The portrait of al-Khwarizmi - as part of the Famous Mathematicians Mural at Sackville School. Al-Khwarizmi was a court Astronomer and scholar at the ‘House of Wisdom’ (an important library and research academy) in Baghdad. He popularised the use of Hindu numerals (1, 2, 3…) in the place of Roman numerals (I,II, III, IV, V…) and emphasised that the purpose of his ‘al-jabr’ book was to serve the practical needs of the people concerning matters of inheritance, legacies, partition and commerce. [66] FACT: The word ‘algorithm’ derives from his name and ‘ Algebra’ from the Arabic Al-jabr translated as ‘completion’ (regarding formulae using letters).
