who not only made it his field of study but also did much to bring the subject to a wider audience.
Are numerals Arabic? Indian origin and spread | Tangente
What most people know of Arab-Islamic mathematics is, above all, the “Arabic numerals”… which are not Arabic at all!
What is Arabic-Islamic mathematics? | Tangente
Arabic-Islamic mathematics developed against a fascinating historical and geopolitical backdrop, shaped in particular by the importance of the Abbasid dynasty, the role of the House of Wisdom, and diplomatic and intellectual ties with neighboring cultures.
Far more than a link: The Arab legacy in Europe | Tangente
The Islamic world is often thought to have served merely as a repository for Greek manuscripts. In reality, many fundamental concepts in contemporary mathematics originated in works written from the ninth century onward in Arabic, then the language of scientific communication.
Al-Khwarizmi's linguistic legacy: algebra and algorithm | Tangente
Al-Khwārizmī's works were translated into Latin and helped introduce the West to the Indian numeral system; more broadly, they contributed to the early development of algebra. Their legacy lives on in our vocabulary.